Is the Giant Anaconda Real or Fiction? Giant anaconda The largest snake in the world is the green anaconda.

giant anaconda called a water boa - a non-venomous snake. The snake gets its name from the Tamil word that comes with the word anaconda, means "killer of elephants", but in Latin the translation is "good swimmer". Etymologists believe that the rattlesnake made similar sounds, and therefore it was so nicknamed. Where does such a snake live, what does it eat and how long does it live? We will talk about this.

Where does the anaconda live

The length of a large snake is more than 5 meters, weight 97 kg and more. Scientists have found that anaconda 9 to 11 meters long is a myth, since its length does not exceed 6.5 meters. The body of the snake is divided into a tail and a huge body with 435 vertebrae. Its ribs are movable and allow it to swallow very large prey. Scull anacondas consists of movable bones interconnected by ligaments. It is thanks to this feature that it opens its mouth wide and swallows the prey whole. Highly placed eyes and nostrils allow you to breathe underwater. Its eyes allow it to quickly track prey rather than focus, thanks to its transparent scales. Teeth giant anaconda, do not contain poison, although they are sharp and long, so the bite for a person is not deadly. An important organ of the snake is the tongue, which is responsible for taste and smell. The skin of the anaconda is dry and dense, and all because it does not have mucous glands. But it is shiny, thanks to the scales. Her skin color is gray-green with yellow and olive tints, and black spots along her spine allow her to disguise herself.

Where does the giant anaconda live?

Because giant anaconda spends most of its life in the water and is an excellent swimmer, it lives in quiet river beds, in swamps and in river creeks. She occasionally crawls ashore and climbs trees. From the drought anaconda buries itself in the mud and waits for the rains. You can meet such a snake throughout South America, in Brazil, in Peru, Guiana, Paraguay, Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia.

How long does an anaconda live

Anaconda can grow throughout its life cycle, at an early stage intensively, then the process slows down. Record how long you live giant Anaconda, failed. It is known that 5-6 years life span of a snake on average, but also a 28 year old snake was found. How long this monster can live, only God knows.

ANACONDA NUTRITION, INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANACONDA

What does anaconda eat

Giant anaconda hunt in the water or on the shore. She motionlessly waits for prey, then quite sharply pounces and wraps herself around the victim, strangling. Her victim dies of asphyxiation, not broken bones. Sometimes, anaconda grabs prey with teeth and swallows. Eats turtles, swimming birds, iguanas, lizards, capybaras, bakers, capybaras, agoutis, caimans, Tupinanbis and even large snakes. Prey become and pets like cats, dogs, and chickens. Anaconda for a long time can be without food, because the food is digested for several weeks.

People were afraid anacondas and considered her a bloodthirsty snake, in fact, only one attack was recorded on a teenage boy from an Indian tribe.

People promised big money for giant anaconda 9 meters, but its length is not more than 6 meters 70 cm.

In America, anaconda was the best and most terrible character for films.

Anaconda not able to paralyze the victim with a glance! They can only enter into a stupor from their wild smell.

VIDEO: ABOUT ANACONDAS

IN THIS VIDEO YOU WILL SEE HOW THE GIANT ANACONDAS LOOK AND LEARN A LOT OF INTERESTING

The impenetrable jungle of South America, through which the most full-flowing river in the world, the Amazon, spills. Its waters hide many different animals from the eyes of people, but the most impressive of them is the giant anaconda!

This representative of large water boas chooses quiet tributaries and swampy areas of the Amazon jungle and its neighbor Orinoco for life. The greenish-yellow color in brown spots reliably hides the snake in dark water among plants and foliage.

And the water itself allows you to be fast and agile, because a giant snake in adulthood can reach a length of 6 meters and have 150 kilograms of weight. However, this is far from the limit. Scientists have met anacondas twice these sizes.

The Indians living in the selva of the great river dubbed the giant snakes - sukuriju, which translates as "giant monster". They prefer to stay away from places where anacondas can be found. Although the opinion that the snake preys on people is not entirely true.

