THE TRANSITION TO LAND 



397 



being squeezed to death by pythons or boa constrictors are probably just 

 more of the many snake tales without foundation in fact. 



The boa family includes many smaller snakes and the following 

 giants. 



Regal python, of Indo-China, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula, which 

 reaches the great length of thirty feet and a weight of 225 pounds. 



African python, which grows as long as twenty feet. 



Anaconda, or water boa, of South America, which also grows to 

 twenty feet or a little more in length. 



To get back to the snakes of the United States, we shall list some of 

 the common nonpoisonous ones with some of their characteristics and 

 habits. 



Courtesy Ross Allen's Reptile Institute 



Fig. 26.20. A king snake killing a rattler. Although the king is quite docile around 

 people it becomes quite aggressive when it is near a rattlesnake. It grabs the rattler 

 on the back of the head and squeezes it to death by constriction. The king is some- 

 times bitten in such fights, but is immune to the poison of the rattlesnake. 



The most abundant of all the snakes in the United States are the 

 striped snakes that have one or several longitudinal stripes running the 

 length of the back. They are commonly called the ribbon snakes and 

 the garter snakes, and may be found in the back yards of city dwellers 

 as well as in the fields and forests. They eat cold-blooded animals, such 

 as earthworms, frogs, and toads. Small ones are often carried by boys 

 to frighten girls who "just can't stand the sight of wriggling snakes." 



The water snakes live in and around water and eat fish, frogs, and 

 toads. They are almost invariably called water moccasins by those who 

 think that any snake around the water is a water moccasin. They are 

 somewhat ill-tempered and able to give a painful bite, but carry no 

 poison. 



