Naturalist Paul Rosolie prepared a custom-built snake-proof suit to enter the belly of an anaconda, but he was never swallowed by the giant snake.
- December 8, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Discovery Channel raised people's expectation with "Eaten Alive" which was said to feature naturalist Paul Rosolie getting eaten alive by an anaconda while wearing a custom-built snake-proof suit. While it managed to gain attention despite complaints from animal welfare organizations, the show ended up failing to live up to its own title.
Seventy minutes of the 90-minute special was spent on tracking a 25-foot anaconda which he encountered years ago but was too big for him to restrain. The team found it, but the giant snake proved elusive so they decided to go with a smaller anaconda.
Rosolie donned the "snake-proof suit" soaked in pig's blood to attract the snake and the snake did take the bait. His body was constricted by the snake, raising his heart rate above 180. Just when it looked like the snake was going to eat him, opening its jaw onto his helmet, Rosolie felt his arm was about to break so he called his team to rescue him and pull the anaconda off.
Rosolie explained, "I felt her jaws lock onto my helmet. I felt her gurgling and wheezing but then I felt her let go. She got my arm into a position where her force was fully on my exposed arm. I started to feel the blood drain out of my hand and I felt the bone flex, and when I got to the point where I felt like it was going to snap I had to tap out."
He assured that the snake was alive and released back into the environment. "We didn't want to stress out a snake and then release her to the wild," he said, "We wanted to be able to check her out, make sure she was okay. We kept in touch with her keeper for weeks afterwards to make sure she was alive and back to normal. We wanted to keep the suspense but really, it wasn't that big of deal for the snake. But people have been drawing such crazy conclusions, we let them wonder."
Soon after the special aired, viewers voiced their disappointment on Twitter. "So guy on show TITLED #EatenAlive, was NOT #EatenAlive! I don't know what to believe anymore. Next you'll tell me pro wrestling isn't real," Corey Clayton wrote. Phil Varone tweeted, "So #EatenAlive was a real let down. Am I Right? Am I Righttt?"
Zak Bagans enthused, "#EatenAlive should have been called #SqueezedAlive instead ... False marketing LOL @Discovery." Another Twitter user wrote, "What the hell! That snake didn't eat him alive. All they did was cuddle. #EatenAlive."
