*#REDIRECT [[Exploding animal]] ▼There has been one documented case of an '''exploding snake''', whereby a [[Burmese python]] burst. The 13-foot (4 meter) [[snake]] had swallowed a 6-foot (1.8 meter) [[alligator]] whole. Rangers of the [[Everglades National Park]] discovered the carcasses in [[October 2005]], but they could not locate the snake's head. Frank Mazzotti, a professor from the [[University of Florida]], suggested that the alligator had tried to claw its way out of the snake. Alternative hypotheses suggest the alligator could have already been dead, or a third animal was involved.
An urban-legend website, Snopes, suggests that after ingesting the alligator, the snake was possibly cut open and beheaded by another individual (either a human or another predator). Snopes also proposes that a gas build-up caused by the decompsing alligator could have ruptured the snake's body, and that its head was eaten by scavengers.
The incident was noted as a sign that alligators' supremacy as a predator is not a certainty in the wild. Mazzotti also noted that a human discovery of such a battle between these predators was rare.
The incident was part of a "python epidemic" in which pet owners released their pythons throughout [[Florida]], in belief that they would not cause trouble. At least 93 pythons were captured, not including the one involved in this incident. This "python epidemic" continues presently.
==See also==
== References ==
* [[BBC News]] ([[5 October]] [[2005]]) "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4313978.stm Snake bursts after gobbling gator]". Accessed [[6 October]] [[2005]].
* [[Snopes.com]] ([[11 April]] [[2006]]) "[http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/snakegator.asp Tale Gator]". Accessed [[20 December]] [[2006]].
== External links ==
* [http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/snakegator.asp Who's Saurian Now?: Photograph shows a snake that burst trying to eat an alligator] (Snopes.com)
* [http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=456&sid=636160 Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator] (AP, via WTOPNews.com)
{{exploding organisms}}
[[Category:Exploding animals|Snake]]
[[fr:Explosion de serpent]]
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