#eaten alive

This is no ordinary man being eaten by an ordinary snake (as if that could ever be ordinary). Here’s the low down on what you need to know about this “dangerous game” in the jungle:

• The dude is Paul Rosolie. He is a snake researcher and conservationist who has dedicated his career to studying snakes, particularly the giant green anaconda. This summer, he went into the Amazonian jungle to track down one of these creatures and be “eaten alive” – hence the title of the Discovery Channel special.

• The giant green anaconda is the world’s largest and most powerful snake, as well as the top predator in the Amazon. Anacondas can open their mouths to almost 180 degrees, with jaws attached by elastic ligaments, so it is actually possible for them to swallow a person; right after they crush their bones, of course.

• Paul found the snake. He tracked down a 20ft-long green anaconda, and then donned a suit of specially manufactured armor covered in pigs’ blood so that the snake would be attracted to him. He then crawled on all fours toward the snake, willing her to attack him so that he might journey through her intestines.

• He didn’t actually get eaten. Despite the title of the show, Paul only got part of his head into the snake’s mouth before feeling his arm break under the snake’s coil and shouting to his team to rescue him. So the world continues to not know what it’s like to travel through the inside of a giant green anaconda.

It’s probably better that way.