Children climb and slide along a large snake in a residential yard in Indonesia as adults watch and film. (Foto: Instagram)
A video recorded in Indonesia shows children playing on a giant snake, with one boy sitting on its body and sliding down it as if it were a playground slide. Another child approaches and interacts with the reptile while adults watch and film the scene on their phones.
The Israeli news site JFeed published the footage. The snake is stretched out on the ground in a residential yard. At one point, a child climbs over it and slides along its body.
JFeed said the snake appeared to be a reticulated python, a species found in Southeast Asia and considered the world’s longest snake. Reticulated pythons can exceed 6 meters (about 20 feet) in length. The video shows the snake is alive and moving its head, but it is not known whether it had been sedated or exposed to a substance that left it disoriented.
Although it is not venomous, the reticulated python is a large predator that kills by constriction, wrapping its body around prey and squeezing. Its diet includes mammals and birds.
Encounters with people can also be fatal. In 2024, a 45-year-old woman was found dead inside the body of a python measuring about 5 meters in South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. A similar case was reported in the same region in 2023. The species can also be found in rural areas and near homes, where potential prey may be present.
