World's Longest Snake Comes Up Short

[matcom]

<snip>

KENDAL, Indonesia (Reuters) - It's still a big snake, just not a record-breaker.

When a recreation park in Indonesia put a huge reticulated python on show last week, keepers insisted to reporters it was 49 feet long. That made it the longest ever caught.

But amid growing skepticism of the claim, a photographer working for Reuters returned to the Curugsewu park in the small central Java town of Kendal Wednesday with a measuring tape. The snake's true length -- around 21 feet

"I have no idea why the snake has shrunk," said one keeper when asked about the discrepancy, as the snake lounged on a tree branch inside its cage.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=1&u=/nm/20040107/od_nm/indonesia_snake_dc

[SlavesandBulldozers]

1. maybe it got flaccid

sorry, i couldn't resist.

[wysimdnwyg]

2. Shrinkage!!!

It's because it was cold. Just ask George Costanza.

[BurtWorm]

3. Maybe it was wearing a sock when they measured it?

:shrug:

[wtmusic]

4. Was the snake in a flight suit?

:silly:

[101 Proof]

5. Definitely shrinkage...

I believe the snake was too damn cold. :P

[wryter2000]

6. That's what I thought

I couldn't see how anyone would think that snake was 49 feet long. Still, it's a beauty.