The main food of water giants are other snakes, mammals and birds, which are abundant in the jungle and even more so near the water. But in fairness it should be noted that attacks on people, nevertheless, took place.

The first meetings with anacondas were described by the Spanish colonialists, noting that snakes reached a length of up to 20 meters. One of the Amazon explorers, Colonel Percy Fawcett, said he saw a 19-meter snake.

True, the girth of her body, according to the narrator, was only 30 centimeters, which raises some doubts about the reliability of the information. After all, the caught anacondas 10 meters long had about 2 meters in girth.

As further study of these water boas showed, a 30-centimeter girth usually corresponds to a snake "only" 6 meters long.

More credible is the testimony of the priest Viktor Heinz dated 1925. The respected sir says that the snake he met was 20 meters long. But, according to the holy father, he indicated the dimensions of that part of the snake that was above the water.

The priest defined the girth of the giant as a “barrel”. Documentary evidence is not limited to these dimensions of snakes. So several Franco-Brazilian researchers discovered a 23-meter anaconda.

The snake was shot, which made it possible to take measurements of the monster. The documents indicate the size of the boa constrictor's head. Its length was 50 centimeters, and at the neck 60 centimeters.

In addition to records, there are photographs of giants. In 1948, in the city of Pernambuco, Brazil, a newspaper published a photograph of an anaconda 40 meters long. Another newspaper in the same period of time published a photo of a 35-meter snake. But scientists did not take these photographs seriously.

In our time, the anaconda, which was discovered in Colombia in 1944, is considered the record holder among water boas, and its existence has been properly documented. It was 11 meters 43 centimeters long. Since the fact of its existence was established, the anaconda took a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

In captivity, the largest anaconda lives in New York, in the terrarium of the Zoological Society. A 130-kilogram snake is 9 meters long.

However, the search for the largest anaconda does not stop. Those who want to catch a snake are attracted not only by the opportunity to write their name into history, but also by a prize of $ 50,000, established in this country in the 1930s.

Nevertheless, before you go in search of the world's largest anaconda, you should keep in mind that in order to receive a prize, you must provide the snake's body, that is, bring it from the wilds of the Amazon, and how much it can weigh, based on the dimensions indicated above, is easy to imagine.

Strangler snakes are otherwise called pseudo-legged snakes, since they have rudiments of hind limbs in the form of claws on the sides of the anus. In addition, they have preserved the rudiments of all three pelvic bones and thighs (after all, snakes come from monitor lizards, from which they branched off in the Upper Jurassic period). They have powerful musculature, as they strangle their prey before swallowing it. Their eyes have a vertical pupil.

The first subfamily, the so-called pythons, inhabit mainly Asia, especially Indo-China and the Malay Archipelago. As for the size, they really belong to the largest snakes in the world, some record holders reach 10 m in length.

Another subfamily is boas, whose homeland is tropical America. These include the famous boa constrictor, although rumors about its size are exaggerated, usually it is not longer than 4 meters. In addition to him, this subfamily includes a real giant - the anaconda boa constrictor, the largest specimens of which reached 11 meters. We do not talk about their thickness here, since it is not indicative: a boa constrictor that has just had lunch can have a colossal “carcass”, swollen from swallowed prey. In any case, the thickness at the widest point of the not overstuffed anaconda is comparable to the torso of a man, and if more, then not much.

Boas and pythons hunt, waiting for their prey, hiding in the trees. Anaconda, on the other hand, is a water snake, although it can crawl through trees, but it doesn’t do it very willingly.

