Boa Constrictor Strangling Steve Backshall [Video]

A boa constrictor strangling Steve Backshall is the theme of the perhaps ill-advised publicity stunt video posted yesterday by BBC Earth. People, don’t try this one at home. As Backshall cheerfully warns us, the sinister snake slowly and sneakily begins to squeeze him around the neck, cutting off the supply of blood to the brain. Of course, you can’t really blame the snake too much, since Backshall placed it there himself in front of the rolling cameras.

One of the You Tube subscribers who watched the video, Kenneth Newbery, expressed what a lot of us were probably thinking: “I kinda feel sorry for the snake. That guy’s like ‘come on, snake. choke me’ but then he’s like nah? get off now.”

You’ll notice that we never actually see the boa constrictor being successfully removed from around Backstall’s neck. Uh oh.

But it’s all part of the promotion for the BBC series Deadly 60, in which Backshall tracks down what he considers to be 60 of the world’s deadliest species of animals. If this video clip is any indication, he then dares the animals to come and get him.

Despite the alleged dangers, to many people large snakes like boa constrictors are highly desired pets that can rank as some of the most attractive of the popular reptiles. With a projected full-size length of ten feet and a lifespan that could reach over 20 years, they’re not for everybody. Be certain that you know what you’re getting into before you purchase a boa or any of its relatives like the pythons.

Petfinder said that there have been less than 10 deaths from pythons and constricting snakes reported in a decade, but they still strongly advise against taking a chance. The snake should never be worn around the neck. Peter Taylor, a reptile expert at the St. Louis Zoo, told Petfinder, “the specimens who have killed adult men have not been really large. But once a snake gets around the upper body, a person can become unconscious in minutes, if their carotid artery gets cut off.”

Well, when you see the video, you will see that the boa constrictor draped around Steve Backshall’s neck was really large. Not cool, Steve.

[boa constrictor photo courtesy Pavel Ševela / Wikimedia Commons