In which countries does the anaconda snake live? Anaconda is the longest snake in the world

The anaconda snake is a very large reptile, weighing up to hundreds of kilograms.

Some sources claim that the length of the snake can reach 11 meters, however, scientists believe that these rumors are false, because the largest snake that a person has encountered was registered in Venezuela and its length was about 5.5 m.

Studying these snakes, scientists came to the conclusion that the length of females, which, by the way, are much larger than males, cannot exceed 6.7 m.

Description

It is believed that the anaconda got its name from consonant word from Tamil, which means "killer of elephants". The scientific name of this representative of scaly fish “Eunectes” translates as “good swimmer”.

Like other snakes, the anaconda's skeleton is divided into two parts: the body and the tail. In total, its body can contain more than four hundred pairs of vertebrae, which tend to expand when swallowing particularly large prey. The skull, like that of many representatives of their order, is connected by movable ligaments, allowing it to absorb prey entirely.

Interestingly, the anaconda's ears and eyes are positioned similarly to how they are positioned in crocodiles. This allows her to watch over her potential victim while underwater. The eyes are not particularly good at focusing on an object, but are more suited to tracking how things move.

A snake bite is quite painful, because its teeth are very long and powerful, but nevertheless safe, because giant anaconda is not poisonous. During a hunt, the snake’s tongue is always mobile, since it is the most important organ responsible for the sense of smell.

On the body of a snake no glands. For this reason, her skin is glossy not due to any secretions, but because of shiny and smooth scales. They are lightly streamlined, which provides the reptile with comfortable movement in the water.

The color harmoniously combines olive, rich yellow and brown colors. The spots on the anaconda's body, which are located along its spine, help the animal to easily camouflage itself as in aquatic environment, and on land. Anacondas are excellent swimmers, therefore they prefer to settle near river backwaters, swamps and rivers with quiet flows. This snake does not move on the ground very often, but chooses trees as a place for solitude. In case of dry weather, anaconda, waiting heavy rains, crawls into the mud. The list of territories where one of the largest snakes lives is as follows:

• South America;
• Peru;
• Brazil;
• Guiana;
• Guyana;
• Paraguay;
• Venezuela;
• Ecuador;
• Colombia;
• Bolivia.

I wonder what A giant anaconda grows throughout its life. That's just in early years this process is accelerated, and after reaching average size, it slows down. It is not known for certain how long these snakes live. In captivity, this figure is much less, about six years, but in the wild, the longest recorded age of an anaconda is 28 years.

Anaconda diet

Most of the time anacondas hunt in water. She waits for the prey for hours, quietly and motionlessly watching it, and then suddenly rushes at the prey and strangles it, wrapping it around it. Some sources indicate that numerous bone fractures lead to the death of an anaconda victim. In fact, it comes from suffocation. After a hearty meal, the snake digests food for a long time, and almost several months can pass from one meal to the next. The standard diet of an anaconda includes the following animals:

Anacondas are quite indiscriminate when it comes to food, so cannibalism flourishes among them. It should be noted that they do not always strangle their victims. Sometimes, if the animal is small, they simply grab it with their long teeth and then swallow it completely. Sometimes, the victims of these big snakes pets such as cats, dogs and chickens also become.

Kinds

Giant anaconda, she's the same ordinary And green anaconda, is the largest anaconda, whose length can reach six and a half meters and weigh one hundred kilograms. On its body, which is colored gray-green, there are two rows of spots arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Green anacondas live in South America, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, the island of Trinidad and Peru.

Paraguayan, which has several other names - yellow And southern, – can grow up to four meters. For the most part, representatives of this species are yellow in color, however, there are also green and gray individuals. The spots on the body have a dark border and a light center. The southern anaconda prefers stagnant or slow-flowing waters of Paraguay and Southern Bolivia.

Eunectes beniensis has certain similarities with the Paraguayan anaconda. Its length is four meters, and the color of the body is either yellow-brown on the belly and brown on the back, or olive. There are five stripes of dark spots on the head, and the whole body is strewn with hundreds of white spots. The distribution area of ​​this species is the forests of Bulgaria.

Deschauenseya- the smallest representative of anacondas, one and a half meters long. There is very little information about it, since scientists have not yet studied this species well enough. These snakes live in the Brazilian and Guiana swamps.

