Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big.
Environment As the EU targets emissions cuts, this country has a coal problem. Paid Content How Hong Kong protects its sea sanctuaries. History Magazine These 3,year-old giants watched over the cemeteries of Sardinia. Magazine How one image captures 21 hours of a volcanic eruption. Snakes don't need to eat as often as other animals because they have a very slow metabolism rate. King cobras, for example, can live for months without food.
Sometimes, though, eating a live animal can result in disaster. Snakes have been known to explode after eating a living animal , though it is not known why.
Snakes live in almost every corner of the world. They are found in forests, deserts, swamps and grasslands. Many call underground burrows or the spaces under rocks home. Some snakes, like the cottonmouth water moccasin of North America live in water part of the time. Though they are found all over the world, snakes do not, however, like the cold. This is because they are cold blooded or ectothermic. This means that they don't have the means to regulate their body temperature like warm blooded creatures.
If it is cold outside, then the snake will be cold, too, since their bodies do not use energy to create heat to warm them. When it is cold, many snakes hibernate in tunnels underground. Others seek warmer areas, such as inside humans' homes.
The rarest and most endangered snake is the St. Lucia racer. Snakes live on every continent except Antarctica. Their are about 3, known species of snakes. Different species vary in size from the tiny thread snake, only 10 cm long, to the giant reticulated python growing to over 20 feet long. Most species are not venomous, and those that are venomous use their venom primarily to kill and subdue prey, not for self-defense.
Nonvenomous snakes swallow prey live or kill by constricting the prey. Because snakes are cold blooded and are not able to regulate their body temperature, they need sunlight to keep warm. Sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Some sea snakes can breathe through their skin, allowing for longer dives underwater. A snake's skin is covered in scales. They use their belly scales to grip surfaces to slither.
Their eyelids are transparent scales and are always closed. When they sleep, they can close their retinas or bury their faces in the folds of their bodies. Snakes shed their entire outer layer of skin in one piece when they molt. Older snakes may molt only once or twice a year, while younger snakes may shed up to four times a year. Moulting replaces the old and worn skin and rids snakes of parasites such as ticks and mites. The golden lancehead is at critical risk due to collection of snakes for the illegal pet trade and natural disasters such as wildfire.
In addition, six first-generation zoo-bred snakes may one day form the nucleus of a third assurance colony at the San Diego Zoo. A better understanding of population dynamics and factors affecting these snakes will help us establish more direct actions for golden lancehead conservation. Diverse in size and color, with an important role in the web of life, snakes should be appreciated for their beauty and respected as fellow dwellers on this planet.
Please leave them be. By supporting San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, you are our ally in saving and protecting wildlife worldwide. Reproduction: Some species lay eggs oviparous , some bear live young viviparous , and some develop eggs within the female that hatch at birth ovoviviparous. Snakes grow their entire lives! As long as there is food available, they keep getting bigger, if only a little at a time.
Main menu. Search form Search. Some Endangered. Sounds bonk. Of the nearly 3, different snake species, only about 15 percent are dangerous to humans. More people are struck by lightning than are bitten by venomous snakes.
Coquerel's Sifaka. Blue Porterweed. Tasmanian Devil. Pygmy Hippopotamus. Red Panda.
0コメント