Filipino man survives snake attack by biting it in the neck and killing it
A man from Bohol successfully survived a python attack by fighting back and biting it to death.
In an interview with local media station DYRD, 48-year-old Boljulio Aleria said that he was driving his motorcycle around Barangay Quinapon-an in the town of Antequera at 2:00 a.m. when he suddenly encountered the slithering creature.
According to him, the snake, identified to be a reticulated python or a "baksan," had a body with the size of a beer grande and length that measured almost two arm spreads.
"I was on my motorcycle and I stopped because it was on the road and I wanted it to cross. But I was surprised because it attacked me. It bit my hand and I let go of the motorcycle. Then its tail looped around my waist. It happened so fast," Aleria recalled in the interview, which was translated from Cebuano to English.
The constrictor tried to squeeze the life out of him, with the struggle lasting for about several minutes.
In a desperate move to free himself from its coils, Aleria grabbed the snake's head with his free hand and sunk his teeth into its neck, biting off chunks of flesh until it died from the wounds.
"I thought I was going to die if I didn't fight back. And I thought that my only chance was to bite its neck so it would loosen a little bit. I bit it until its skin peeled off. And when the skin peeled off, I bit on its flesh. It was only then that it loosened," he said.
After being freed from the near-death experience, Aleria called the authorities for help.
"I was already feeling dizzy because I lost so much blood," he recounted.
Aleria was taken to a hospital in Tagbilaran City and was treated for the injuries he got from the snake bites. He shared that he is now feeling well, but that his wrist is still hurting as it sustained the biggest wound from the attack.
Regarding the python's fate, Aleria said that the residents have cooked it for a meal.
Reticulated pythons are considered the world's longest snake. Like all pythons, it is a non-venomous constrictor. Adult humans have been killed and eaten by these large predators in rare cases.