The main color of the anaconda is grayish-green with large dark brown spots of a rounded or oblong shape, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. On the sides of the body there is a row of small light spots surrounded by a black stripe. This coloring perfectly hides the anaconda when it lurks, lying in a quiet backwater, where brown leaves and tufts of algae float on gray-green water. Anaconda's favorite places are low-flowing branches and backwaters, oxbow lakes and lakes, swampy lowlands in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. In such secluded corners, the anaconda, lying in the water, guards its prey of various mammals that come to the watering place (agouti, peccaries), waterfowl, sometimes turtles and young caimans. Domestic pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks also fall prey to the anaconda when they approach the water. Anaconda often crawls ashore and takes sunbaths, but does not move far from the water. She is an excellent swimmer, diver and can stay under water for a long time, while her nostrils are closed with special valves.

When the reservoir dries up, the anaconda moves to the neighboring ones or goes downstream the river. In the case of excessive land, when all nearby bodies of water dry up, it buries itself in sand or silt and falls into a state resembling hibernation. This applies only to places where seasonal droughts occur. In Brazil, for example, this snake remains vigorous and active all year round.

Scary stories about anaconda cannibalism are not true. Snakes never attack prey they cannot swallow. Single attacks on people are made by her, apparently by mistake, when the snake sees only a part of the human body under water or if it seems to her that they want to attack her or take away her prey.

It is well known that the lower jaw of a snake consists of two halves connected by a very elastic tendon. Also, with the help of tendons, and not a stable joint, it connects to the skull, which allows the snake to stretch its mouth to incredible sizes. However, this ability is not unlimited. The head of the largest anaconda does not exceed 15 cm in diameter. No matter how it opens its mouth, neither the head nor the body of a person can squeeze through it.

As for swallowing the prey “alive” by the anaconda, the boas never do this at all, since they first have to strangle the victim, squeezing it with their rings, as their name indicates.

Especially colorful stories can be heard about the snake look. He is sparkling, and bewitching, and chilling, and numbing people and animals.

All this, of course, is nonsense, but these snake eyes are already an anatomical curiosity. In fact, we don't see them at all.

Like this? “I,” an experienced person will say, “I have never seen an anaconda, but I have met other snakes more than once and I know well that they have eyes, but only some dull, inexpressive ones.”

This description is true and indicates precisely that this person did not see the real eyes of a snake. The fact is that these reptiles have an amazing phenomenon. Their upper and lower eyelids have grown together, as a result of which the eyes were fenced off from the light. However, in order for them to somehow perform their functions for the benefit of the animal, the fused eyelids became transparent, as a result of which the snake looks through them, as through glasses. Before molting, the old skin begins to separate from the body, the transparency of the eyelids decreases sharply, and then we cease to distinguish between the iris and the pupils of the snake. She, for her part, also begins to see worse through these matte "glasses" of hers.

The molting process of the anaconda often takes place underwater; in captivity, one has to observe how a snake, having plunged into a pool, rubs its belly against its bottom and gradually pulls the crawl out from itself. Anaconda, like many reptiles, including snakes, is ovoviviparous, and the female brings from 28 to 42 cubs 5080 cm long, but occasionally can lay eggs. Anaconda pregnancy lasts a very long time. Once, a female caught in Brazil, in October 1928, gave birth to offspring in the amount of almost a hundred cubs, but already in the Berlin Zoo and after seven months. Newborn snakes were 3/4 m long.

In captivity, these snakes do not live long, 5-6 years, the maximum recorded life expectancy in captivity is 28 years. They feed mainly on rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, but they also eat various reptiles, fish, and sometimes swallow snakes. Once a 5-meter anaconda strangled and ate a 2.5-meter dark python, which took her only 45 minutes.

An ordinary boa constrictor is also found near human habitation, where it hunts rodents and lizards. In some areas, it is even almost "domesticated" - local residents keep boas in houses and barns, and they regularly catch rats and mice, like cats.

During the breeding season, which occurs at different times for each subspecies, an ordinary boa constrictor brings from 15 to 64 live cubs, each half a meter long. In two years, they grow up to 2-3 m in length and become sexually mature. When kept in captivity, an ordinary boa constrictor willingly eats mice, rats, pigeons and chickens. Young boas are well tamed, adult snakes are often vicious, hiss and bite a person with careless handling. Boas live in captivity for about ten years, but sometimes much longer - up to 23 years.

