Police in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania recently killed a snake found wrapped around a man’s neck, but the person has since died.
Authorities with the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office said Monday that 27-year-old Elliot Senseman, who lived in Upper Macungie Township, passed away Sunday at a local hospital, NBC Philadelphia reported.
According to the coroner’s office, the cause of death was “Anoxic Brain Injury due to Asphyxiation by Constriction,” and the manner of death ruled an accident.
“A Boa Constrictor type snake approximately 18’ in length constricted around the neck of Mr. Senseman, thus causing the anoxic brain injury (complete lack of oxygen to the brain),” the agency continued.
When Upper Macungie Township police arrived at the scene Wednesday, Senseman was unconscious and suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Fogelsville.
Officers then shot the snake in its head, killing it, Breitbart News reported Thursday.
Had police not acted, “I don’t know how they would’ve released the male from the grasp of the snake, honestly,” Lieutenant Peter Nickischer said at the time.
The creature was reportedly a pet that had grown to be enormous in size, authorities noted, and the coroner’s office said the snake was 18-feet long.
The boa constrictor got its name due to its “mode of predation” which is constriction, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute website read:
Instead of injecting poison into its prey, it strikes, grabs and squeezes until the prey is subdued. Once the prey is dead, the snake swallows it whole.
Boa constrictors are able to adjust their hunting behaviors according to the density of possible prey items in their habitat. In most cases, they are ambush predators, meaning they sit and wait for a desirable prey item to pass by. However, if food is scarce, they become more active to seek out prey.
Per the NBC report, authorities were still investigating the incident.
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