Reptiles, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 29, 2018

An 18-Foot Fugitive Python Is on the Loose in Poland

For nearly two months, a slippery fugitive has evaded capture in the Polish countryside. Nicknamed Bertha, she followed a serpentine path to escape her seekers' best efforts. You might say that she slithered right through her would-be captors' hands. Bertha is a rogue Indian python (Python molurus molurus), though few...

Aug 30, 2018

Newly Discovered Hybrid Pythons Could Threaten Florida's Everglades

New hybrid pythons discovered in southern Florida could be stronger and more adaptable to their environment than their nonhybrid relatives. The curious pythons are, genetically speaking, mostly Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus). These snakes were first brought to Florida as exotic pets, and were introduced into the state's wilderness in the...

Sep 24, 2018

Two-Headed Viper Could End Up in Virginia Zoo — If It Stops Fighting with Itself

It's said that each of us is his or her own worst enemy. That's especially true when you're a hungry, venomous snake with two heads. One such snake — a baby, two-headed copperhead — was recently discovered slithering around a family's yard in northern Virginia. According to a statement from...

Sep 26, 2018

These Venomous Snakes Travel by Hitchhiking on Planes

This story was updated at 4:31 p.m. ET on Sept. 28. The brown tree snake is a stealthy, international traveler. Invasive to Guam, the snake species, Boiga irregularis, first arrived on the Pacific island during World War II, most likely by hitchhiking on troop carriers from Australia, according to a...

Nov 8, 2018

Bounty Hunter Kills Gargantuan Burmese Python, Gets $375, Earns Our Undying Gratitude

There are snakes, and then there are SSSSNNNNAAAAAAAAKES!!!! Florida resident and professional python bounty hunter Kyle Penniston caught and killed one such SSSSNNNNAAAAAAAAKE earlier this week in the Florida Everglades, according to a news release from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). The gargantuan Burmese python measured 17 feet...

Jan 15, 2019

So Many Ticks Were Feasting on This Unlucky Python, They Looked Like Living Scales

When Tony Harrison with Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher attempted to retrieve the snake from a swimming pool, he noticed that the partly submerged serpent was blanketed in more ticks than Harrison could count, he said on Jan. 9 in a post shared on Facebook. I figured it to...

Jan 23, 2019

'Mystery Dinner Snake' Found in Belly of Another Snake Finally Identified

However, the animal's long wait in species limbo is finally over. Researchers recently revealed that not only is the snake a new species; it also represents a new genus. And the name they gave it, Cenaspis aenigma, is a whimsical nod to where the snake was found, translating from Latin...

Mar 28, 2019

Ninja Rat Drop-Kicks Deadly Rattlesnake in Epic Slow-Motion Video

The duel is over faster than you can blink. The snake lashes out; the rat leaps into the air, kicks the snake in the head and bounces frantically away. Neither combatant gets the meal they were hoping for. Quick-draw encounters like this happen every night in the desert and go...

Apr 8, 2019

Captured 17-Foot-Long Python Was About to Have 73 Babies

Wildlife officials have captured a 17-foot-long (5.1 meters) Burmese python and a mother-to-be in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve — the longest python ever found in the preserve, which neighbors the Everglades. But even though her size and her weight of 140 lbs. (63 kilograms) likely puts her in the...

May 2, 2019

3-Eyed Snake Found in Australia Surprises Rangers

Rangers in Australia could hardly believe their eyes when they came across a wild snake with three functioning peepers on its head. The snake, a carpet python (Morelia spilota), had a third eye on its forehead. This condition is extremely rare, said David Penning, an assistant professor of biology at...

May 23, 2019

Enormous Python Swallows, Vomits Up Even Bigger Python

A gigantic python was recently captured in photos vomiting up another, bigger python. This snake regurgitation happened in East Kimberley, Western Australia, according to local news site The New Daily. Kurt Jongedyk, the manager at Parry Creek Farm Tourist Resort and Caravan Park in the area, reportedly came across a...

Jun 2, 2019

What Should You Do If You're Bitten by a Venomous Snake?

Getting bitten by a venomous snake can be very scary, and can lead people to react in exactly the wrong way: Maybe they panic, try to catch or kill the snake, or apply ice or a tourniquet to the wound, which can be disastrous in certain situations. So, how should...

Jun 4, 2019

Anaconda Mom Gives Birth to Baby Clones, No Male Required

When it comes to making babies, it usually takes two to tango. But Anna, a 10-foot-long (3 meters) anaconda at Boston's New England Aquarium, did it solo. Earlier this year, Anna gave birth to 18 snake babies all by herself, no male snakes required. Aquarium staff had no idea Anna...

Sep 23, 2019

Photos: How to Identify a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Diverse ecosystem The American West is a kaleidoscope of varied landscapes and ecological environments. From vast sand-covered deserts to sweeping valleys covered with the sparse vegetation of a variety of bur sage or a sea of aromatic creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, to high mountain peaks of rugged, metamorphic schist and...

Oct 12, 2019

What's The Biggest Animal That a Snake Can Swallow?

The top suggested searches on YouTube for snake eats offer some insight into our fascination with the scary and disgusting. Some of the suggestions are gross (snake eats frog live) or hard to imagine (snake eats porcupine). Others seem symbolic (snake eats itself). But the largest group of suggestions emphasize...