CALIFORNIA SNAKES

If you are a snake enthusiast, you will want to keep up with the large snakes debate. In the world of large snakes, a longtime discussion has occupied serpent experts worldwide. What exactly constitute “large” snakes? Are large snakes heavy or simply long? How are large snakes accurately measured? What is the largest snake in the world? Are snaked bred by humans included as large snakes in this controversy?

Here is the current lowdown on the large snakes dilemma. The Green Anaconda, a member of the Boa snake family, has been named the largest snake in the world. Anacondas live in central and tropical South America, and these large snakes typically live in rivers and bogs.  An astounding spectacle, Anacondas can stretch over 30 feet or 9 meters in length! That’s approximately the height of more than five grown men.

However, other snake experts argue that since Anacondas cleverly camouflage themselves in their swampy habitats, estimation of the true size of these large snakes is not easily verifiable, and in addition, live snakes prefer a coiled body position, making it nearly impossible to measure their length. Moreover, human perception tends to exaggerate the size of any monstrous creature. Finally, skins of dead snakes are sometimes inappropriately stretched, giving rise to inaccurate measurements of large snakes.

The leading contender in the large snakes race is the Python. At nearly 33 feet long, the Asiatic Reticulated Python has been claimed king of this classic controversy. However, while the length of the Python may exceed that of the Anaconda, the girth of the Anaconda is heavier and wider, giving it a larger total body mass. You can find Pythons in Africa, Asia and Australia. Typically living in trees as opposed to water, these crafty creatures vary their color for camouflage purposes, with shades ranging from greens to browns.

 And now a word to the wise: When it comes to large snakes, remember that tall tales are often highly exaggerated! In 2003, there were reports of a 49-foot Python weighing over 900 pounds living in a zoo in Indonesia. But when a newspaperman went to check it out for himself, he found the serpent weighed a mere 220 pounds and was less than 21 feet long…

 In summary, with snake species identification an up-and-coming topic in the field of snake research, in addition to the as-yet unsolved problems concerning serpent size, it appears that the large snakes debate is far from over and will continue to engage snake specialists for a long time to come.