Tuesday, October 14, 2008

SNAKES

Accept it or not snakes have got got a bad reputation from humans... This is only because people fear all the snakes to be venoumous and they have a creepy look.There are about 2,400+ specious of snakes that have benn found so far,but out of them only 20% venoumous.The remaining are non-venoumous and they feed on small predators like frogs and insects.The people have to star viewing snakes just like other normal reptile.they are also reptiles that bite only when they feel terror.when loved they are amazing creatures.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

THE VARIOUS TYPES OF SANKES NORMALLY FOUND

RAT SNAKES



Rat snakes are the most commonly spoted snakes.These snakes have various shades of clor and are found in various parts all over the world.These snakes are known to be skittish and some times aggresive,but the genus is nonvenoumous.when captivated from young they are supposed to be good pets.. These are rodant eating snakes.











RATTLE SNAKES




RATTLE SNAKES, A VENOUMOUS SNAKE has a rattle at hte end. It is also said that the snake's age can be predicted using the number of rattles.However this method only give you approximate age.these are mostly found in various states of america.There are 42 known species in rattle snakes. the diamond back ratlle snake is most popular...
VENOUM EFFECTS: The over-all spread of effects of this genus covers a broader spectrum than any other. The typical effect of a bite from a RATTLE SNAKE is similar to most viper bites with massive edema and tissue destruction. With the exception of C. scutulatus(neo toxins) and durrissus, the effects are more or less similar, ranging from lethal (C. vergrandis) to dangerous (C. viridis) with effects all quite similar. Bites from all species of rattle snakes should be considered to be a medical emergency, even from small, relatively mild species .

THESE ARE THE DAMEGES CAUSED WHEN YOU GET BITTEN BY A VIPER... PLS. TAKE IMMEDIATE MEDICATION ON GETTING A BITE BY ANY SNAKE.

















TIMBER RATTLESNAKE:
Although most species of rattlesnake have adapted to arid or desert environments the timber rattler as found its niche in the US occupying the lush forests of the east and south, living on rocky slopes and wooded
valleys. There are two common phases - yellow or tan background with dark crossbars or blotches and the 'black phase', usually very dusky with just a hint of patternation. The phases are unrelated to sex and age. Timber rattlers reach an average size of 3 to 4ft but can get to 6ft. They are rodent ambush hunters waiting -at times for days -along runs that mice and chipmunks use. The canebreak rattlesnake (C. h. atricaudatus ) is a subspecies of the timber rattler and is found from Texas to southern Virginia, preferring wetter habitats than the timber rattler.












EASTERN DIAMOND BACK RATTLE SNAKE:
The eastern diamonback rattler is the largest venomous snake in North America, reaching 8ft or more.It inhabits pine flatwoods and saw palmetto thickets, it is found on the coastal plains which stretch from
Louisiana to North Carolina. The face is marked with dark and light lines and the diamonds along the spine are edged with black and cream. This is a dangerous snake, if only for its size and tolerance of lightly developed areas, such as wooded neighbourhoods.

















WESTERN DIAMOND BACK RATTLE SNAKE:



An angry western diamondback is a very imposing snake, while it does not reach the size of the eastern - maximum 6ft the western has a dramatical threat display, in which the head and neck are raised high
above the groundin a tight 'S' shape with the tail prominently displayed. western diamondbacks are not as clearly marked as the eastern and the background colou varies from grey or buff brown and even reddish; the markings though are indistinct. It is found from Texas and Oklahoma to southern California.

















SIDE WINDER RATTLE SNAKE (DESERT RATTLE SNAKE) :







Any snake trying to move through loose sand will 'sidewind' that is it will throw out a 'S' shaped loop in the direction of travel, thus anchoring itself while drawing the rest of the body along behind. The sidewinder
rattlesnake of the American south-west has acheived a notoriety for this manoeuvre, common among desert snakes the world over. Sidewinders also known as 'horned rattlesnakes' for their pointed supraocular scales. The background colour is pale buff or grey with small dark blotches or spots. It is a relatively small snake usually less than 2ft and feeds largely on nocturnal rodents.