Reproduction

Like most snakes, anacondas prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. However, during mating they gather quite in large groups. Their mating season falls during the rainy season, and the process itself takes place on land. Pheromones released in the body of females attract not one, but several males at once, with each of whom the female can mate in turn.

The snakes coil themselves into a ball, and the male holds his partner with the help of imitation hind limbs, for which they received the name pseudopods. Anacondas refer to viviparous snakes , although they sometimes produce eggs. But in most cases, the thin eggshell bursts in the female’s body and live snakes are born. Experts argue about the maximum number of cubs this snake can produce. Some are of the opinion that no more than forty-five offspring can appear from one, and some argue that their number can reach as many as a hundred.

The length of the kids is a little less than a meter. As with all snakes, after the offspring are born, the mother is no longer interested in them. And although her offspring are already completely independent and can hunt, some of them die, becoming prey to caimans and other animals.

If you managed to see an anaconda 5-6 meters long, then know that this is just an average individual. If you wish, you can find an anaconda 8 or even 9 meters long. Old-timers say that they caught and measured an anaconda with a length of 11 meters and 43 centimeters, but they could not save it...

In fact, in order to see a live anaconda and measure its length, you need to go on a trip to South America, or rather to its tropical part. More precisely, you need to visit one of the countries: Brazil, Venezuela, northern Bolivia, Guyana, eastern Paraguay, French Guiana, Colombia, northeastern Peru, Ecuador or the island of Trinidad. This is where anacondas live.

But if you are not a big fan of extreme travel, then you can see the largest anaconda in the USA. At the New York Zoological Society there lives an anaconda about 9 meters long and weighing 130 kg.

Ours feeds giant snake mammals that approach water. Moreover, it defeats not only small game, but sometimes even evil predators - jaguars. The anaconda's color allows it to be invisible in the water and get close to its prey. Anaconda - “speckled grey-green”. Along its body there are two rows of large brown spots of a round shape. In the water, she hides among algae and fallen leaves.

Anaconda motionless waits for prey in the water. As soon as it approaches, it grabs the victim with a lightning-fast throw and strangles it, wrapping rings around its body. She swallows her prey whole, greatly stretching her mouth and throat.

I think not everyone would dare to communicate with a live anaconda. But there are brave and desperate people! Among them is Franco Banfi, a diver from Switzerland. With his colleagues, he specially went from Switzerland to Brazil, or rather to the Mato Grasso region. There they met local guides who agreed to take the daredevils to the places where anacondas live. The team spent a long time looking for an anaconda from the shore in quiet bodies of water. Finally they saw a snake lurking near the shore. Hiding in the thickets on the opposite bank, they began to wait... After some time, a family of capybaras approached the pond. The snake chose a victim and attacked. The fight didn't last long. Having had enough, the anaconda began to swim away from the shore. Divers swam towards her from the opposite shore.

They managed to take great photos of the anaconda underwater.

“The entire photo shoot, the anaconda only lazily glanced sideways at the 53-year-old diver and, according to the latter, he could easily have touched it with his hand, but still did not do so.

“At first it becomes scary, but then you get used to it and begin to truly respect this animal,” says Franco Banfi. “I have never been so close to an anaconda, but for me this one is big.” Not poisonous snake much safer than a small and poisonous creature.”

You can see photographs by Franco Banfi and a short video about this shooting.

Strangler snakes are also called false-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 rudiments of all three pelvic bones and hips (after all, snakes come from monitor lizards, from which they branched off in the Upper Jurassic period). They have powerful muscles 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 Indochina and the Malay Archipelago. As for size, they really belong to the largest snakes in the world; some record holders reach 10 m in length.

Another subfamily is boa constrictors, whose homeland is tropical America. These include the famous boa constrictor, although rumors about its size are exaggerated; it is usually no longer than 4 meters. In addition to it, this subfamily includes a real giant - the anaconda boa constrictor, the largest specimens of which reached 11 meters. We are not talking about their thickness here, since it is not indicative: a boa constrictor that has just eaten lunch can have a colossal “carcass”, swollen from swallowed prey. In any case, the thickness at the widest point of an uneaten anaconda is comparable to the body of a man, and if it is larger, then not by much.

