A 15-metre, 450-kg reticulated python is reportedly on display at a village zoo in Indonesia (Google News search). That would shatter the records for longest and heaviest recorded snake. But I’m extremely skeptical of this report for several reasons. One, it’s about 17 feet longer than the documented record for this species. Two, it’s been publicized before it’s been confirmed — I smell a scheme to get rich off credulous tourists. And three, everyone exaggerates snakes’ length, because it’s impossible for the inexperienced to eyeball it — how many six-foot garter snakes have been reported?