Oooohhhh Betty! Super snake has keepers quaking

Atomic Betty, as she's known, is a 14-year-old, 6.5m articulated python - the only snake in the world considered a true "man eater''.

The powerful python was due for her annual weigh-in this week at the Australian Reptile Park, the Daily Telegraph reported.

It took six keepers to catch and bag the enormous snake - considered the most dangerous animal at the park, more so than the resident 5m crocodiles - inside its enclosure before it was weighed, tipping the scales at a whopping 139kg.

Native to South-east Asia, reticulated pythons are the world's largest snake and can grow to 8m with a life expectancy of about 30 years.

Atomic Betty is believed to be the largest snake in Australia having grown to 6.5m after being imported from the US in 2001.

Her diet consists of three to four 25kg goats a year.

Snakes alive! Man-eating reptiles online

WARNING: graphic images follow!

My brother-in-law thoughtfully sent an email to me today with the following pictures, accompanied by text warning me to "never fall asleep or get drunk in the jungle!".

If this is what can happen, duly noted!

But seriously, do these pictures genuinely show a human corpse inside a large snake? Or is it merely a clever photoshop chop job? And what's more, can giant snakes really eat people? The jury seems to be out on the last question...

I'm not 100% sure, but these photos look like they could be of a Reticulated Python, a native of several Asian countries (including Sumatra/Indonesia, hence why I was sent the email) a species rather fond of constricting their prey until dead.

And just because we're on a 'snake eats man' roll, check out these pictures from the general same neck of the woods. These ones have been deemed fake by some quarters, but no one has been able to entirely rule out the story told by these pictures...