Snakes Written and Illustrated By: Nicolas Vilches 2 nd Grade 2012

Snakes Written and Illustrated By: Nicolas Vilches 2 nd Grade 2012 Thompson Publishing Company, Inc., Copyright 2012

Dedicated To: My Family, My School, Our Heroes, and Our President

Table of Contents 1 Snake Facts 2 – 5 Snake’s Habitat 6 Snake’s Diet 7 Snake’s Life Cycle 8 Snake Diagram 9 Glossary 10 References 11 Snake Photos 12

Snake Facts A snake is a legless animal that crawls. Many people fear snakes. Their relatives include lizards, turtles, tortoises, alligators and crocodiles. More snakes live in the tropics than anywhere else, and that is where the largest ones are. There are various sizes of snakes. The giant anaconda of South America and the python of Asia may grow to be 30 feet long. 2

Snake Facts (continued) There are very small snakes, not over five inches long. There are not any snakes in New Zealand, the Azores or Ireland. There are very few snakes on most remote islands in the ocean. A snake’s tongue is long, slender and forked. With his long string of bones, the snake can crawl, climb, and swim. The snake can bend easily because it has so many joints. 3

Snake Facts (continued) Snakes are cold-blooded like all other animals except mammals and birds. This is the reason they feel cool to the touch. Snakes grow a complete new skin several times each year. They discard the old skin and this process is called molting. There are 2,400 different kinds of snakes known, but only 8 out of 100 are dangerous to man. Some snakes are helpful by killing rodents. 4

Snake Facts (continued) The poisonous snakes are easy to recognize in the United States. They are either a pit viper or a coral snake. Vipers have a deep, hollow or pit in front of each eye and below it on the sides of the head. Rattlesnakes are pit vipers and are known by their rattles. Others are the water moccasin and the copperhead snakes. 5

Snake’s Habitat Snakes spend their winter deep in the ground or some other place where it is warm enough. This way of spending the winter is called hibernation. Snakes live in nearly every habitat imaginable from forest, lakeshores, prairies, desserts, and on every continent except Antarctica. 6

Snake’s Diet A healthy snake can do without food for a year or more. They usually eat regularly and often storing up extra food as fat. Lizards and other snakes are their favorite food, but not their own kind. They kill many rats, mice, and other rodents that destroy crops. It is estimated that one snake will eat nearly 150 mice in six months. 7

Snake’s Life Cycle Most snakes hatch from eggs, but others are born alive. Snake eggs are not hard like bird eggs but soft like leather. The baby snakes break out of the eggs by using a special egg tooth. They loose the egg tooth after they are born. Once baby snakes are born, they must eat so that they can grow. 8

Snake Diagram 9

Glossary 10 anaconda – A large South American snake that crushes it’s prey. cold blooded – having a body temperature not internally regulated but approximately that of the environment. hibernation – to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state mammals – any of the group of vertebrate animals that includes man and all others which nourish their young with milk molting – to shed hair, feathers, outer skin, or horns periodically with parts being replaced with new growth python – any of several large old world constricting snakes vipers - any of a group of sluggish heavy-bodied old world venomous snakes

References 11 Websites images.com Books Boa Constrictors, Sherie Bargar Slithering Snakes, Lynn Huggins – Cooper Snakes, John Bonnett Wexo Snakes, Salamanders, and Lizards, Daniel L. Burns

Snake Photos 12