Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 22, 2017

Rare 'Snakes from Hell' Lurk Near Petrochemical Plant in Ecuador

The sprawling Refinería del Pacífico is an enormous industrial complex stamped out of the tropical forest in Ecuador. So, when herpetologists discovered a new species of snake outside the petrochemical plant's gates, their minds went immediately to the underworld. And thus, Atractus cerberus was born. The brown-and-yellow ground snake —...

Jun 2, 2017

14th Hole's a Killer: 2 Deadly Snakes Fight in Golf Course Video

It's not uncommon for animals to wander onto the lush grounds of golf courses, but a golfer in South Africa recently happened upon an unusual sight on the 14th hole: two of the world's deadliest snakes locked in a confrontation that resembled a spiraling dance. The venomous black mamba snakes...

Jun 6, 2017

Scary Snake Strategy: Cuban Boas Hunt in Packs

When cave-dwelling Cuban boas fancy a meal, they band together to hunt for bats by concealing themselves along the cave entrance and forming a wall of deadly snakes before launching their coordinated strikes, according to a new study on the rare occurrence of snakes hunting in packs. Though snakes are...

Aug 1, 2017

Pet Boa Bites Woman's Face in Unusual Attack

Firefighters in Ohio were forced to decapitate a pet boa constrictor last week that had latched its teeth onto a woman's nose and wound its serpentine body around her neck, according to news sources. The woman survived, but the incident raises the question: Do boas typically attack the faces and...

Oct 5, 2017

Man v. Snake: 26-Foot-Long Python Loses Epic Battle

A village in Indonesia enjoyed a snake-meat feast this weekend after a resident wrestled and killed a 26-foot-long (7.8 meters) python. The python was of the species Malopython reticulatus, said Donal Boyer, the curator of herpetology at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Also known as the reticulated python, the snake is...

Nov 9, 2017

Pet Snake Nearly Kills Teen: Why the Inland Taipan Is So Deadly

An Australian teenager was left fighting for his life after being bitten by his pet inland taipan, one of the most dangerous snake species in the world, according to news reports. The teen was attempting to put the pet snake back into its enclosure, when it lashed out and bit...

Dec 12, 2017

Just How Rare Is That Giant Python Captured in the Everglades?

A snake hunter caught a 17-foot-1-inch-long (5 meters) Burmese python near the Big Cypres National Preserve in the Everglades on Dec. 1, breaking the record for the largest python captured as part of the South Florida Water Management District's python-elimination program. But although the slithering beast was a giant —...

Feb 2, 2018

The King (Cobra) Is Dead (and So Is the Python)

Judging by the interlocked combatants' bodies, no quarter was given in the final minutes of this deadly struggle. Captured in a dramatic photo shared yesterday (Feb. 1) to Imgur, a grim scene hints at a violent battle to the death between two giant snakes, identified in the caption as a...

Mar 2, 2018

Unfortunate Python Paid 'Deerly' for a Too-Big Meal

Oh, deer. A hungry Burmese python in Florida gulped down a white-tailed deer that proved to be a little more than the snake could handle — the hapless prey weighed more than its predator. Biologists with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida (CSF) found the 11-foot-long (3 meters) python in Collier-Seminole...

Mar 16, 2018

Pythons Are Cold-Blooded Killers, But At Least They're Not Negligent Mothers

Snakes get a bad rap — stories from the Bible to Harry Potter paint serpents as deceitful, unfeeling or downright evil. But perhaps that's only because we don't know them well enough; as it turns out, snakes can be caring and attentive mothers. A new study recently described how southern...

Jun 7, 2018

Decapitated Snake Head Bites Man. But How?

Shortly after a man killed a rattlesnake in his backyard, the rattlesnake's severed head bit and injected venom into the man, seriously injuring him, according to news reports. The zombie-like incident happened when Jennifer Sutcliffe and her husband were working in their backyard near Corpus Christi, Texas, over Memorial Day...

Jun 14, 2018

These Gourmet Snakes Prefer to Eat Snails

There's something strange about the five newly discovered snakes in Ecuador: Unlike most snakes that dine on rats, lizards and other small animals, these slithery reptiles eat snails. And that's pretty much all these snakes can eat. There are now 75 known species of snail-eaters, according to a new study...

Jun 19, 2018

How a Python Ate a Woman Whole and Left Hardly a Trace of the Fierce Attack

News of a pickup-truck-size reticulated python killing and swallowing a woman whole in central Indonesia, eating even her clothes, has made headlines around the world. But how often do these snakes eat people? Very infrequently, it turns out. In natural environments, it's incredibly rare, said David Penning, an assistant professor...

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...