The Madagascar boa constrictor is very close in structure to the common boa constrictor and until recently was included with it in the genus Constrictor, but some anatomical differences and a separate range forced it to be separated into an independent genus.

The unusually beautiful coloration of the body with diamond-shaped spots on the back and an intricate eye pattern on the sides is complemented by an intense bluish-green metallic sheen, especially bright on the back of the body. This snake, reaching three meters in length, inhabits the forests of Madagascar, where it always keeps near water. In captivity, he willingly eats various birds; he is of a very calm disposition and never uses his teeth.

According to the book by Jan Zhabinsky

If you slowly drift downstream from the confluence of the Abunan with the Rio Negro, you can meet the triangular head of an anaconda. Her body is several feet. It twists. It's a giant anaconda. I had to shoot her to save my life. When we came ashore, we approached the snake with great care. We tried to measure its length. It turned out to be sixty-two feet. Such large anacondas are rare, but the tracks they leave in swamps are up to six feet wide. All this testifies in favor of the statement of those Indians and rubber pickers who claim that anacondas can reach incredibly large sizes. Any intrusion into the habitats of anacondas is like playing with death.

In almost every hollow filled with water, two or three of these monsters can be found. Local Indians fearlessly hunt snakes. They, gathered in groups of up to 10 people, jump into the water to kill the anaconda with knives. And they sometimes succeed.
In almost every book about South America, you can come across an anaconda.

The anaconda huntress is slow. Most often, she lies on the bottom and only occasionally raises her head above the water to see if her prey has approached the shore. She can simply swim along the river in search of schools of fish.
Most often, the anaconda preys on fish, various mammals that come to the watering place, waterfowl, sometimes turtles and young caimans. She kills with her deadly embrace - strangling the victim.

Too big growth for an anaconda - biologically unjustified excesses.
Anacondas are of two types. The second species is the southern anaconda. She lives south of the usual species and is much smaller in size than it (the limit is 3.25 meters). The anaconda is not brightly colored: a dark olive basic tone, and oval black (“velvet”) spots are scattered over the body. In the southern anaconda, the main background is lighter, with yellowness.
Anaconda is a real water boa. But she hunts her prey not in the water, but near the shore: there are enough animals and birds that have come to get drunk. In some areas, anacondas regularly prey on young crocodiles (caimans).
Anaconda does not lay eggs, but gives birth to live young. There are from 30 to 80 of them in one litter. And they, newborns, are 70-90 centimeters long.

It is precisely because of the inaccessibility of its habitats that very little is known about the habits of the giant anaconda. Almost all information is collected by observing these animals in zoos. It is also difficult to estimate their abundance in the wild. However, this species does not appear to be in danger of extinction.

The anaconda snake is an incredible creature that has remained virtually unchanged for many millennia.

Legends about huge snakes capable of swallowing a person are amazing. However, such snakes do exist. In the rivers of South America live creatures whose size is hard to imagine.

They belong to the boa family. This is the largest and heaviest reptile of all currently existing on earth.

Like all other snakes, it is a carnivorous predator.

The snake is found throughout tropical South America. Including:

• Colombia;
• Venezuela;
• Bolivia;

Anaconda is the largest and heaviest snake of all currently existing on earth. The weight of an adult animal can reach 100 kg, and the length varies between 5-7.5 meters. Documentary evidence of them, whose dimensions would exceed 7.5 meters, does not exist. In the tail area, these reptiles have small bone processes that are vestiges of the hind legs. For this feature, they received the name false-footed.

Anaconda photo.

The giant predator belongs to the family of boas. The Indians of South America have legends that tell about the existence of huge snakes, whose growth reaches 12 meters. However, no one has yet been able to verify the authenticity of these stories.

The body color is gray-green with large brown spots, which are located along its entire body in two rows. For the greenish tint of the skin, it is called so - green. This snake is not poisonous. However, her bites can be very painful.

