Close Encounters with Giant Anacondas

Much like Indiana Jones, I'm not especially fond of snakes. Maybe that's why stories like this one from Environmental Graffiti give me the creeps. The story tells the tale of the giant anacondas, found lurking deep in the Amazon, and the people who are crazy enough to go looking for them.

Anacondas have been measured as much as 32 feet in length, and over 500 pounds in weight, although snakes of that size are quite rare. Natives to the Amazon tell stories of much larger snakes deep in the jungle, but if they're out there, they have yet to be discovered. Still, scientists haven't ruled out these giants existing out there somewhere.

Looking at the videos and photos with this story, you'll begin to understand just how scary these snakes are. When I was in the Amazon earlier this year, I only saw one anaconda, and it was roughly six feet long, but the ones pictured here are in excess of 20 feet or more, and the videos demonstrate how powerful they are. Crazy stuff, and I'm glad I didn't encounter anything this big while I was stumbling around down there.