by Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴡʀᴇɴᴄʜɪɴɢ footage captures the moment a wildcat sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇs to breathe as it tries to free itself from the grips of a boa constrictor before being ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇd by locals.
The incident took place in the town of Las Lajitas, Salta, in north west Argentina, when two men spotted the animals ʙᴀᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ it out in the middle of the road. Seeing the feral cat ᴅʏɪɴɢ, locals flocked to try to free it from the python’s grip.
In the video, the snake can be seen coiled around the jaguarundi, a small wild cat, in the middle of a dirt road. The cat can be heard yelping as it works to try to free itself from the snake’s coils.
Sole Rojas, a forest ranger who shared the video, said: “Between two people they managed to unwrap the boa and release the animal. It is always a risk, but people in the area know how to manipulate wild animals and this snake is not venomous.”
After a while of trying to pull the snake out, the cat was finally ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅ.
Rojas said that there are three national parks in the area from where the animals could have ventured from, including the National Park of El Rey (The King), the national reservoir of Pizarro and the natural park of Los Palmares.
Boa constrictor occidentalis, also commonly known as the Argentine boa, is a subspecies of large, heavy-bodied, nonvenomous, constricting snake. Boa constrictor occidentalis is a member of the family Boidae, found in the subtropical temperate west of Argentina and Paraguay, although some members have been reported to exist in Bolivia as well.
Adult males reach anywhere between 6 and 8 feet. Whereas adult females can reach lengths of 8 to 10 feet regularly, though some members have been found to reach as long as 4 m (13.13 ft). Male members of this subspecies on average weigh 4.06 kg (8.95 lb). Female members are much heavier, weighing at an average of 6.13 kg (13.5 lb).
This boa is an opportunistic hunter, feeding on small animals, birds, and rodents. This subspecies is very active at night, climbing on trees to ᴀᴍʙᴜsʜ ᴘʀᴇʏ. As per its species, the Boa constrictor occidentalis ᴋɪʟʟs ᴘʀᴇʏ by constriction. It ᴀᴍʙᴜsʜᴇs ᴘʀᴇʏ, grasping the ᴘʀᴇʏ using its mouth and large teeth, proceeding to wrap its coils around the body of the prey, exerting high amounts of external pressure that stop ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ flow to the ʙʀᴀɪɴ, quickly ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ the prey.
The boa constrictor occidentalis is considered a ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ subspecies due to strong ʜᴜɴᴛɪɴɢ and ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴜʀᴇ pressures for both its skin and for the pet trade.
