What are the two snakes fighting?

Lafayette Louisiana College David Penning said: "they are tightly tied together, like two pipes in wrestling." However, if one of them is a king (King kingsnake, members of the genus) if you only need to wait for a moment, you will see the king will be laughing.

The king was called "King", because they are especially good at killing other snakes. They also eat rodents, lizards and birds, but at least 1/4 of them are snakes. Their kill is tight - close to the opponent, and then squeeze, squeezing their strength enough to make the prey cardiac arrest. Despite the fact that the snake was killing the prey, but in 2015, a study has shown that the deadly mechanism of snake bite is to close the blood vessels of the prey, and eventually stop the heart of the prey

For example, if the king eyeing a snake (ratsnake), it will jump up and bite each other, tightly wrapped, and then start biting a little swallow, a bite, and then several times around so alternately. Snake will certainly try to escape, but can not escape.

A snake eating up arrow arrow in the king

Penning has seen hundreds of times in such a scenario, he said, "I've never seen the king of trouble." Unless this king was too small, and choose the good times than their prey.

The king always win, but Penning don't know why.

The king of California. = = = photograph: David Penning

Scientists typically tighten the snake, most of them are Python or the big boa, they often attack mice or rats. In this case, snakes prey is small, so the snake on the tight Le is not surprising win. But the king can often strangled with his own even larger prey, and those prey will tighten. So why the king can win, but not by other snakes in the same way back?

Penning and his colleague Brad Moon then do experiments, they in the pre killed rodents and tied the pressure meter, and then let the 182 snake naylor. The 182 snakes belong to six different species, including a cobra snake. The result is clear: kingsnakes pressure is about two times of the snake. Although they look very similar, but the king is tighter, why?

Penning out of two possibilities, first of all, not because of its more muscle than snake. They confirmed the fact that they had dissected several Museum specimens. Secondly, they tested the ability to break the constraints of the snake itself, the king found break strength is not strong than the snake.

Penning suspects that the king really unique, it is a more effective way of winding prey.

The snake wound is a kind of "spring". Penning said the king is an elegant and compact coil, and the snake looks like just around the pasta. Snake winding way too casual, perhaps this is the reason they do not bite the king.

For the eastern kingsnake, as the corn snake snake. = = =

Kate Whitman of the Jackson Institute liked the study because it was driven by new ideas, not by technology. The technology used is simple. I could have done this experiment a long time ago, but no one thought of it."

The next Penning want to study whether it is winding way more effective, or kingsnakes muscles and the subtle differences. The snake and snake body almost, but whether it can generate more power? And what gives them amazing endurance? General combat will end in a few minutes, but if the kingsnakes lack of experience, can fight for 6~7 hours. Penning said, "the Olympic wrestling competition also only a few minutes, and the king is like the human battle for a couple of hours to do extreme weightlifting."

This also allows the king endurance can easily beat rattlesnakes, cottonmouth and Agkistrodon contortrix, these snakes a few minutes exhausted. And the king and not the snake venom, so the snake will bite the king -- but will let them their head exposed to the king. So they have to use their own body to fight back, the results often do not work. As a result, even the most deadly snakes can not kill the king.

David Penning and the snake arrow up arrow

Yong, E. (2017). How to a Snake When You 're Snake. The Kill a Atlantic.

Penning, D., A., & Moon, B. R. (in Prep). Identifying the mechanisms of predation: in vitro measurements of force and endurance from the expaxial muscles of kingsnakes (Lampropeltis holbrooki) and ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) Journal of Morphology.