Throughout the History, men have regarded snakes with fascination, fear & mystery. Indian Python is one of the most massively built snakes of India. It is also known as “AJGAR”. It belongs to the Boidae Family. Indian snakes are highly arboreal snake Python snake grows to an average length of around 4 to 6 meters. Its weight varies from 70 to 129 pounds. The entire body is covered with scales. Usually their scales are smooth and glossy. The head is flat, with small eyes and large nostrils. On either side of the anal vent are vestigial or rudimentary limbs. An adult python may be white or yellow in color, depending upon its habitat. The pythons of the hill forests of Western Ghats and Assam are darker in color, while those of the Deccan Plateau and East Coast are lighter. Sensory pits on the snout shield and first two labials distinguish a Rock python from other types of snakes.
One of the unique features of the Rock pythons of India is that they can raise their body temperature above the ambient level, through muscular contractions.
Pythons kill their prey by constriction. Generally python snakes are found in tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa and Australia. In Florida pythons thrive as well.
The larger the python the larger the prey and large pythons are capable of eating big animals such as pigs and deer. When the prey has been asphyxiated it is swallowed in full. It takes the python snake from one to several days to digest the prey. Death of its prey is caused by suffocation – the python put so much pressure on the prey that the prey not able to breathe air. The diet of Pythons consists of mammals, birds and reptiles. After eating a huge meal, they may go without food for many days. It has been found that an Indian python not eating for 2 years at a stretch.
The preferred method of capturing prey is by ambushing. Python snakes have a forked tongue with sensors that can detect the odor from prey. The sensor organ is called the Jacobsen organ. They also have a set of organs capable of sensing heat from warm blooded animals such as small rodents.
Even though most pythons have fairly large teeth they only use them to hold onto something. The teeth of python snakes angle backward to keep hold on prey during constriction. Most prey is swallowed head first. That is why humans theoretically are a difficult prey for snake. The broad shoulder of human prevents them from being swallowed.
Rock python of India is a lethargic creature, moving only while hunting a prey or when threatened. It shows great swimming ability and is quite at ease in water. It is an endangered species, now partly protected by the Tamil Nadu Government. The reason for this is that it is killed for its fine skin, meat and even for medicinal purposes
The python's jungle habitat is disappearing as trees are cut down for firewood and to make room for spreading human settlement and agriculture.
The snakes are listed in CITES Appendix I. To protect the python Government has prohibited all trades & business in python products or live python. Still there are so many illegal trades of python products.
What do you think of the practice of skinning snakes alive in order to preserve the quality of the skin?
Humans have long persecuted large predators, such as the Indian python. What happens to ecosystems when predators are eliminated?
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