HERE IN THE SECOND PICTURE YOU CAN SEE THE S PATTERN AND THE SIDEWAYS MOVEMENT OF THE SIDEWINDER..














VIPER SNAKES:





THE VIPER ARE THE ONLY SNAKES THAT HAVE FOULDED FALGS... THAT IS THE LONGEST FANGS.... THEY ARE HIGHLY VENOUMOUS AND HAVE A SMALL TEETH LIKE PROJECTION IN THEIR LOWER JAW....












COTTONMOUTH VIPER



Perhaps its more common name is the water moccasin, the cottonmouth is a semi-aquatic pit viper found in the southern US lowlands, from Virginia to central Texas and north in the Mississippi basin to Illinois.
They are a stout bodied animal which have light and dark crossbarring against a dusky coloured background, with a light face and pronounced postocular line. Western species tend to be all dark as in the picture. These snakes have what I call a pugnacious attitude, they will frequently stand their ground when harassed and will often open their mouths to display the white interior which gives them their name.








COPPER HEAD VIPER:



This is probably one of the least dangerous of the venomous snakes in the US. the copperhead has a placid temperament and relatively weak venom. Bites are uncommon and only a child is really in any danger.
Copperheads are a really attractive snake, blending browns, pinks, oranges or yellows in a series of dark hourmarked, with a brighter line of yellow or orange around the mouth; the belly is plain except for the dark spots along the edge. This snake is from the uplands, and is found in the same habitats as timber rattlers, and may even share the same den sites. Copperheads are born in sacs, the last relic of an egg, once they free themselves from this the 9inch snakes are already poisonous to kill small prey. There are several subspecies, the northern copperhead is the duskiest, while the southern is a lot paler. Copperheads are found from southern New England to south-eastern Nebraska, south to Florida and central Texas.

















EYELASH PALM-PIT VIPER

The Neotropics are abundant in small arboreal pit vipers, and most are amazingly marked. The eyelash viper is probably one of the prettiest, and most variable patternations around. It can range from glowing yellow,
orange, purplish, green or a combination of all including speckled and flecked. They are identified by their jagged supraorbitals, which form a scaly 'eyelash'. Eyelash vipers are primarily arboreal waiting stealthily in the thick foliage for a prey item to come within their reach. They are a short, slim snake with a prehensile tail and are perfectly adapted for hunting rodents, lizards and frogs. They have developed a strike method that they hold onto the prey once bitten unlike other vipers as otherwise the prey item would fall out of the tree and drop to the ground which could be anything upto 150ft.







BUSH MASTER:



This is the longest venomous snake in the New World, they achieve lengths of over 12ft but the average is around 7 to 8ft. Despite its size and massive venom yield this species is responsible for very few cases
of human fatalities. They are similar in ways to the King cobra as they are both shy animals and very scarce across their domain. The bushmaster is a nocturnal hunter that shies away from developed areas preferring undisturbed forest. The bushmaster can be found from Central America to the Amazon basin. This snake is heavy bodied with a very powerful looking head structure. Their background body colour is light brownish, yellowish or reddish, with inverted triangles along the spine.
The rattlesnake is, with the cobra the most unmistakable snake in the world. Almost everyone would recognise the bony tail segments that make up the snakes rattle. And I would think most people would have heard it for real or at least on TV, as this is their early warning system, Even so some rattlesnakes habitually do not use their rattle. There are around 30 species of rattlesnakes with most found in the south-west of the US. and Mexico. One species, the Timber rattlesnake ( Crotalus horridus ) is found as far north-east as southern New England. I am going to write about a 4 of the species if you want to know more there are plenty of pages on the web that go into a lot more detail than I do.









GABOON VIPER:



The Gaboon viper, is one of the heavyweights among its peers, this snake can reach 7ft in length and has the longest fangs of any snake-more than 2 inches long. The overall body structure of this snake makes this an awe
inspiring animal. This snake is known to be a slow moving animal and is not easily irritated, it prefers to rely on its almost perfect forest floor camouflage than on its potent venom for protection. There are few known reported deaths from this snake although the potency and quantity makes this an extremely dangerous animal. This snake is found in rainforests across central Africa, where they ambush prey ranging from birds, mammals and occasionally taking prey as large as small antelopes.









