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A king snake’s strength is in its squeeze

Studies suggest how the snake coils matters more than muscle size

King snake

HOLD TIGHT  King snakes coil around mice like a spring, squeezing tight enough to stop a rodent’s heart.

D. Penning

By Elizabeth Eaton

- More than 2 years ago

It’s not the size of a snake’s muscles that matter, but how it uses them. King snakes can defeat larger snakes in a wrestling match to the death because of how they coil around their prey, researchers report March 15 in the Journal of Experimental Biology.