How do snakes swallow animals so much bigger than they are - Niko Zlotnik
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Date: 2026-04-12
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Comments and reviews: 20
darthplagueis13
It bears noting that a human being eaten by a snake is on the very unlikely end if things.
There's a good chance it probably happened at some point in history, but we don't have any truly reliable accounts of it happening.
The reason is quite simple: Shoulders. Snakes like to swallow their prey whole, starting at the head. Most large mammals and reptiles have a somewhat pointy head, with the body progressively widening as you get to the torso, making for a rather stream-lined shape. Humans on the other hand have a round-ish head that's attached by a slightly thinner neck to a set of much wider shoulders. This means that once the snake got its mouth around a human's head and neck, it wouldn't easily be able to get them around the shoulders because they jut out so much and because the snake can't simply stretch its jaws by following the natural outline of the body as it could with, for instance, a piglet.
At the same time, it would be difficult for the snake to spit the human back out due to their hooked teeth digging into the already swallowed parts, so a snake trying to swallow a human would likely get stuck and eventually die.
Of course, it's still entirely possible that a particularily large snake may at some point have succeeded in eating a particularily small human, but on the whole, humans sit very squarely on the short list of things snakes can't actually eat.
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It bears noting that a human being eaten by a snake is on the very unlikely end if things.
There's a good chance it probably happened at some point in history, but we don't have any truly reliable accounts of it happening.
The reason is quite simple: Shoulders. Snakes like to swallow their prey whole, starting at the head. Most large mammals and reptiles have a somewhat pointy head, with the body progressively widening as you get to the torso, making for a rather stream-lined shape. Humans on the other hand have a round-ish head that's attached by a slightly thinner neck to a set of much wider shoulders. This means that once the snake got its mouth around a human's head and neck, it wouldn't easily be able to get them around the shoulders because they jut out so much and because the snake can't simply stretch its jaws by following the natural outline of the body as it could with, for instance, a piglet.
At the same time, it would be difficult for the snake to spit the human back out due to their hooked teeth digging into the already swallowed parts, so a snake trying to swallow a human would likely get stuck and eventually die.
Of course, it's still entirely possible that a particularily large snake may at some point have succeeded in eating a particularily small human, but on the whole, humans sit very squarely on the short list of things snakes can't actually eat.
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dash8brj
A snake cannot swallow a human being. Our shoulders are too wide for them to properly ingest us. Sure a retic or anaconda can end our lives by constriction, but they won't be able to eat us. I've been bitten by a Taipan. Inside a zoo exhibit but with a safety crew while I was filming the animal. Proper emergency medical care increases your chance of survival 10 fold. I was out of hospital in 3 days, none the worse except for the two fang marks left from my little mate who took offense at my 18-35mm lens shoved in his face.
Proper care and attention around snakes and you won't get bitten. I keep two as pets. (non venomous of course.
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A snake cannot swallow a human being. Our shoulders are too wide for them to properly ingest us. Sure a retic or anaconda can end our lives by constriction, but they won't be able to eat us. I've been bitten by a Taipan. Inside a zoo exhibit but with a safety crew while I was filming the animal. Proper emergency medical care increases your chance of survival 10 fold. I was out of hospital in 3 days, none the worse except for the two fang marks left from my little mate who took offense at my 18-35mm lens shoved in his face.
Proper care and attention around snakes and you won't get bitten. I keep two as pets. (non venomous of course.
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Devmode_Nunchaku
Just for public service: Snakes can eat stuff greater than their own size, but they do have an upper limit. And for the VAST, vast majority of snakes, humans can't fit. Any snake you might realistically encounter can't eat you. Even for the 0. 01% that can start to fit you, our shoulders are built in such a way that it has a fair chance of making the snake abort eating us (our shoulders don't collapse in quite easily like other animals.
TL; DR: If the snake isn't venomous, you'll likely live. And in almost every single case, your body will be left behind.
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Just for public service: Snakes can eat stuff greater than their own size, but they do have an upper limit. And for the VAST, vast majority of snakes, humans can't fit. Any snake you might realistically encounter can't eat you. Even for the 0. 01% that can start to fit you, our shoulders are built in such a way that it has a fair chance of making the snake abort eating us (our shoulders don't collapse in quite easily like other animals.
TL; DR: If the snake isn't venomous, you'll likely live. And in almost every single case, your body will be left behind.
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BigGoronSword
I did not know that about the Eastern Screech Owl. It reminds me of the Colombian Lesserback Tarantula and how it will have a mutual benefitial relationship with the Dotted Humming Frog. The Spider provides shelter and protection, while the frog eats insects that could potentially harm the spider's eggs.
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I did not know that about the Eastern Screech Owl. It reminds me of the Colombian Lesserback Tarantula and how it will have a mutual benefitial relationship with the Dotted Humming Frog. The Spider provides shelter and protection, while the frog eats insects that could potentially harm the spider's eggs.
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BraveNewWorld610
Yo, Ive heard about moving the airway out to still breath, but that inward facing rips to peice egg shells,
Or replying ants with chemicals so they can just live in the anthill/ and inturn form complex flibbing mutualistic teamwork with owls to help clear nests. Dang that's really flipping cool
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Yo, Ive heard about moving the airway out to still breath, but that inward facing rips to peice egg shells,
Or replying ants with chemicals so they can just live in the anthill/ and inturn form complex flibbing mutualistic teamwork with owls to help clear nests. Dang that's really flipping cool
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kaledidoscoloe
I liked the video with interest and curiosity; however, I found the pixelscreenstyled animations rather infuriating. The pixels overlapped and occupied spaces they shouldn’t have, which disrupted the intended patterns. Despite this critique, I still enjoyed the content overall.
