It can reach a length of 30 feet (9 meters) and weigh up to 550 pounds (227 kilograms). To imagine how big it is, if about five ten-year-old children lay down from head to toe, they would be the length of this enormous snake.

The green anaconda is a member of a family of snakes called constrictors. Constrictors are not venomous snakes. They do not kill their prey by delivering venom through a bite. Instead, constrictors wrap their bodies around their prey and squeeze it until it stops breathing.

The giant snake opens its mouth wide enough to swallow its victim, sometimes fish or alligators (relatives of crocodiles) and even jaguars and small deer.

The anaconda’s jaws are held together with elastic ligaments so that they can open wide enough to swallow prey whole.

And it would take about 11 children to weigh as much as an anaconda.