File:Burmese Python (16456922405).jpg

A Burmese Python sleeps in his enclosure. The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is one of the five largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees. Wild individuals average about 12 ft in length but have been known to reach even 19 ft and more. Like all snakes, Burmese pythons are carnivorous. Their diet consists primarily of appropriately sized birds and mammals. The snake uses its sharp rearward-pointing teeth to seize its prey, then wraps its body around the prey, at the same time contracting its muscles, killing the prey by constriction. They are often found near human habitation due to the presence of rats, mice and other vermin as a food source. However, their equal affinity for domesticated birds and mammals means that they are often treated as pests. Exceptionally large specimenss even eat larger prey such as antelope, pigs or goats, and are known to have attacked and eaten alligators and adult deer in Florida, where they are an invasive species. (Emirates Park Zoo, Samha, Abu Dhabi, Jan. 2015)