These snakes are found in the rivers and lakes of South America. They can also be found in the selva-moist equatorial forests of the South American continent. A favorite habitat of creeks, streams and small lakes of the Amazon and Orinoco water basins.

The anaconda snake leads a predominantly aquatic lifestyle, occasionally crawling out onto the banks of water bodies. However, she tries not to crawl too far from the shore. Since only in the water this animal feels completely safe. They are very mobile in water, but on land they move with great difficulty.

Giant anaconda photo.

The speed of movement is influenced by the huge size and large weight of the body. Green snakes are excellent swimmers and divers. They are able to stay under water for quite a long time.

At this time, their nostrils are tightly closed from water by skin growths similar to valves. Moulting also occurs exclusively underwater. At this time, the snake rubs its belly against the bottom and gradually pulls off its old skin.

Food

This predator feeds on various mammals, amphibians and occasionally fish. The snake can lie in wait for its victims for a long time. Due to its coloring, the snake seems to merge with the grass and remains almost invisible. After the prey approaches at a close distance, the snake makes a quick throw and wrapping its rings around its prey begins to choke it. The compression force is such that the animal is simply unable to breathe and almost instantly dies from suffocation.

Anaconda snake underwater.

These snakes are sometimes called water boas. They attack even such formidable predators as crocodiles. A person can also become a victim of this reptile. Cases when a snake ate a person are often described by Indians living in the South American selva. They are not documented. However, there is no reason not to trust the stories of local residents.

She leads a solitary life. In groups, these reptiles gather only for the mating period, which occurs in April-May. At this time, it rains in the selva. Females at this time emit odorous substances, by the smell of which they are found by males. After mating, the female bears offspring for 6 months. At this time, she almost does not hunt and is very thin. Anaconda snakes are viviparous. At birth, the cubs have a length of about half a meter to 80 cm.

Enemies

Adults in the wild have very few enemies. Few animals are able to defeat this giant snake.

However, cases of attacks by other predators on them still happen. Most often, young individuals become victims of predators. On land, they are often hunted:

• jaguars;

Green snakes are often attacked by crocodile caimans. Perhaps the most formidable enemy is man. Hunting for water snakes is not prohibited. The Indians kill them for their valuable skin and meat, which they use for food.

The life span of a boa constrictor in the wild is not reliably known. These snakes do not tolerate captivity very well and die after 5-6 years. Only one case is reliably known when a snake lived in captivity for 28 years.

The water boa is a protected species. These reptiles are listed in the international Red Book. Due to the fact that they live in very inaccessible places, scientists have not been able to reliably estimate the size of the population. Therefore, the conservation status assigned to them belongs to the category “the threat of extinction has not been assessed”.

To visit her stomach and stay alive! This idea was visited by the Italian biologist Paul R. Together with the Discovery channel, Paul planned to conduct an experiment dangerous both for himself and for the boa constrictor and present the result to the audience of the channel. A scientist dressed in a protective suit was supposed to be swallowed by a six-meter snake. The plot is extremely dangerous. Snakes that have reached this size easily swallow large mammals. However, the sensation did not happen.

Anaconda on the surface of the river.

The first time Paul tried to be dinner for a giant anaconda, she just got scared and started to crawl away. Then the scientist himself decided to provoke the reptile to attack, after which the snake, curled up in rings, began to swallow the person, squeezing him with his body.

The force of pressure was such that the scientist felt that the bones of his arm were about to break, and he himself could hardly breathe. Wild pain and panic forced Paul to call for help and stop the experiment.

Later, the scientist said that only a protective suit saved him from imminent death. A person without protection would die within 10 seconds. This experience confirmed how dangerous a meeting with her is for any living being. !!

Do you know everything about amphibians? There is a species of amphibians, such as which leads an interesting lifestyle. I advise you to read!

