Anacondas are the world’s largest snakes found in tropical rainforests of South America. Anacondas dwell near rivers, lakes and swamps and they like to live alone. It makes for them easier to escape in times of danger by sliding into the water, unnoticed. They are the members of the boa family of snakes. There are four species out of which the green anacondas are the most common. The python snake is considered to be its cousin but it is slightly longer than the green anaconda. Anacondas consume most of their time in the water hunting. They tend to identify the heat emitted by their potential prey along with the usage of sight and smell while hunting.

Here, we have some interesting facts about them:

• The name of the species of the green anaconda is Eunectes murinus. It can weigh as much as 550 lbs or 227 kilograms. Its length can be of 29 feet (8.8 meters) or even more. The diameter of green anacondas measures more than twelve inches (thirty centimeters). The other species include Yellow Anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), Dark-Spotted Anaconda (Eunectes deschauenseei) and Bolivian Anaconda (Eunectes beniensis). All these species are smaller than the green anacondas.
• When the anaconda is in the water, its whole body is submerged except the nostrils which are located on the top of its head. At one time, it can remain under water for up to 10 minutes.
• Anacondas like to eat fish, turtles, caimans, capybaras, pigs, jaguar and deer. They can consume up to 40 pounds of food per day. When it takes in large meal, its appetite gets satisfied and it does not hunt for food during that period.
• Anacondas practice “ovoviviparity” which means their offspring come out from the eggs before leaving their mother’s bodies. They are fully grown youngsters when they are born and they are usually 2 feet in length. A female anaconda can deliver 30 baby anacondas at a time.
• Anacondas possess four rows of teeth on their upper jaws as in the case of most snakes. There are four parallel lines of backwards-pointing teeth that help the anacondas to grip their prey and devour it whole. The lower jaw, also, contains two teeth which provide further help while consuming the food.
• There is presence of cannibalism among the anacondas. Female green anacondas are larger than the males and therefore, they engulf the smaller male anacondas, mostly seen during mating season from April to May.
• Anacondas tend to “sidewind” often to get around. Sidewinding means the anaconda uses large, J-shaped coils to pull itself along hastily.
• Anacondas can consume white-tailed beer whose weight is over 120 pounds. It has not been verified till date if they can kill and devour even a human-being.
• Anacondas are non-venomous (non-poisonous) constrictors which tend to coil their massive bodies around their captured prey and crush it until the animal dies of suffocation.
• The scales found on anaconda’s body overlap and point backwards which reduces friction and lets it to move along the ground or through the water with minimal effort. One can know the pattern of their locomotion from the underside of the snake. The belly scales help their body to propel forward.
• The lifespan of green anacondas is over 10 years in the wild and up to 30 in captivity.
• Anacondas are hard to catch as they remain under water most of the time. They are, still, sometimes hunted for their skin or to be sold as pets but very rarely. Their skin is used for making clothes and shoes. It is not really convenient to keep them as pets.
• For mating a female anaconda, green male anacondas form a “breeding balls” which is a group of 2-12 male snakes coiled around one female. It is a kind of slow wrestling match among the males to win the right to mate with the female. Finally, one male anaconda is able to defend the other males and grabs the chance to mate with the female.