Boas and pythons hunt by hiding in trees, waiting for their prey. Anaconda, a snake in principle, is a water snake, although it can crawl through trees, but does not do it very willingly.

The main color of the anaconda is grayish-green with large dark brown spots of round or oblong shape, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. On the sides of the body there is a series of small light spots surrounded by a black stripe. This coloring perfectly hides the anaconda when it hides, lying in a quiet backwater, where brown leaves and tufts of algae float on the gray-green water. Favorite places anacondas - low-flow branches and creeks, 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 drink (agouti, peccary), waterfowl, sometimes turtles and young caimans. Domestic pigs, dogs, chickens, and ducks also fall prey to the anaconda when they approach water. The anaconda often crawls ashore and takes sunbathing, but does not go far from the water. She swims well, dives and can stay under water for a long time, while her nostrils are closed with special valves.

When a reservoir dries up, the anaconda moves to neighboring ones or goes downstream of the river. In case of excessive drying, when all nearby bodies of water dry up, it buries itself in sand or silt and enters a state resembling hibernation. This only applies to areas 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 that they cannot swallow. Single attacks on people are carried out by it, apparently by mistake, when the snake sees only part of a person’s body under water or if it seems to it that they want to attack it or take away its 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 will squeeze through it.

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

Particularly colorful stories can be heard about the snake's gaze. It is sparkling, bewitching, 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, “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, expressionless ones.”

This description corresponds to reality and indicates precisely that this man did not see the real eyes of the snake. The fact is that these reptiles have amazing phenomenon. Their upper and lower eyelids are fused together, resulting in their eyes being blocked from 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 if through glasses. Before molting, the old skin begins to separate from the body, the transparency of the eyelids sharply decreases, and then we cease to distinguish between the iris and pupils of the snake. She, for her part, also begins to see worse through these frosted “glasses.”

The anaconda's molting process often takes place underwater; in captivity you have to watch how a snake, immersed in a pool, rubs its belly against its bottom and gradually pulls off its crawl. Anaconda, like many reptiles, including snakes, is ovoviviparous, and the female brings from 28 to 42 cubs 5080 cm long, but can occasionally lay eggs. Anaconda pregnancy lasts a very long time. One day, a female caught in Brazil, in October 1928, gave birth to almost a hundred cubs, but already in 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. One day, a 5-meter anaconda strangled and ate a 2.5-meter dark python, which took her only 45 minutes.

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

During the breeding season, which occurs in different time in each subspecies, the common boa constrictor bears from 15 to 64 live young, each half a meter long. In two years they grow to 2-3 m in length and become sexually mature. When kept in captivity, the common boa constrictor readily eats mice, rats, pigeons and chickens. Young boas are well tamed, adult snakes are often vicious, hissing and biting a person if handled carelessly. 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 common boa constrictor and until recently was included with it in the genus Constrictor, but some anatomical differences and a separate area forced it to be separated into an independent genus.

The unusually beautiful coloring of the body with diamond-shaped spots on the back and an intricate eye-shaped 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 stays close to water. In captivity, it willingly eats various birds; He has a very calm disposition and never uses his teeth.

Based on the book by Jan Žabiński

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

In almost every depression 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 encounter an anaconda.

The anaconda hunter 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 with the flow of the river in search of schools of fish.
Most often, the anaconda hunts fish, various mammals that come to drink, waterfowl, sometimes turtles and young caimans. She kills with her deadly embrace - she strangles the victim.

Too much growth for an anaconda is a biologically unjustified excess.
There are two types of anacondas. The second species is the southern anaconda. She lives further south normal looking and much smaller in size (limit - 3.25 meters). The anaconda is not brightly colored: a dark olive base tone, and oval black (“velvet”) spots are scattered throughout the body. The southern anaconda has a lighter background with a yellowish tint.
Anaconda is a real water boa constrictor. But she hunts prey not in the water, but near the shore: she grabs animals and birds that come to drink. In some areas, anacondas regularly prey on young crocodiles (caimans).
Anacondas do not lay eggs, but give birth to live young. There are from 30 to 80 of them in one litter. And they, newborns, are 70-90 centimeters long.

Precisely because of the inaccessibility of its habitats, very little is known about the habits of the giant anaconda. Almost all the information was collected from observing these animals in zoos. It is also difficult to estimate their number in wildlife. However, apparently, this species is not in danger of extinction.

