THE GREATEST OF ALL SNAKES
The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world, when both weight and length are considered. It can reach a length of 30 feet (9 meters) and weigh up to 550 pounds (227 kilograms).
To picture how big that is, if about FIVE ten-year-olds lie down head to foot, they'd be about the length of this huge snake. And it'd take about 11 kids to weigh as much as one anaconda.
These snakes can be go around a full grown man about 3 times. They have some giant relatives, too.
The green anaconda is a member of a family of snakes called constrictors. Constrictors are not venomous snakes. They don't kill prey by delivering venom through a bite. Instead, constrictors wrap their bodies around their prey and squeeze until it stops breathing.
The giant snake opens its mouth wide enough to swallow its victim—sometimes fish or caiman (relatives of crocodiles) and even jaguars and small deer.
Anaconda jaws are held together with stretchy ligaments so they can open wide enough to swallow prey whole.
The green anaconda is an aquatic snake. It lives in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving rivers. It's nocturnal, or active at night. An anaconda will hunt on land, but it prefers to stay in the water, where its huge size feels less bulky.
The green anaconda can move swiftly both underwater and at the surface. To hunt, it lies at the surface of a pond or stream waiting for an animal to stop by for a drink. Its nostrils are located on the top of its snout, so it can breathe while almost entirely submerged.
When it attacks, it springs from the water and grabs the unsuspecting creature with its small, sharp teeth, quickly wrapping its body around the victim and squeezing it until it stops breathing. It then maneuvers its prey into its mouth, usually headfirst, and powerful muscles contract in waves to crush the meal and push it down to its stomach.
FAST FACTS
The scientific name of the green anaconda is Eunectes murinus. Eunectes comes from a Greek word for "good swimmer".In the wild, a green anaconda generally lives an average of ten years.
The Boidae family of snakes includes anacondas, boas, and pythons.
One Spanish name for this snake is matatoro, which means "bull killer."
The reticulated python can grow to be longer than the green anaconda, but the anaconda is much heavier.
The green anaconda can stay underwater for as long as ten minutes without coming to the surface to breathe.
Green anacondas live in the tropics of South America, as far south as Argentina, east of the Andes mountain range. Most are found in the areas along the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.
The digestion of one meal for a green anaconda can take weeks. The snake can go for months between meals.
Though anacondas have been known to attack people, there is no record of one ever killing a human.
The green anaconda is usually dark green with black spots. The spots along its sides have yellow centers.
The female green anaconda is larger than the male.
About six months after mating, a female anaconda gives birth to between 20 and 40 baby snakes.
Text by Catherine D. Hughes
Thank you for reading, God bless you!
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