Anaconda belongs to the Reptile class, the False-footed family, the Boa constrictor subfamily, the Anaconda genus. Previously, this snake was called a water boa. Today, such a name has disappeared since. For the first time, the mention of a reptile is found in the book "Chronicles of Peru" and is dated 1553. A detailed description of the snake was not made then. According to the results of research, it was found that the anaconda is the largest snake in the world.

The main color is marsh, rarely green. Brown spots run along the body of the snake, which are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. They are round or elongated, with an uneven border. On the sides there are small yellow spots, around which there are black rings. This coloration is a good camouflage in areas where the anaconda lives. The reservoirs in which she lives, a lot of algae grows with brown and yellowish leaves, hiding the snake.

The skeleton of the anaconda is divided into a body and a tail. In the body of an animal, there are up to 435 vertebrae. The ribs of the snake are mobile and therefore, when the victim is swallowed, they are able to disperse over long distances. The reptile's heart shifts so as not to be crushed by prey. The eaten anaconda looks strange, with a large expansion in the middle. The diameter of the body in this place becomes much larger. Movement becomes difficult and speed drops.

The skull of the snake has a movable joint. Its bones are connected by elastic ligaments that allow the anaconda to open its mouth wide to swallow prey.

The nostrils and eyes are located in the upper part of the head, which allows you to breathe and observe what is happening around, partially raising it above the water surface. Anaconda can guard the victim, being under water for a long time and remaining invisible. The reptile attacks unexpectedly. The eyes of the snake are designed so that it tracks the movement of prey, but cannot focus on it for a long time. If the object of hunting remains motionless, the reptile loses sight of it.

The skin is tight and dry, because the body does not have mucous glands on the surface. Skin scales are glossy. Shedding takes place one-time, old skin is shed like a stocking.

Anaconda does not produce poison. When saliva enters the wound, intoxication of the body does not occur. The damage caused by the snake's teeth is painful. Bites become inflamed and heal for a long time, since pathogenic bacteria are present on the reptile's teeth. The teeth themselves are long and thin, so they easily penetrate tissues. Such a defeat in nature is especially dangerous when there is no way to get medical care, since the equatorial climate provokes the rapid development of inflammation.

Length

The length of the snake is 4-5 meters. Males are smaller than females. In length, reticulated pythons bypass the anaconda, but not in weight. The weight of females reaches 70 kg, and the minimum weight of small males is 30 kg. The weight of the anaconda exceeds the mass of the royal python, which is the longest snake.

Anaconda grows throughout life. At first it is a turbulent process, but later it slows down, but does not stop.

There is an opinion that the snake can be longer than 5 meters. The largest anaconda was an individual measuring 24 meters. However, these facts have not been confirmed. The existence of a giant anaconda, biologists question. Officially, the largest anaconda in the world was caught in Venezuela - this is a female with a length of 5 meters 21 centimeters. Her weight was 97.5 kg. This is the largest specimen that has been caught. Scientists suggest that in nature you can find a large specimen, more than a meter longer than the average, up to 6 m 70 cm.

Where do anacondas live

The snake lives in South America, in its tropical part (jungle). You can meet the anaconda east of the Andes, in Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. It is also found in the eastern part of Paraguay, the northeastern region of Peru and northern Bolivia. Giant snakes discovered on the island of Trinidad.

It is difficult to estimate the number of snakes, since the world of the anaconda is difficult for humans to access. Because of this, there is no exact data on what dynamics of growth or decrease in the population this species has. Biologists are sure that at the moment the anaconda is not threatened with extinction.

In zoos, this giant snake species is available in considerable numbers, despite a number of difficulties in providing the conditions necessary for the snake to live. The presence of such a reserve stock of individuals suggests that the animal cannot be on the path to extinction.

A swamp or river suits the snake, without a strong current. Reptiles remain, in the selected reservoir, constantly. If it dries up, they move to a new place. During a drought, if the snake does not feel that there is water nearby, it will burrow into the mud and hibernate until the rains come. As soon as the water returns, the anaconda comes out of its stupor and returns to active life.

