Who is the victor?? (Animal struggle, please explain how)?

Posted on 2016-02-22 18:42:00 in Biology by KYLEE

I recently saw a cormorant at our local park. It dove pretty quickly, soon after it came up struggling with a large green eel. The thick 2' eel seemed quite determined to escape by thrashing and wrapping around the (almost choking it!) the birds neck! Still, after about 2 minutes the bird somehow opened real wide and swallowed it down entirely... But the battle for life and dinner wasn't over yet! The desperate eel still resisted and seemed to desperate wriggle out and show itself from birds stomach many times, only to be gulped back in. Watching the bird contend with this monster was some sight! Eventually the uncomfortable cormorant swam away with what appeared to be the unfortunate prey completely wriggling in its stomach! 

Sorry to digress, my questions are as follows... So can the bird really manage to digest that huge thing bones and all and how?? Does the poor eel (it was a pretty green color too) stand any slim chance of escaping (or even damaging it I imagine!) the hungry birds stomach or is it doomed as food really?! Hard to imagine that the supposed large prey lost its life to become just another meal for the hungry birds belly!

---

Answer Comment

No Answers Posted Yet.