Top 5 Most Amazing Snakes

July 16th is World Snake Day. The opportunity to talk about these animals that are often a little scary, while being fascinating… Wakou’s editorial staff has chosen 5 astonishing species, which reflect the great variety of this animal order.

1 – A coward in France

The snakes found in France are not very dangerous. And they are also protected: the law forbids killing them. Vipers or snakes, they generally flee at the slightest warning. Particularly cowardly, the grass snake can even “play dead” in the face of an attacker: it rolls onto its back, stops moving and gives off a rotten smell. A real actress!

2.A snake or a vine?

Here is the Asian vine snake. With its pointed nose, its green color and its body as thin as it is long (up to 1.80 m!), this species of very non-venomous snake really looks like a vine. Convenient for hiding from predators in trees or hunting favorite prey, lizards and frogs!

3.A magician of the seas:

In the Indian and Pacific oceans, there are more than 60 species of sea snakes, generally very venomous but which are rare to come across. To save their venom, some have also developed tricks. This is the case of the Yellow-lipped Marine Krait, whose tip of the tail, black and yellow, resembles its head. Thus, he can quietly hunt headfirst into crevices, while tricking predators passing outside into believing that he can attack them at any time. As if he had 2 heads!

4.The giant of snakes :

There are snakes of all sizes. One of the biggest and heaviest is the green anaconda: it can weigh up to 250 kg and measure 9 meters in length! It is also competing for the record with the Asian reticulated python. The green anaconda lives in the Amazon jungle, feeds on large fish and large rodents (like the capybara), but it can also occasionally swallow a jaguar.

5.And the most beautiful?

The snake family is also striking in its wide variety of colors. Yellows, greens, reds, browns, blues, whites, stripes, speckles… The looks of these reptiles seem limitless. A favorite of snake lovers is the Brazilian Rainbow Boa. Originally from South America, this non-venomous species is already distinguished by its black circles that look like they have been drawn on its reddish-brown body. But that’s not counting its scales, capable of breaking down light, which gives it a rainbow shade that follows its movements. We understand better where its name comes from!