People, trying to offend the interlocutor, sometimes call him a reptile, viper, snake, cobra , referring to the presence of these reptiles deadly poison, aggressive behavior and irritability. These reptiles can even cast their own shadow during the laying and guarding of their nests - their behavior becomes so inadequate.
However, no one ever compares a person, insults for the sake of, with such a very formidable representative of the suborder of snakes, like a python. Meanwhile, this predator is no less dangerous. Perhaps this is because even the largest snake, the reticulated python, rarely attacks humans. The size of a person does not allow him to swallow it. The python is not capable of tearing the victim apart and chewing food. Teeth are used by reptiles only to hold the victim.
The largest snake in adulthood feeds on birds, lizards, toads, rabbits, jackals, and can hardly swallow roe deer, antelope, monkey, small crocodile. If the prey is too large, the python can burp it. Due to the fact that the largest snake chooses food for itself, relying only on the dimensions of a living creature, a child or a person of small stature may well become its victim.
The jaws of the python are extremely mobile, the mouth has the ability to stretch, which allows it to "stretch" to the killed victim like a stocking on his leg. After the prey is inside it, the predator falls into a state of hibernation: it digests food and practically does not move at this time. If the reptile was lucky enough to eat a boar or roe deer, the "rest" can last up to 40 days.
Often, mesh pythons are kept in zoos, because everyone wants to see what
the largest snake in the world looks like (the photo shows the moment of rescue of one of the representatives of this species, who was stuck in the fence of the Palaborwa zoo).
The colors of the snakes are very diverse, their backs can be covered with such a unique ornament that one involuntarily wonders: "But weren't drawings for luxurious carpets made by carpet makers made from them?"
Usually this subspecies of snakes reaches a length of four to eight meters, but sometimes it can grow up to a dozen meters. For example, the largest snake in the world - the mesh python - was caught in Indonesia. Its weight was 447 kg, and its length was 14.85 m. Such a monster does not cost anything to swallow a cow or a person! One glance is enough to cause panic in any living being.
The distribution zone of reticulated python includes Africa (south of the Sahara desert), South and Southeast Asia. These creeping cold-blooded people prefer to settle in savannas, tropical and subtropical forests near reservoirs. After all, a large snake python loves to swim and be in the water for a long time. They can crawl beautifully through the trees.
Pythons differ from their close relatives - boas - in that they are egg-laying reptiles. Reticulated female females can lay more than a hundred eggs at a time. The female python guards its masonry, curling itself around the eggs in a ring. If necessary, the mother can even, while contracting the muscles of her body, increase her temperature in order to warm future offspring. So it’s hard to accuse a cold-blooded female python of a cold-blooded attitude towards her children.