New Study: How Boa Constrictors Kill

For a long time, herpers have been irritably telling the uninitiated that constricting snakes don't kill by crushing their prey, but by suffocating it. The study described here shows that neither is exactly true. It's a matter of stopping the circulation, which allows much quicker kills than suffocation would. I don't think the article is quite right to call this heart attack, but the point is interesting nonetheless.

Jens Raschendorf/Creative Commons
Boa Constrictors Give Heart Attacks, They Don’t Suffocate: "Boa constrictors are widely believed to kill prey by cutting off the air flow and suffocating it. But a new study has revealed that this is a flawed line of thought. In reality, Boa constrictors kill prey by cutting off the blood flow and giving heart attacks."