4. Giant Snakes
Ever since the first Western explorers set foot in South America, there has been talk of giant anacondas. Early colonists made wild-eyed claims that their new home was populated by 18 metre (59 feet) long snakes and these reports were corroborated by native accounts of anacondas that could grow just as long (probably the same anacondas, now that I think about it!). It is rare for an anaconda to grow longer than 7 metres (23 feet) in length, but it does happen. Adult anacondas can indeed exceed 9 metres (30 feet) in length (and all fully grown anacondas are at least 4.5 metres -15 feet - long). Snakes will continue to grow over the course of their lives, the older they get, the bigger they get. However, I must point out that the growth rate does slow significantly over time. Percy Fawcett, the British archaeologist and explorer (who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1925) claimed to have shot (and subsequently measured) an anaconda measuring 19 metres (62 feet) long in 1907. Fawcett is by no means alone in his accounts, other explorers also claimed to have seen (or killed) anacondas of immense size. In the 1940s, to cite one more example, a Columbian geologist allegedly encountered an anaconda measuring 11 metres (37 feet) in length. The longest snake ever held in captivity is a reticulated python called Medusa. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, can eat an entire deer in one sitting and measures an astonishing 7.62 metres (25 feet). Apparently, she purrs like a cat when happy (and hisses loudly when upset although quite why anyone in their right mind would want to upset a 25 foot python is beyond me!). Finally, in 1959, a Belgian helicopter pilot snapped a picture of a giant snake in the Congo. Experts usually agree that the snake in the picture is between 12 -15 metres (40 - 50 feet) in length, but locals tell stories of snakes that are purportedly even bigger that that.