PHYTHONS





All to often when people hear the word "Python" they immediately think "Giant Killer Snake", but not all pythons grow to be giant. Of the three most commonly known species of pythons, the reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is the largest reaching twenty-five plus feet. Burmese pythons (Python molurus molurus) are a bit smaller than the reticulated reaching twenty-plus feet. Unlike their relatives, the Ball python (Python regius) only grows from three to six feet long; however, they seldom reach six feet in captivity. Most are easily tamed and reluctant to bite. A small cat could deliver a much more serious bite than adult ball python.



RETICULATED PYTHON:












THE RETICULATED PYTHON IS SHOWED HERE... IT IS THE LONGEST OF THE PYHTONS.... IT IS NOT FIT TO KEEP AS A PET,BUT IS COMEPLETELY SILENT AND NONVENOUMOUS....











BURMESE PYTHON:






THE BURMESE PYHTON IS SMALLER THAN THE RETICULATED PYHTON... NOT FIT AS A PET...

















BALL PYHTON:


THE BALL PYTHON IS ANOTHER PYTON IS MOST COMMONLY FOUND... THESE ARE ALSO NONVENOUMOUS AND ARE NOW POPULARLY BECOMING AS PETS... WHEN CAPTIVATED FROM YOUNG THESE ARE GREAT PETS AND ARE SAID EVEN TO BE VERY LOVING....









ANANCONDA


Anacondas are the largest species of boas and are only found in South America. They are generally aquatic, where they do a great deal of their hunting. There are 4 species: the green, yellow, dark spotted, & Bolivian anaconda. The green anaconda is the heaviest species of snake in the world. They've been documented to weigh 550 lbs and possibly more. They are also possibly the longest snakes in the world too, but there's no reliable proof and true giants are scarce. The females are also larger than the males and the young are born live.


If you look in the records there is a lot of controversy over which snake holds the world's record for massive size. The dimensions that have earned the anaconda the title of king is its total body mass or its weight (the sheer physical bulk of it). The other snake that competes with the anaconda is the Asiatic Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus). The python holds the world's record for length of a snake, with the longest ever measured at 33 feet. Even though the longest python is longer than the record-holding anaconda, the girth of the anaconda is far bigger. Anacondas in the jungles of South America can grow as big around as a grown man!

Anacondas in the wild spend most of their time hanging out in rivers hunting for their food. They are solitary creatures that are somewhat shy and not many of them are easily seen. They are very well camouflaged in the swamps and bogs in which they thrive. There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 100 feet long and some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet long. No one has caught and measured an anaconda anywhere near that size. It is important to note that when a dead anaconda's hide or skin is laid out it can be stretched very easily, expanding to much longer lengths than the snake exhibited when alive. Reports of outsize anacondas that cannot be verified are usually due to distortions in perception, or a snake skin being disproportionately stretched and inaccurately measured. People are generally really bad at estimating length, especially for larger snakes. In fact, the larger the snake, the larger the margin of error.

Anacondas like to hang out in rivers so it would be difficult to estimate the length of one seen swimming, without seeing the entire snake. It's the anaconda's ability to remain partly hidden in the water that makes it difficult to accurately find (and document) a specimen that exceeds the current world's record.

Anacondas are members of the boa constrictor family of snakes. That means that they kill their prey by coiling their large, powerful bodies around their victims and squeezing until their prey suffocates or is crushed to death and dies from internal bleeding. Then the snake unhinges its jaw and swallows the victim whole. Anacondas are much more likely to eat aquatic creatures, such as fish. Occasionally they have been known to eat: caimans (a relative of the alligator), other snakes, deer, and even jaguars. Anacondas are rather slow-moving snakes, so they have to rely on stealth and the element of surprise to catch their unsuspecting prey.