Sonoran Desert Boa
Boa constrictor imperator
Distribution,
Climate & Habitat: the Boa constrictor is found mainly in the tropical
rainforests of South America, south into Argentina; its range extends northwards
into the dry forests of Central America, including the southern fringe of the
Sonoran desert
Size: typically 120 - 240 centimetres, but larger individuals are known
Diet: small mammals up to the size of a rabbit; young snakes take smaller prey
Appearance:greyish above with darker brown-black saddle-like markings. Then upperside of the tail bares reddish saddles and blotches. Paler below. A dark line passes along each side of the face, and continues through the eye
Habits: boas possess heat-sensitive pits along their upper and lower lips that enable them to hunt in darkness by literally "seeing" the body heat of their prey. They use these pits to strike at the head end of the prey, immobilising it, and then coil the body around their prey and constrict until the prey suffocates. It is then swallowed whole
Fascinating Fact:
the Boa constrictor is one of the longest-lived snakes, commonly living for
20 years or more. The record is held by a snake at Philadelphia Zoological Gardens
that lived for 40 years, 3 months and 14 days!