Farming Is Hazardous…But This?!

Farming has always been known as one of the most dangerous careers. According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) farming is the 8th most deadly occupation in the USA by total deaths. The National Safety Council shows farming as second in the nation in deaths per worker employed in the trade.

The vast majority of agricultural deaths, according to the USBLS, are due to motor vehicle accidents. This means of death is not surprising, transportation accidents have lead for all industries combined for as long as I can remember. Next, and probably the most preventable means of AG death are contact accidents: crushed by, pulled into, and struck by equipment. Farming is also a job that is likely to get you killed from violence by another human being or an animal.

The second half of the last sentence above is the reason for this post.

Farming is a job that is likely to get you killed from violence by…an animal.

I just read a story in Women’s Health detailing the death of an Indonesian farm woman who was found in her corn field swallowed whole by a 25 foot python.

Let me repeat that sentence…

I just read a story from Women’s Health detailing the death of an Indonesian farm woman who was found in her corn field swallowed whole by a 25 foot python!

Ironically, her reason for inspecting her corn field? Wild hogs (who are also known for eating humans). She left her home Thursday night to visit her cornfield about a half mile from her home because wild hogs were destroying her corn crop.

On Friday, 100 villagers searched the area and found a 23 foot-long snake with a very swollen belly. The villagers killed the snake, cut it open, and found her inside intact. She probably didn’t die inside the snake: A reticulated python secures its prey with a bite, then wraps its body around the victim, squeezing down until the victim cannot breathe, before consuming them.

I’ve heard stories about farmers falling down inside of a pig pen and being eaten, which I’m sure is not a pleasant way to go, but being swallowed whole by a snake is the stuff that B level horror movies are made from.

We will stay with gardening a few small garden beds where the snakes are not venomous or able to constrict our bodies.