Snakes Are Hunters

Snakes Are Hunters

If you want to see really big snakes, a zoo is the place to go. You will never find these snakes near your home. Big snakes come from jungles and other hot parts of the world.

You will also see small snakes and middle-sized snakes. But no zoo can show you every kind. All together, there are more than 3, 000 kinds of snakes.

Look at some snakes and you will see ways they are all alike. Each has a long body that is covered with scales. The scales overlap like shingles on a roof. Every snake has round eyes. The eyes never blink because a snake has no eyelids. Instead, each eye has a clear cover called a spectacle. The spectacle protects the eye.

A snake has no legs. Even so, it gets around very well Many snakes can glide over the ground, climb trees, and swim. Snakes move in several ways. Most often you see one moving with S-shaped curves of its body. The curves push against rough spots on the ground, and the snake slides forward.

Snakes are hunters. In the wild they find and catch other animals for food. This garter snake is hunting. It first senses that something is near when the frog hops. Snakes cannot hear sounds as we do. But they can sense the shaking of the ground when an animal hops or runs.