Eyes

[Stefan-A]

Maybe not relevent.... but what springs to my mind is certain snakes (such as Pituophis) which are known constrict their prey underground (in burrows) by pressing the animal against the side of it's tunnel. Obviously Pituophis are pretty successful constrictors above ground too.

Which of the North American snakes was it that would often killed rodents through the sheer force of the strike? Could be a myth, but some species or genus has a reputation for doing that. Pituophis? Coluber?

[adamanteus]

I bet Pituophis could do this. They're also well known for multiple kills, constricting two or more animals at one time.

[Stefan-A]

Well, we'll never really know for sure until Back to the Future becomes a reality. :P

Well, the fact that nobody has come back from the future, pretty much shows that it's not going to become reality.

[Zephyr]

My friend had a garter *this was a LONG time ago* that would take full grown mice. It would absolutely devastate them. My friend would drop a mouse in the cage and it would already be dead. lol

[Garter_Gertie]

Ripley, a bull snake, while a constrictor will sometimes smoosh his prey against the sides of the glass. And he goes down little animal holes.

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Perhaps the potential for producing venom was always there, lying dormant, and it didn't start becoming lethal until much later; which would give constriction being first a chance... Perhaps we will never know; we weren't there...

Time machines??? Naaah... Too messy with keeping the continuum intact and all... Perhaps parallel universes... Either way, we'd probably catch a nasty virus from the foreign environment and die in a flaming fever with boils, never having given the origins of snake venom even a second thought! LOL!

Steve