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Pets, poisonous, Snakes, SSSnakes

SSSSSSSSSSnakes

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This is a printable guide for snakes. Going hiking? In the woods? Or you just wanna know about them? This is perfect for you. Let’s begin with some basic facts.

Snakes (suborder Serpentes) are elongated, limbless, flexible reptiles. There are about 2,900 spe375 are venomous.

Garter Snake, © Jeffrey Meyer

Diet

Snakes consume a variety of items including termites, rodents, birds, frogs, small deer and other reptiles. Snakes eat their prey whole and are able to consume prey three times larger than the diameter of their head because their lower jaw can separate from the upper jaw. To keep prey from escaping, snakes have rear-facing teeth that hold their prey in their mouths.

Venomous snakes inject their prey with venom, while constrictors squeeze their prey. They do not need to hunt everyday. Anacondas and pythons can survive for up to a year without food after feeding. Snakes hunt mostly at night.

Those were two very basic facts about snakes, now let’s see how to tell poisonous also known as venomous snakes apart.

  1.  Most poisonous snakes have triangular shaped heads. Non poisonous snakes do not have triangular heads.
  2.  Look at the colors. Some poisonous snakes have bright colors.
    Like this one.
    3.  Look at their eyes, some poisonous snakes have vertical eye slits, non poisonous snakes mostly have round pupils.
    4.  Look at the underside scales on the bottom of the tip of his/her’s tail. Most poisonous snakes have one row of scales. Non poisonous normally have two rows of scales.
    5.  Watch snakes swim. Some poisonous snakes swim with their body out the water, while non poisonous snakes mostly swim with their body in the water.
    6. If your bit by a snake, if you don’t know if it is venomous. Look at it before you get to any conclusions. If it has fang holes, two holes close together., you better call someone, that means it is probably poisonous. If it just has a bite mark and no fangs. It probably is not poisonous.
     Now that you know all about these snakes, do not go running after them. You don’t want you, or anybody around you at the time, to get hurt. We hope you remember all of this stuff about snakes, to help you be sssafe.
    Test your family and friends about this, see if they know what you know.