Snakes – the creatures are ambiguous. Someone they enthrall, and someone – in horror, and it is fair to say that the latter clearly prevail. Such subconscious fear of snakes in many respects stems from the danger of these creatures for man – the bite of some venomous snake can send to the next world even a hero in a few minutes.
In New Zealand, there is not a single snake (see interesting facts about New Zealand).
Some types of harmless and non-venomous snakes look almost indistinguishable from their poisonous brethren – thus they are protected from attack by predators.
Poisonous snakes use poison mainly not for defense, but for attack when hunting.
Poisonous snakes in the world are less than not poisonous, about three times.
The largest living snake is the anaconda. It can reach a length of 5-7 meters, and its weight can exceed a hundred kilograms. It is found in the tropical countries of South America, in particular, in Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador (see interesting facts about Ecuador).
The eyelids of snakes are always closed, but this does not prevent the snake from seeing, since its eyelids are transparent. However, the sight in most species of snakes is still weak, which can not be said about the sense of smell. However, the snake smells not with the nostrils, but with the tongue, trying the air to taste.
All snakes periodically shed throughout their lives.
The smallest snakes in the world are snakes Tetracheilostoma carlae, which live on the island of Barbados. Their length does not exceed 10 centimeters (see interesting facts about Barbados).
Most snakes perfectly see warm objects, for example, mammals, due to their developed infrared vision.
All snakes without exception are predators.
Not all snakes lay eggs – among them there are viviparous species.
At present, science knows almost three and a half thousand different kinds of snakes.
The most poisonous snake in the world among the land – taipan. One portion of the taipan poison is enough to kill a hundred people. This snake is 50 times more toxic than the cobra.
Taipan is also considered the most dangerous snake, as monstrous poisonousness is combined with impressive (up to 3.5 meters) in size and extremely aggressive temper.
Sea snakes are smaller than land snakes, but they are very dangerous. However, they are not all too aggressive towards a person unless they try to harm them.
