Places Where Anacondas Live

Anacondas are the largest snakes in the world. Based on this fact, it is quite obvious one would like to know where do anacondas live? Let us have a look at a few anaconda facts and learn more about their habitat from the following article.

 Anacondas, the name reminds of a famous Hollywood flick, that featured this large snake. One of the most fearsome creatures of the world, anacondas are members of the Boa family. These are carnivorous predators and one of the longest snakes inhabiting the earth. This makes one where does the largest snake on earth live? We shall answer the question where do anacondas live in the following paragraphs and learn a few more interesting anaconda facts as well.

Where do Anacondas Live

I remember receiving a mail with pictures showing a large snake that had swallowed a really large pig. This snake was none other than our very own anaconda. Such a large snake that is capable of gulping down an animal twice its body width! This sure was a scene to remember. This is when I wondered where do anacondas live? The anacondas are inhabitants of the South American tropical rainforest. They live in areas mostly towards the east of Andes and all through the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. They are also found in the rainforest of Colombia, Venezuela, Northern Bolivia and South Central Brazil. They love the Amazonian basin where the temperatures match their body temperature, tropical and cold.

Where do Anacondas Live in the Rainforest

Now that we know where do anacondas live, we move over to the next question. This question is where do anacondas live in the rainforest. The anaconda habitat is mostly aquatic. These semi-aquatic snakes prefer living in water as water can help support their humongous body weight. The anaconda habitat consists of shallow caves or the branches of trees near the river bank or near the river bank. These snakes prefer swampy areas with calm waters than rivers with swift moving water. These snakes are quite slow and sluggish on land. When in water, they move with surprising agility and swiftness. They swim in water submerging their bodies with only their nostrils above the water surface.

Anaconda Facts

Let us now have a look at a few facts on anacondas that will help us know more about these beautiful reptiles. Anacondas are brownish green in color. They have scaly skin that looks moist, but when you touch it, you will find it rather dry. They have tiny teeth that helps then grab their prey. Although, one can be bitten by an anaconda, it is rarely fatal. This is because anacondas are non-venomous snakes and do not have fangs. They use their nostrils to breathe and tongue to smell. They tend to emit a musk, that is very foul-smelling and poisonous to small animals. This musk helps protect these snakes from attack of ticks and leeches when they are basking on land.

Anacondas are really large snakes in length as well as weight. They are known to reach a height of about 29 feet and have a body diameter of 12 inches. They are solitary creatures and very shy. This is a stark contrast to the type of ferocious image created by the media. They are mostly nocturnal and come out to hunt at night. They are carnivorous and eat only meat. They can swallow pigs, deer, caymans, rodents, frogs, fish, etc. There are many rumors and a few reported cases of humans begin swallowed by these large reptiles.

Anacondas do not kill their prey with venom, but they squeeze their prey to death. They coil their huge bodies around the victim and continue to squeeze. They squeeze till every bone in the victim's body is broken and the victim is suffocated. When they are hiding under water, they pull their prey into the water and drown them to death. Then swallow the prey whole as their jaws are made of stretchable ligaments. Once they have a meal, they will not hunt again for several weeks. The process of digestion takes several weeks depending on the size of their prey. The snake has to digest the food as soon as possible or else the prey will rot in their gut. They have the ability to regurgitate or vomit out their prey from their gut, if they cannot digest it.

The most well-known species of anacondas are the green anacondas and the yellow anacondas. The green anacondas are calledEunectes murinus. They have a dark green skin color with black oval patches. This helps give it a perfect camouflage in wet vegetation. The yellow anaconda is known as Eunectes notaeus. It is yellow in color and has black spots on its body. It is smaller in size than the green anaconda.

This is all about where do anacondas live in the rainforest and a few interesting anaconda facts. The anaconda habitat is the tropical rainforest of South America. Anacondas, largest snake in the world, are vulnerable to one selfish predator, humans. Their habitats are destroyed by humans and they are killed for their skin. Some humans just kill an anaconda out of fear of snakes. One has to save the environment and prevent killing of these beautiful snakes. Anacondas are endangered species that need to be protected. They do not kill until they are threatened by man. This is all about these shy creatures who are misinterpreted as a deadly killers.

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