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I liked the video with interest and curiosity; however, I found the pixelscreenstyled animations rather infuriating. The pixels overlapped and occupied spaces they shouldn’t have, which disrupted the intended patterns. Despite this critique, I still enjoyed the content overall.
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cboyles84
I was thinking it was something like what gigantica indica or gigantica chuni did. Now that I've finished the video, it's unexpectedly cute BTW, I wasn't too far off. Not close enough but not too far off I didn't even know about the crab snake or the blind snake
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I was thinking it was something like what gigantica indica or gigantica chuni did. Now that I've finished the video, it's unexpectedly cute BTW, I wasn't too far off. Not close enough but not too far off I didn't even know about the crab snake or the blind snake
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rpetersobr
Like garrer snakes. why doesn't Australia find a snake that only eats toads and can be animated to cane toads and this effect can be intensified and kept in cages for three generations and the. Testsd on local populace over one year
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Like garrer snakes. why doesn't Australia find a snake that only eats toads and can be animated to cane toads and this effect can be intensified and kept in cages for three generations and the. Testsd on local populace over one year
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kvd1
The only animals that they can’t eat are usually animals with thick and wide shoulders like gorillas and large bears.
This can also include aquatic mammals such as whales and dolphins.
Sea snakes only eat fish and squid.
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The only animals that they can’t eat are usually animals with thick and wide shoulders like gorillas and large bears.
This can also include aquatic mammals such as whales and dolphins.
Sea snakes only eat fish and squid.
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Serenity-g3p
From what I learned, snakes have not only elongated, limbless bodies but also tetrodotoxin resistance, stretchable, compressive spines, and tissues. It's almost likely they can eat anything depending on their diet.
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From what I learned, snakes have not only elongated, limbless bodies but also tetrodotoxin resistance, stretchable, compressive spines, and tissues. It's almost likely they can eat anything depending on their diet.
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holgerjrgensen2166
Except frogs, all is swalloved head first, so legs Etc. dont come in way, they can move organs heart due to the size of prey,
wont survive groundhedge. There is spitting snakes, frogs and spiders.
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Except frogs, all is swalloved head first, so legs Etc. dont come in way, they can move organs heart due to the size of prey,
wont survive groundhedge. There is spitting snakes, frogs and spiders.
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Natalie-cm6qo
For being a video about snake facts, it’s weird that you keep illustrating them hissing with their mouths open. They typically hiss with mouth closed through the little notch in the front of their lips.
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For being a video about snake facts, it’s weird that you keep illustrating them hissing with their mouths open. They typically hiss with mouth closed through the little notch in the front of their lips.
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-22019
as a bio nerd w zero previous interest in snakes, every new fact was insane like, HELLO wdym they just collab w owls WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY CAN MOVE. THEIR. AIRWAYS WDYM THE EGGS HATCH PREMATURELY THEMSELVES
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as a bio nerd w zero previous interest in snakes, every new fact was insane like, HELLO wdym they just collab w owls WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY CAN MOVE. THEIR. AIRWAYS WDYM THE EGGS HATCH PREMATURELY THEMSELVES
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Phillia_crochet
The snake illustration at the end of the video made me wonder if someone saw a snake after a huge meal and came up with the idea of the Tsuchinoko, especially one like a short-tailed python.
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The snake illustration at the end of the video made me wonder if someone saw a snake after a huge meal and came up with the idea of the Tsuchinoko, especially one like a short-tailed python.
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AAAnchorage
This is probably the best TED-Ed video of the year.
The animation is charming and hilarious. The narration is great. What else is there to say
I'd love for more videos like this one.
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This is probably the best TED-Ed video of the year.
The animation is charming and hilarious. The narration is great. What else is there to say
I'd love for more videos like this one.
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KitsukiiPlays
When I was younger, I saw a dead snake with a huge cut on stomach made from a young bull) it eat both die, but the bull had its vengeance. And a kid was slightly traumatized
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When I was younger, I saw a dead snake with a huge cut on stomach made from a young bull) it eat both die, but the bull had its vengeance. And a kid was slightly traumatized
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Kaijin_04
I gotta say most of the snakes appear in this video are new to me, prob to not use the more popular snakes. I only picked on the Inland Taipei and King Cobra
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I gotta say most of the snakes appear in this video are new to me, prob to not use the more popular snakes. I only picked on the Inland Taipei and King Cobra
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TinYasuo
I don’t know why but there is something incredibly cute about the drawings and animations in combination with the sound effects of the snakes chomping
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I don’t know why but there is something incredibly cute about the drawings and animations in combination with the sound effects of the snakes chomping
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garg4531
So we learned how snakes can swallow prey wider than them but what about longer than them
edit: Oh there it is.
Okay that is cool: o
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So we learned how snakes can swallow prey wider than them but what about longer than them
edit: Oh there it is.
Okay that is cool: o
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rollintweeds234
Super lesson, TEDEd! Witty, wise and immensely entertaining. Moved along briskly and imparted tons of new knowledge. Thank you!
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Super lesson, TEDEd! Witty, wise and immensely entertaining. Moved along briskly and imparted tons of new knowledge. Thank you!
reply
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