A Silent Killer, Constricted Victims- The Green Anaconda
South America — the nation of Guyana on the northeast coast, boasts one of the largest unspoiled stretches of rain forest on the continent, home to a legendary giant reptile. This is the stuff of nightmares- a deadly swamp monster over 20 feet of sheer muscle power waiting to suffocate and drag its prey to a watery grave, the biggest and heaviest snake on earth- the Green Anaconda.
It is a huge aggressive gracious ambush killer, always ready to crush its next victim to death. Their enormous size and grizzly attacks have given them a bad reputation. The floodplains, swamps, and rivers are its home, and water is its element. Its secretive ways make this silent killer an enigma.
Green Anacondas kill by literally squeezing the life out of their victims. This deadly embrace is one of the strongest known on the earth. It may be a horrific way to die, but for this scaly predator, the technique is a proven success. “ Constriction” is one of the oldest hunting methods among snakes, and the Green Anaconda has been a master at it for at least 20 million years.
Physical Description
Size
No one knows, how long a Green Anaconda can Get? But the researchers estimated that a Green Anaconda could grow up to 30 feet and achieve a weight of up to 1200 pounds (more than a normal cow).
Being the heaviest snake in the world, it is typical for a large individual to weigh more than 500 pounds. The average diameter of Anacondas measures more than 30 centimetres. Giant anacondas are all females. Males typically aren’t more than 9.5 feet in length.
Teeth
The Green anaconda’s jaws are lined with more than a hundred rows of needle-like backward-facing teeth designed to strike and keep hold of prey long enough to put its deadly coils. Once the Anaconda starts swallowing large prey, it has to be swallowed whole. Its curved teeth do not let it spit out prey again.
The jawbones of giant anacondas are loosely connected, allowing them to splay open at the front so that the snake can swallow prey wider than the size of its head. Like other boas, the Anaconda is not venomous, and-like all snakes-it doesn’t chew, but swallows its prey whole.
Habitat & Distribution
South America is considered home to the Green Anaconda. Besides, they are also frequently seen in Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, Peru, Brazil, and the island of Trinidad.
They are semi-aquatic species, and adults are rarely seen out of water. Large individuals find it cumbersome to support their massive bodies on land.
The Anaconda’s lungs and vital organs stretch almost a quarter of her length. So, breathing in this massive body becomes more difficult on land.
It may be that huge anacondas need to live in permanent water to support their hefty bodies. In fact, gigantic anacondas can’t survive in the harsh seasonal climate.
They live in the rivers dissecting the rainforest where they’re not controlled by the seasons and can bask in the Sun on accessible riverbanks. They live in sluggish streams, rivers, and adjacent swamps and marshes.
Behavior
Anacondas love the warmth, around 81 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. They tolerate a little less at night, but a warm niche is still like a magnet for them.
Raising their body and flicking the forked tongue, the giant snake gathers sense. When the tongue is pulled back, it skims the sensitive Jacobson’s organ on the roof of the mouth, analyzing the information and finding the way.
Giant Anacondas need the Sun’s heat to regulate their body temperature. Along the riverbanks, female anacondas occasionally get together and bask in the Sun.
For animals that usually keep to themselves, these are odd assemblies. Social living is not typically associated with these monster snakes, but then the Anaconda is still a mysterious creature.
Despite their killer reputation, Green anacondas are not very aggressive. In fact, the biggest ones are the most peaceful. It seems that as an anaconda gets bigger, their confidence also grows. They no longer need to be aggressive to intimidate enemies. With this mammoth size, they have nothing to fear.
Hunting
Green Anaconda can easily seek prey, even in the dark, as they can sense their body heat. Almost every organism has its own heat signature. Although a snake wouldn’t see a picture like that of a thermal camera, it could enable it to target victims accurately. This stealth assassin seeks out its prey, testing the air with its forked tongue.
The Green anaconda is an entirely different predator from other reptiles that kill with power, not poison. Their weapons are not teeth but their muscular body. An anaconda’s hunting success depends on split-second timing and speed.
The struggle for the prey is brief as the Anaconda coils their powerful body around the helpless victim. Locked in the snake’s deadly coil, the prey is squeezed so tight that it cannot breathe. In fact, its blood cannot circulate. Its embrace becomes tighter and tighter until the victim dies from asphyxiation.
Its elastic jaws stretched impossibly wide so that it swallows the victim completely. Eating the prize is a slow affair; even a small meal takes around 30 minutes to swallow. Unlike Caiman, giant Anacondas need no help to devour their prey. Sharing the victim is not its nature.
Eating a large meal in one sitting is a challenge. This may take up to eight hours. Nevertheless, it is worth the effort. A single large meal can sustain them for months.
Diet
A Green Anaconda can swallow anything, including fish, birds, mammals, and reptiles, but they primarily hunt mammals. The massive female Anaconda has also been observed swallowing a large animal such as a wild pig, capybaras, deer, and caimans.
A green Anaconda can and do take prey to the size of humans, although no human deaths are confirmed yet. They have a taste for snakes, nothing’s off the menu, even a boa constrictor. The female Anaconda is also notorious as a cannibal for eating her male.
Mating
Males are much smaller than the female giant anacondas. The only time they meet is during the mating season when males are thought to follow pheromone trails to track down females.
Up to 13 males can join a single female in spectacular mating balls. It’s like a slow-motion wrestling match between the males for the chance to mate. They stay like this for around four weeks.
Courtship and mating are entirely unaggressive affairs. Patience and persistence are what count here. But things can change quickly afterward, that’s when the female Anaconda may develop a taste for her kind. She might devour one of her unlucky suitors with good reason.
She won’t feed during the seven-month gestation period and lose up to 35% of her body weight. So, a quick low-risk snack following mating could be the last chance to bulk up before the long fasting period ahead.
Reproduction
Unlike other reptiles, after seven months of gestation, green Anaconda gives birth to live young. There could be more than 80 of them, each measuring around 3 feet in length. Perfect miniature replicas of their giant mother, the babies are born ready to look after themselves.
The starving mother eats some of her eggs that help sustains her until she is ready to hunt again. Within minutes, babies Anaconda move off and ready to take its chance.
Originally published at https://www.secretwildlife.online on July 26, 2020.
