Comments on: Snakes on Plains – Part Deux

By: Hillbilly Girl

Hillbilly Girl — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:42:35 +0000

I feel I must disagree with many of the comments about Congo snake. I saw this image many, many years ago … before Photoshop popularized ‘mysterious creatures.’ The pilot, Remy Van Lierde, was a World War II ace honored with two Distinguished Flying Cross awards for skill and bravery under fire. Long before he was a pilot, he was known as a reputable, trained observer. He was commander of Kamina Air Base in the Congo, where he took this image. He died in 1990 just before his 75th birthday; for more than 30 years, his version of events never wavered.

While some may have many years experience with snakes, surely all will recognize that science is still discovering new and wonderful species. Eleven new species of plants and animals were recently discovered in Vietnam. Many other discoveries, like Vietnam’s ’spindle horn’ had been dismissed ‘rumor’ or ‘native myth’ until a Western or European scientist was able to see for himself. Add to that, some snakes continue to grow throughout their lifetimes. In that case, it is possible this is a very old specimen.

While a healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing, I believe one should nurture a sense of wonder about our amazing universe, which is still quite capable of surprise.

Albert Einstein said: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”

By: skeptik

skeptik — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:00:26 +0000

Ah, anyone know of a better version of the van Lierde photograph? And who were the experts?

Found this page about him.

“He commanded Kamina Air Base in the Belgian Congo 1959-60″ and died in 1990, apparently.

By: katbe

katbe — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:14:18 +0000

Reptiles are always fascinating. I am actually interested if anyone has got some extra info on ‘flying snakes’ that supposedly been attracting attention of some reporters in rural Russia. YES i am aware that it’s easy to experience “mysterious” creatures in countries and/or settings that are not generally known for being well traveled. Especially Russia has lately been prone to story telling especially when it comes to fantastic and ‘mysterious’… whether it’s angels seen by astronauts, aliens in ones basement or giant-flying-anything roaming the meadows. In any case … there seem to be some nifty large reptiles in the grassy Volga region (vague? you bet!) who are known to jump out at people and sometimes paralyze them. So who has heard anything so far?

By: afigbee

afigbee — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 04:16:54 +0000

If that illustration is based on a photograph, and it sort of looks like a tracing, somebody might be able to dig up that issue of Dario de Pernambuco.

By: traveler

traveler — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:49:45 +0000

Yup, I love big snakes. I think that they are as likely as not to be found in any of the largely unexplored jungle regions. Not to say that there is a large population of giants, but there should be some. I think that the giants are an unknown species, not just larger ones of the known.

By: kamoeba

kamoeba — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:18:15 +0000

Regarding the Congo photo, if nothing else I can’t make heads or tails of what the landscape is even supposed to be. Is it flat land, a mountainside, a river, what? When I first saw this photo I thought the whiter areas on the landscape were a flowing river, but if that’s the case, the snake’s tail is floating as though it was inflatable. It looks to me like it could be a small snake slithering on the inside of a helicopter’s lower windshield to create a forced perspective, making the snake look huge. If you look at the color picture of the three young guys holding the immense snake you’ll notice it’s body gets two or three times thicker in the middle than it’s head. The snake in the Congo photo just doesn’t look right proportionally to be a “giant snake”. Also, if you look at the landscape, the center of the photo is quite blurry and it gets worse at the top, right and bottom edges. I maintain that the snake is too well focused to have been on the ground at the time of the photo. The accompanying story seems unlikely to me as well.

By: shovethenos

shovethenos — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:38:58 +0000

I think the alleged snake in the black and white picture looks like it is in sharper focus due to the sun’s reflection on its scales. In my opinion it looks pretty authentic, although it is very difficult to estimate size from that picture.

By: kaboobi

kaboobi — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:54:19 +0000

Great dig Loren! That is exactly the picture that I (and loyalfromlondon) were talking about on the previous blog. still dont believe the dimensions listed, but you never know until you see it for yourself.

By: L Ron Hubbub

L Ron Hubbub — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:16:11 +0000

I agree with kamoeba I call shenanigans on the giant snake pic.

By: kamoeba

kamoeba — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:34:03 +0000

That B&W Congo photo doesn’t look legit to me…the snake is in relatively sharp focus but its surroundings are incredibly blurry. The story about how it reared up to attack the helicopter seems pretty farfetched as well.