Dramatic Recent Developments in the Baddest Animal Debate
These are exciting times for followers of the Baddest Animal Debate. (Check this oldschool Pipeline coverage of the Baddest Animal Debate to give yourself some education about the matter.)
As most people know by now, some fantastic footage was taken of a 26-foot giant squid last month near the Bonin Islands. It was the first documentary proof of a live giant squid, so it was bound to be a major scientific discovery no matter what the squid actually did on film. But what was most astonishing was the aggressiveness and quickness of a creature that large. The squid struggled for hours to free itself from the line holding the bait and camera, sometimes squeezing its tentacles into a ball to slug the bait and the line to break free. In short, if you haven't seen the footage, go make an effort to find it. And not just the still photo; see the moving pictures. It's creepy seeing something that big move that fast when it's that pissed off. I'll never go 3,000 feet deep into the ocean again!
This was big news everywhere, but especially in the Baddest Animal Debate community. The giant squid has had many proponents, and frankly, seeing the footage last month made me a believer. Of course, given that sperm whales eat giant squids for lunch, literally, I don't think we can award the Heavyweight belt to the squid just yet.
Lesser weight classes have also been active, with last week's revelations about Python/Gator battles in the Florida Everglades. Over the years a lot of pythons and other large non-native snakes purchased as pets have been released there, and they seem to be adapting relatively well to the area. When those snakes get large enough, they become top-down predators, meaning that the Gators who typically didn't have many natural enemies now sometimes find themselves a little squeezed, so to speak. Apparently each of the four or so documented encounters have ended in a draw, though you could say this encounter had no winners.
9:39:33 PM 
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