Most of the time the snake spends in the water. She briefly goes ashore and snags to be in the sun, to accumulate heat. Anaconda is able to climb the lower branches of large trees, on which it lies, basking in the sun.

Moulting snake passes under water. The reptile rubs against objects and gradually tightens the old skin. Such a process was observed mainly in captivity, since under natural conditions it is difficult to observe the anaconda.

What does it eat?

The snake is a predator. Its diet consists of mammals, birds and reptiles. In rare cases, the anaconda diversifies its diet with fish. The main prey of a giant snake that it can catch is:

• agouti,
• iguanas,
• water birds.

Large individuals attack caimans, capybaras and peccaries. This large prey is rarely included in the snake's diet. A fight with a large prey is a danger to the anaconda, so it does not seek such a confrontation. It is difficult for a snake to devour such a victim.

Some individuals are able to kill and eat other snakes. In zoos, a case was recorded when an anaconda was eaten by a python 2.5 meters long.

The reptile lies in ambush for a long time. When the prey comes close enough, the snake attacks it and, wrapping its body around it, strangles it. The anaconda does not break the bones of the victim, nor does it crush its internal organs. Death of prey comes from suffocation, as the snake does not allow the victim to breathe, squeezing the lung area.

The food is swallowed whole. Stretching the mouth and throat, the snake stretches itself on the victim like a stocking. There are cases when the anaconda, when swallowing the victim, is seriously injured. Biologists are convinced that the snake does not know how to estimate the size of its prey and does not see the danger in eating a large object. Snakes that have swallowed an animal that has claws, horns, or hard cutting scales often die.

How does it reproduce?

The anaconda spends most of its life alone. When mating, reptiles form large groups. This moment falls at the beginning of the rainy season, which the Amazon experiences in April and May. Females leave a special odorous trail by which males find them. There is an assumption that the snake leaves an attractive smell for the future partner on the ground and releases similar substances into the air, increasing the speed of their spread.

Often, during the mating season, several excited males crawl around one female, which remains calm. As a result, a tangle of snakes is formed. At the moment of mating, due to the special skin of snakes, a grinding sound is heard.

Bearing offspring lasts - 6-7 months. Due to the inability to fully eat, the female loses weight by 2 times. It doesn't affect her condition.

Anaconda is an ovoviviparous snake. The development of offspring takes place in the body. Kites are born fully formed. The total number of offspring is 30-40 kites. Scientists believe that large females give birth to up to 100 cubs. The length of newborns is 50-80 cm.

In rare cases, the anaconda may not incubate eggs in the body, but lay them. Such a phenomenon is considered exceptional and is typical only for emaciated females who cannot tolerate the formation of kites in the body.

Enemies

Due to their size and weight, adult females rarely become prey to predators. Males are more often attacked by jaguars, cougars and caimans. In isolated cases, giant otters attack young individuals. Cases of cannibalism have also been noted.

Human beings are the main threat. Local tribes value reptile meat, which has a sweetish taste and is nutritious. Anaconda hunting is not considered dangerous because it is afraid of people and does not show strong aggression, trying to scare the attacker and hide. The skin of snakes is used to make handicrafts that are sold to tourists.

Lifespan

The lifespan of snakes has not been precisely established, since anacondas live less in terrariums than a wild representative of the species in their natural habitat. In captivity, the snake lives 5-6 years, while the officially registered life expectancy of the anaconda in nature lasts up to 28 years. Presumably, the reptile can live longer, but due to the scarcity of data, such cases have not been noted. How long a terrible representative of reptiles can exist is unknown.

Biologists distinguish several subspecies of anaconda: royal, giant and yellow. They have a similar lifestyle and diet. The main differences that their characteristic has are color and size.

Anaconda is a unique snake. This tropical, non-poisonous species is capable of reaching gigantic sizes. The snake case continues. Nature continues to amaze people with the peculiarities of its inhabitants.