UNITED STATES—I’ve seen a lot of crazy things on television, but nothing compared to what I saw Sunday on the Discovery Channel. For weeks things have surfaced on the internet of a man working on a crusade to be swallowed by one of the largest snakes to mankind, the anaconda. Yes, we’ve seen the film “Anaconda,” which totted the idea, but is it really possible for a massive snake to swallow a human whole?
That was the question left on the viewers mind, and we got the opportunity to see just what would transpire in that situation. I’ll be the first to admit, I was intrigued by this idea; I found myself engulfed in this special, literally gripped by the survivalist and his team of researchers who ventured into parts of the world that have rarely been visited by mankind. Why? Because the dangers that lurk in the Amazon can’t be described with words. While Paul and his entire team were quite skilled at what they were doing, they had no idea of the treacherous fiends they would run into while in the wild.
We’ve seen shows like “Survivor” venture into the Amazon, but nothing like this. The level of treachery seen in this docu-series would send chills down one’s spine. My biggest concern was the level of risk these people were willing to take to attempt to capture the largest species of anaconda that man has known. There was just one slight problem; trying to get to the floating forest was no easy task.
I mean to see these people literally kayak across the river where some of the most dangerous alligators to mankind were ready to catch a meal had me reeling. “Are these people seriously doing this?” I mean if those gators had decided to attack they would have been dead in the water, literally. While watching this series for nearly two hours, the suspense continued to build unfortunately leading to a bit of a downfall.
When the team made it to the floating forest, it proved to be a place man just shouldn’t venture into. Any given mistake could lead to a watery grave or could turn a human into a snack. The team tackled one massive anaconda, but not the anaconda that Paul had been searching for. It appears the massive movement scared the breeding ground of the snakes to the bottom of the water for protection. So now what? Paul decides to be eaten alive by one of the most aggressive and largest green anaconda’s that he knows.
This was quite scary to say the least. Paul first found himself layered carefully with suit after suit. One to get a read on his vitals, another to protect from the snake’s acid inside of its stomach, and the most important: to protect him from being crushed. Paul needed mobility and decided to remove portions of the suit from his legs and arms: bad mistake. As he had his tussle with the snake, the amount of pressure the snake placed on Paul’s body literally had me gasping for air. He want this prey immobile and was on the verge of crushing Paul’s arm and causing massive damage to his body.
The video footage wasn’t the easiest for the audience to pick apart, but the snake did see Paul as a meal and attempted to eat him alive as the mouth began to overlap over his face. Yes, Paul was sort of being eaten, but not really. He tapped out within minutes of thinking the danger was becoming too much. I think the docu-series was being totted as a massive event and the level of suspense leading up to the “moment,” and did not deliver as we expected. It was compelling TV to say the least.
While I was educated even more on the potential danger of the Amazon, I found myself more engulfed in wanting to know more about this massive snake. It’s the largest snake on the planet, but as Paul echoed, what is leading to these snakes growing so large. I guess that is a question we’ll never know.