The green anaconda of the Amazon might not be the longest snake in the world, but it's certainly the largest. Only the reticulated python in Asia grows a little longer, but there'™s no doubt that an anaconda weighs much, much more.

Anacondas in the jungles of South America can grow as big around as a grown man! An anaconda's great bulk is put to use catching and subduing prey. Anacondas are members of the boa constrictor family of snakes. They are not venomous.

Anacondas in the wild spend most of their time hanging out in rivers hunting for their food. They are solitary creatures that are somewhat shy and not many of them are easily seen. They are very well camouflaged in the swamps and bogs in which they thrive.

These semi-aquatic snakes lie submerged along stream banks to ambush their prey. They kill their prey by coiling their large, powerful bodies around their victims and squeezing until their prey suffocates or is crushed to death and dies from internal bleeding. Then the snake unhinges its jaw and swallows the victim whole.

We will keep our eyes out for anacondas. If we were to find one, what do you think we should do with it?

For further exploration, check out the following web sites.

Wilderness Classroom's Rainforest Library: Green Anaconda

Video of the Anaconda during Project Peru

National Geographic's Animal Photos and Facts