Jill Kress, age 13, of Minden, Louisiana, for her question:

How big an obiect can a  python swallow?

A small snake can swallow an egg bigger than his own head, often without breaking the shell. This is possible because he has special equipment for swallowing large objects. His lower jaw bone is in two sections, joined with a very elastic ligament. In some snakes, the upper jaw also is jointed in this way. The other ends of the jaw bones extend to the back of the skull and become part of a very stretchable contraption of bones and elastic ligaments. The snake's teeth curve backward and this helps to grip the victim. Meantime he moves one side of his jaw forward, then the other side. This inches the victim down the wide, stretchable mouth and throat.

Some of the biggest snakes are the 30 foot pythons    and you would expect them to swallow the biggest objects. But observers tell us that this is not true. Pythons feed mostly on rodents, monkeys, birds and other smallish animals. Some have been known to swallow a pig. But pythons, as a rule, rarely tackle a victim of over 100 pounds.