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| Sunday, 8 May 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Anaconda : The king of snakes
The massive size of this creature has earned it the title 'king of snakes'. It is considered to be the largest snake in the world. The other snake that competes with the anaconda is the Asiatic Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus). The python holds the world's record for the length of a snake, with the longest measured at 33 feet. Even though the longest python is longer than the record-holding anaconda, the girth of the anaconda is far bigger than that of the python. Most anacondas are over 30 feet long and live an average of 25-30 years. The females give birth to about 33 little snakes at a time. The female anaconda generally outweighs the male anaconda. Anacondas are part of the Boidae family, which includes boas and pythons. They are natives of tropical South America.
There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to about 100 feet in length. Some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have also reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet in length. But no one has caught and measured an anaconda anywhere near that size, yet. The anaconda generally lives in and around rivers, so it would be difficult to estimate the length of one seen swimming, without seeing the entire snake. It's the anaconda's ability to remain partly hidden in the water which makes it difficult to accurately measure its length. After all, who would want to jump into the water after a giant anaconda to try and measure it? Anacondas kill their prey by coiling their large, powerful bodies around their victims, and squeezing their prey until they suffocate or are crushed to death.
Anacondas are rather slow-moving snakes, so they have to rely on stealth and an element of surprise to catch their unsuspecting prey. Anacondas, like other snakes are cold-blooded. They do not chew their food but swallow it, which is then digested along with the bones, with the help of strong acids inside the snake's stomach. The anaconda, just like other reptiles then rests for a few days to a few weeks, depending upon the size of the food. Although anacondas have teeth, they are not venomous. They rely on their enormous size and power to subdue their victims. It is possible to be bitten by an anaconda, but the bite itself would not be fatal.Because the anaconda's weight is usually supported by liquid, it can grow larger than snakes that make their homes on trees. The water-based green anaconda often winds up drowning its victims as they are pulled into the water, rather than suffocating them by constriction. - CK |
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Have you seen the popular movie 'Anaconda'? Do you remember how that
huge slithering and terrifying creature killed so many people, causing
massive devastation. The movie led people to believe that anacondas are
deadly creatures, and could swallow whole, a well built man. 
There are two types of anacondas. The yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus)
which typically grows to about 10 to 13 feet and the larger green anaconda
(Eunectes murinus) which is among the largest and most powerful snakes in
the world. 
Then the snake loosens up its jaw, and swallows the victim whole.
Although they are big and strong enough to eat people, they seldom do so.
Anacondas have a diverse diet. They eat aquatic and amphibious animals,
including different types of mammals, fish, caiman (a relative of the
allegator), deer, birds and turtles. 
