Córdoba’s Giant Snake
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 15th, 2009
On Sunday, February 15, 2009, Columbia Today is reporting that a giant snake is terrifying farmers in the north Colombia department of Córdoba. Eyewitnesses say the snake has a size never seen in the region.
According to Caracol Radio, the residents of villages near the swamp of Betancí are scared of the snake they say is 12 meter (39 feet) long and approximately 20 centimeters (8 inch) thick.
Locals have reported no accidents with the snake, but are terrified and called on local authorities to catch the reptile before anyone gets hurt and to return calmth to the communities.
It will be recalled that only ten days ago the international media was full of news of the discovery of a giant fossil snake. The colossal newly discovered snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis (above) was found in Colombia.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
That’s an interesting correlation between recent fossil findings of a giant snake species and the more recent sightings/encounters of a giant snake……..the power of suggestion perhaps???
There are alot of reports of giant snakes out there, so it does make you wonder about the validity of whether or not they exist in sizes greater than 30 feet. But even at 30 feet it would be hard for most people to estimate the size of the animal accurately without some sort of measuring device. In this report they said that the snake is estimated at 39 feet, so it could simply be a maximum size anaconda of 30 feet just exaggerated a bit, or an anaconda that is the exception rather than the rule. But it seems to me like it would be very difficult to tell the difference between an anaconda 30 feet long from one 40 feet long (on the ground) without actually measuring it. And snakes are very hard to measure too. I have 2 young corn snakes, the youngest is between 18-20 inches, and the oldest is between 26-28 inches long. I just measured them the other day. But when I got the oldest one out of her cage my wife and I estimated that she was up to maybe 3 feet long, but when we actually got out the measuring tape, laid her on the ground and got her to start travelling in a straight line and put the tape down beside her she measured about 27 inches (give or take an inch). If you actually try to pull the snake tight for measuring, they will not cooperate, lol. But the point is, it is very hard to estimate the size of a snake, and I’m pretty good with distances, dimensions, etc and I think if I can be off by 6-8 inches on a 2-3 foot snake, imagine the room for error on a 20′ to 30′ long snake………
I’m no herpetologist, but I always thought the best way to measure a snake was with a good ol’ piece of string that you put on the serpent’s top side starting from the head and taking it with your fingers all the way to the end of the tail. You know, because trying to straighten an adult anaconda or a python… that would be quite a difficult task 😉
Depends on the snake really. That may actually work on a large snake, but my small snakes have seemingly fragile heads and really like to coil/wrap for security when being handled. I actually tried a string but to no avail. So the best method, that works for me in the particular case of the snakes that I own, is to take them outside in the very short grass of my front yard, set the snake down and let it start moving good towards whatever direction, and as soon as the snake is stretched out fully I will put the measuring tape (outstrected) in it’s path a little ahead of the snake and when it’s head reaches the end of the tape I quickly look at the tape and tail and take note. Other’s with more experience with snakes may have developed better ways, but that seems to be the quickest/easiest for me and seems the snake is most outstretched during locomotion
Thanks for the suggestion though RPJ, I appreciate it.
Small snakes – put them in a mailing tube, etc. Find a size big enough to for snake to go through, not oo big or too small. Generally they will stretch out okay if they feel enclosed. on bigger sometimes I’ve had good luck getting them to lay against the baseboard of a wall.
I agree cliffhanger – tape measures have a way of reducing the size of snakes considerably. Just like scales reduce the weight of fish. I’ve gotten calls to get a “seven or eight foot” blacksnake out of someone’s house. It always turns out to be four or five feet tops. Just like that five or six pound bass is usually three or four.
Most people are terrible at estimating size and weight of animals especially in a setting where they are surprised or traumatized as these Colombians evidently are. Its’ probably a big anaconda, and much bigger than they’ve seen in several decades. A hundred years ago, really huge (28 – 30) foot anacondas were probably far more common than they are now.
Alligator – Thanks for the tip, I had noticed before that if you buy a snake and have it shipped that the shippers use those clear plastic mailing tubes, that’s a very good idea for containing one for measurement too.
I noticed one a separate post that you have kept rattlers in the past?? WOW, lol. Those are beautiful snakes, and to me most venomous snakes are actually “prettier” and have more elaborate patterns than the non-venomous variety, but I’ll have to stick to the non-venomous snakes, lol. I do like the western hognose though, that is the one non-venomous snake that I know of that has the same feel to it as a hot snake. That actually may be the next addition to my collection.