If bitten by an anaconda, there's a chance that the bite will become infected - so cleaning and disinfecting the wound is very important. The anaconda's sharp teeth makes their bite very painful, which why locals give them a wide berth even though they're non-venomous. The head-first strategy means that the legs of the prey fold back naturally - preventing obstructions and damage to the snake. Once the struggle is over, the snake uncoils itself, then positions itself over the animal's head, opens its elastic jaw, and slowly stars ingesting the animal. Every time the prey breathes out, the coils tighten, preventing the prey from drawing any further breath. although most prey never get this opportunity since the bite is immediately followed by the snake lifting its victim and manoeuvring to coil itself around it. According to local pantaneiros, if bitten its necessary to push in slightly further - forcing the anaconda's mouth to open and to unhook from their teeth. They have six layers of sharp teeth, which are hooked so that attempts by prey to back out of the anaconda's mouth will tear the flesh. In this way they sneak up and strike quickly. They can swim underwater - poking their head out to gauge the location of their prey. They move through water and swamps with stealth and surprising easy. Eyes and nostrils are set high on the head - allowing the snake to see and breath when swimming while keeping its body submerged.Īlthough anacondas appear ungainly and clumsy on land, water is their real element. Green anacondas are olive green in colour, with a pattern of dark splotches running along the length of it's upper body - helping provide camouflage amid aquatic vegetation in shallow water. By contrast males typically average around 3m (10 ft). Females are generally much bigger and heavier than males, with a typical adult length of around 4.6m (15 ft). In one experiment, several people were asked to estimate the length of an anaconda of known size - with almost everyone significantly overestimating. These are almost certainly exaggerations or simple misjudgement - as estimating size of a coiled snake can be surprisingly hard. There are old stories of from the Amazon region telling of snakes reaching 9m (30ft), and even exceeding 18m (60ft). No maximum size limit has been officially determined for anacondas. This may simply be a matter of longevity - as anacondas continue growing throughout their life, and the less human interference in remote regions of the Amazon may be more conducive to a longer life span. However, specimens found in the Pantanal are generally smaller than those found further north in the Amazon. The Green Anaconda, Eunectes murinus, is the largest of the four species - reaching around 6.6m or 22 ft in length. The two other species not present are the Dark-Spotted Anaconda (found in Northern Brazil and Guiana) and Bolivian Anaconda (found in the Bolivian Amazon regions). There are four different anaconda species, two of which - the Green Anaconda and Yellow Anaconda - are present in the Pantanal. However, in the event of danger they can quickly regurgitate the semi-digested meal, freeing themselves up to escape - although they'll need to catch another meal soon afterwards. The period when digesting it's meal, can be dangerous for anacondas, since they only have limited mobility, and generally just stay where they are. The indigestible bones are eventually regurgitated. The digestion of a single meal can take two weeks or more to digest once the prey has been swallowed. Their meals are infrequent - often with intervals of several months. Typical lifespan is in the range 10-15 years, although some individuals have reached around 25 years.įortunately, unlike the snakes of the movie, anaconda aren't driven by insatiable appetites. The extra muscle mass means that an anaconda weighs about 70% more than a python of equivalent length - with the largest anacondas weighing in the 150-200kg range. Life in the water helps support the anaconda's heavier weight and girth - making the snakes fatter and more muscular than its land-based cousins. The bigger size of the anaconda, compared to other large snakes such as pythons, is largely due to its aquatic nature.
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