SNAKES
Reptile     -      Vertebrate     -     Carnivore

PARADISE TREE SNAKE

CORAL SNAKE

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Male: Snake

Female:  Snake

Young:  Snakelet, Hatchlet (newly hatched), Neonate (newborn)

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Colour Rhyme for Coral Snake Skin: 

​Red touches yellow - will kill a fellow   
- Coral Snake - venomous -

Red touches black - Scarlet King Snake   
​ - harmless  - 

​SNAKES
There are over 2,000 species of snakes.

Only about a third of all snakes are poisonous and fewer still have poison strong enough to harm humans.  Non-poisonous snakes either crush their prey to death or simply swallow it whole.
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• Are predators and scavengers.
• All ten species of the most venomous snakes live in Australia.
• Sea snakes are the most poisonous snakes in the world.
• There are no terrestrial snakes in New Zealand, although there are sea snakes.
• Eat amphibians, crustaceans, fish, insects, other reptiles, birds, eggs and mammals.
• Can survive without a meal for up to two years!
• Can predict earthquakes.
• Are found on every continent except Antarctica.
• All snakes can swim and can stay under water for up to an hour.
• The oldest known snake fossil had four feet.

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Appearance

• Don't have eyelids and they have internal ears.
• Cannot blink.
• Always keep their eyes open, even when they are asleep.
• Smell with their tongues.

Snake Skins

• Snake skins are smooth and dry.
• Shed their skins a number of times a year and each shedding can last a few days.
• The skin is shed because the skin gets worn and damaged.  Some adults can shed their skins every 20 days.

Rattlesnakes

• Rattlesnakes make their rattling noise to warn their enemies to stay away.
• The rattle is made by a number of hard rings of skin at the end of the tail and that makes a noise when shaken.
• Each ring was once the tip of the tail.  A new ring is added every time the snake grows and sheds its skin.
• Baby Rattlesnakes are born in August and September.

Black Mamba

• The mortality rate if bitten by a Black Mambo snake is over 95%.
• The Black Mamba is not black.  It gets its name from the colour of the inside of its mouth.

Burmese Python

• The Burmese python's heart grows by 40% after a meal.
• Its stomach acid can digest bones and teeth, but not fur or hair.

Cobras

• Cobras are able to kill with a bite as soon as they are born.
• Cobras only need to eat once every couple of months.

African Rock Python - Paradise Tree Snake  -  Boa Constrictor  -  Taipan Snake​

• The African Rock Python can survive 2 years without eating.
• The Paradise Tree Snake flies (falls) from tree to tree.  It sucks in its belly and makes a U-shape with the length of its body, creating its own parachute.  
• The Boa Constrictor monitors its victim's heart and stops squeezing when the victim stops beating.
• A Taipan snake is considered the most venomous in the world, and has enough venom to kill a full-grown man, but has a mouth so small it can barely bite a mouse.

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Visit:  Snakes . COLLECTIVE NOUNS, SIMILE, IDIOMS, METAPHORS and EXPRESSIONS

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BLACK MAMBA

INDIAN RUSSEL'S VIPER

GRASS SNAKE

A CARAMEL BURMESE PYTHON

CORN SNAKE

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