Can anacondas ever be as dangerous as in the movies?
No. Movies like ‘Anaconda’ are completely ridiculous. The snakes in the movies were oversized – the maximum size of a female green anaconda (females are larger than males) is 550lb in weight and 10 metres in length, but that’s exceptional. They moved far too fast, being shown chasing people down and catching them – in reality, they are so heavy they can only move at a slow crawl on land. You could easily outdistance one walking, never mind running. The movie stated that they have heat pits, which they don’t, and showed them swallowing a person who was still alive in less than a minute. With the exception of species that feed on small, inoffensive prey like insects or frogs, snakes never begin swallowing until certain their prey is dead, as otherwise it could struggle and injure them. It also takes a couple of hours to swallow large prey. Having eaten a big meal, a snake hides itself away and doesn’t eat again for months – it certainly wouldn’t continue to go after further meals. An adu
