You’d never believe what I witnessed not long ago! I was wandering around my ranch when I saw something out of the ordinary. It put me in a moral bind. And if I had chosen to intervene, I may have put myself at ʀɪsᴋ. So I simply stood there and watched the whole event unfold in front of my eyes. Pythons are large snakes that may be just as ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs to people as they are to other animals. I knew I had to keep away if I wanted to sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ, but I also knew that the python was just as ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs as what it had eaten that day. While pythons might be a ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs opponent, porcupines aren’t any better.
Their spines can penetrate deeply, and they have no qualms about launching them at you or anything else if they believe it is in ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀ. That’s precisely what this snake had just seen, and it didn’t hesitate to consume the porcupine whole. It didn’t anticipate it wouldn’t taste nice and would even be ᴅɪffɪᴄᴜʟᴛ to digest. I assume sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡing it would be really unpleasant. I started to think about what might happen if a python ate a porcupine. But whatever it was, I knew neither of them had a hope of sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ. Those spines would wreak havoc on its insides, and I knew that wouldn’t be good for the python.
I was amazed it didn’t get sᴛᴜᴄᴋ by the porcupine before it got a chance to eat it, but it would have been just as awful. Life has a weird way of sʜᴏᴄᴋing you, and this was one of them. The porcupine, for some reason, did not perceive the snake as a significant ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ. I suppose flashing fangs isn’t truly an act of hostility. The serpent bulged up as I’d never seen before. The spines had to have gotten into its digestive tract, and I knew it had to have caused the animal ᴇxᴄʀᴜᴄɪᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴘᴀɪɴ. That item wouldn’t go down easily with even a glass of water.
The snake must have understood at that time that it shouldn’t have eaten the porcupine. It doesn’t take a PhD in Zoology to see that it was responding instinctively, and the reptile brain isn’t designed for sophisticated reasoning. The porcupine moved down its digestive tract. So I realized there was no way it could ever pull that thing out, and I knew the animal’s life was in ᴊᴇᴏᴘᴀʀᴅʏ. But I couldn’t say much more about the porcupine. I couldn’t help but wonder what the spines were doing to the snake’s insides. I was unsure how long the snake would live in its present form, and I had no clue if it would be minutes or hours until it ᴅɪᴇd.
The snake remained still for some minutes as if it had decided there was nothing else for it to do. Nonetheless, I wasn’t sure if it was truly d.e.a.d. Many of its vital organs must have been affected by the spines. If it wasn’t already d.e.a.d, there was a high chance it would be shortly. I moved in closer, but the snake didn’t move. So I was quite certain it was d.e.a.d. It hadn’t moved in a while, and it didn’t appear to be breathing. Nonetheless, I was wary about approaching too near. Even though the snake is not ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs, its bite may be contagious. The last thing I needed was to be ᴀssᴀᴜʟᴛᴇᴅ, especially when there was no one nearby for miles.
The bite, however, would be nothing compared to the thought of it wrapping around you like a wire and physically sucking the life out of you. I ultimately got a hold of the snake’s head. It didn’t move a muscle, and I knew it was ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at that point. I had no notion if the porcupine was still alive, but I suspected it wasn’t. However, miracles have been known to occur. I took out a knife and sliced the snake open just where the porcupine was lodged. It appeared to be well digested, but it hadn’t totally ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ down. A porcupine, no matter its size, maybe ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs to any ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀ.
It might be able to consume, but it would be ᴅɪffɪᴄᴜʟᴛ for it to digest. That was proven by what I had just witnessed, and the python sᴜffᴇʀᴇᴅ the price for making that error. Even man’s best friend should learn to ᴀᴠᴏɪᴅ these spine-filled animals, as they may become ᴛʀᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ just as easily as any other animal that gets in its way. If you spot a porcupine approaching, make careful to warn your dog. I ᴅᴏᴜʙᴛ any dog (or dog owner) would like to extract porcupine needles that are deeper than you believe. Porcupines aren’t as sweet and cuddly as they appear in the animation “Sing.” You should never go too near to them since they are ᴅᴇᴀᴅʟʏ creatures.
Getting ᴛʀᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ is not going to be a pleasant experience. But I can guarantee you that it will be excruciatingly unpleasant. Keep that in mind the next time you encounter a porcupine out in the woods.
