Adder
Main Characteristics of Snakes
- There are 4,000 species of snakes. Among them, 700 are venomous.
- Snakes can be found all over the world, except in the polar regions.
- They inhabit a variety of living environments both on land and in water.
- You can even find them in extreme places like deserts and high mountains.
- In Germany, there are only two venomous snakes: the asp viper and the cross adder.
- The country with the highest number of venomous snakes is Australia.
- There, 30 species of venomous snakes can be found.
- Snakes do not have legs.
- They use various methods like wavy movements, sidewinding, and crawling.
- Snakes have a scaly, dry skin.
- As snakes grow larger, they need to shed their skin. It doesn't grow along with them.
- Snakes have teeth to hold onto their prey or to inject venom into them.
- The snake with the longest fangs is the Gaboon Viper. Their fangs can grow up to 5 cm long.
- Snakes are carnivores. They feed on rodents, amphibians, birds, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, and insects.
- The most venomous snake is the inland taipan. It can inject 0.004 ounces (100 mg) of venom with a single bite. Just 0.00004 ounces (1 mg) can already be lethal to a human.
- The fastest snake in the water is the yellow-bellied sea snake. It can reach a speed of 3 feet per second (1 m/s). Although it is half the length of a human, it swims just as fast.
- The fastest snake on land is the black mamba. It can reach speeds of 10-12 mph (16-19 km/h). In comparison, a jogger runs at a speed of 4-6 mph (7-10 km/h).
- The shortest snake is the Barbados Threadsnake. It measures only 4 inches (10 cm) in length and weighs 0.02 ounces (0.6 grams).
- The heaviest snake is the Green Anaconda. One particularly heavy specimen weighed 214 pounds (97.5 kg) and measured 17 feet (5.21 meters) in length.
- The longest time a snake can survive without food is over 3 years. This refers to the venomous habu snake found in Japan.
- The snake that can "fly" the farthest is the Asian paradise flying snake. It leaps from tree to tree and glides distances of up to 33 feet (10 meters).
