Annette Ellinger, age 11, of Phoenix, Ariz., for her question:

COULD A PERSON STRANGLE A BOA?

The boa snakes are born stranglers, or so we are told. In any case, a strong man would fail to win a strangling contest with a 20 foot boa constrictor. An average person could cope with one of the smaller species. However, it seems hardly fair to strangle the little snake. Boas usually are harmless unless provoked, and they do much to keep down the ratty rodent populations.

Some people assume that the boa snakes strangle their victims, perhaps by the throat. If this were so, it might seem like simple justice to punish all the boas with death by strangulation. However, this popular idea is not quite true. Actually the boas sometimes kill their victims by suffocation. They also have lots of sharp teeth to grab their victims and swallow them down, alive and kicking.

The largest boa is the anaconda of South America, who may be 20 feet long.  He enjoys life in a lazy stream, swimming, floating, basking on the bank and sometimes coiled in a bough overhanging the water. When a chubby aguti comes down to drink, the anaconda may grab him in a toothy grip and drown the victim for dinner.

However, sometimes he coils his snaky body around the victim's body. As the captive breathes out, the boa merely tightens his grip a little, so that the next breath is impossible. The victim cannot refill his lungs and soon perishes by suffocation.

The mighty anaconda seldom chooses a victim weighing more than 100 pounds or so, and after such a meal he must rest for a couple of weeks. He does not hunt humans, and when provoked he defends himself by biting. A team of strong men could uncoil him and perhaps strangle him. But no person could subdue this giant boa alone.

Several smaller boas measuring 2 or 3 feet live in parts of North America. No doubt an average adult could uncoil one of these smallish snakes  but this is risky. While a person is busy uncoiling and trying to strangle him, the boa is sure to defend himself with a toothy bite.