Anaconda snake is a water boa constrictor. It is classified as a pseudopod due to a pair of small spines on the back of the body.

There is a version that the spines were inherited from the ancient ancestors of the times of lizards; they are also called the rudiments of the hind legs.

These snakes inhabit the tropics, settling near bodies of water.

She swims well and dives well; she can stay under water for a long time, closing her nostrils with special valves.

When the dry season comes, it moves to another body of water, or buries itself in the bottom silt, falling into torpor until the rains begin. Molting also occurs in water.

So what is it, anaconda? This is a fairly large snake, from 5 to 9 meters long, not poisonous. Her brain is small. There are no eyelids on the eyes. Why? Nobody knows yet.

It is difficult to monitor due to its habitat. The right and left jaws are not connected to each other, which allows her to swallow food whole.

The mouth has 100 sharp, curved teeth. Her long forked tongue brings fear not only to animals, but also to people. True, the latter do more harm to these giants, killing them.

The local population eats snake meat, they say it’s delicious, and the skin is used. Also, with the help of language, the anaconda determines what is happening around. Poking it out of her mouth, she scans the information and catches her “lunch.”

anaconda on a tree photo

The sense of smell is very well developed. By the way, its color depends on the type of snake. And there are four of them: green anaconda, spotted anaconda, yellow anaconda and Bolivian anaconda. The largest of these representatives is the green anaconda. The main colors of a snake's shiny skin are brown, olive and yellow.

For example, a green anaconda has a green robe with round or oval black spots in two rows. And on the sides of the beauty there are small light spots. Such “clothing” serves as an excellent camouflage for the hostess in water where there are a lot of leaves and algae. The female is larger in size and weight than the male.

By the time of mating, the female eats up, becomes strong and fat. Males search for a female by smell, possibly using their tongue. Several gentlemen crawl in and wrap their rings around their queen, thereby forming a snake ball.

anaconda resting photo

Pregnancy lasts quite a long time (6-7 weeks) and the snake loses a lot of weight. The anaconda is ovoviviparous, giving birth to from 25 to 43 babies. Although they are babies, they are already about 80 cm long. After birth, the snakes swim away in different directions in search of food, the mother does not feed them. Of course, not all of them survive; many predators love to eat them.

Anacondas feed while waiting for them near the water. They know how to catch deftly, but for some reason they don’t really like fish. Pouncing on the victim, the anaconda begins to strangle it, and then swallows it whole. After a hearty lunch, a predator can for a long time do not eat.

Giant anaconda called a water boa - a non-venomous snake. The snake got its name from a Tamil word that appears with the word anaconda, means “killer of elephants”, but in Latin the translation is “good swimmer”. Etymologists believe that rattlesnake made similar sounds, and that's why she was called that. Where does such a snake live, what does it eat and how long does it live? This is what we will talk about.

Where does the anaconda live?

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

Where does the giant anaconda live?

Because giant anaconda conducts most its life in the water and is an excellent swimmer, it lives in quiet river beds, in swamps and in river backwaters. 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 the territory South America, in Brazil, Peru, Guiana, Paraguay, Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia.

How long does an anaconda live?

Anaconda can grow all its own life cycle, on early stage intensively, then the process slows down. Record how long you live giant anaconda, failed. It is known that 5-6 years snake lifespan on average, but a 28 year old snake was also found. Only God knows how long this monster can live.

ANACONDA FOOD, INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANACONDAS

What does an anaconda eat?

Giant anaconda hunting in the water or on the shore. She motionlessly waits for prey, then quite sharply pounces and wraps herself around the victim, strangling her. Her victim dies from suffocation, and not from broken bones. Sometimes, anaconda grabs prey with its teeth and swallows. Feeds turtles, swimming birds, iguanas, lizards, capybaras, peccaries, capybaras, agoutis, caimans, tupinanbis and even large snakes. They become prey and domestic animals such as cats, dogs and chickens. Anaconda can go without food for a long time, because food takes several weeks to digest.

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 huge money for giant anaconda 9 meters, but its length is no more than 6 meters 70 cm.

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

Anaconda does not know how to paralyze the victim with his gaze! They can only put you into a stupor from their wild smell.

VIDEO: ABOUT ANACONDAS

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