The Python

The python is a very big snake. It is thick-bodied and usually less than 4 m long but can become about 10 m long. They are usually found in tropical and temperate regions from western Africa to China Australia and the Pacific Islands. Pythons are not venomous. They kill their prey by constriction. They usually live near water though some of them live in trees. They lay from 15 to about 100 eggs, depending on body size and in a number of species the female incubates them for 60 to 80 days. Pythons are sluggish, docile snakes. The largest can swallow a small goat, pig or deer but normally take much smaller prey; those that live in towns are often valued as rat catchers. Many pythons are killed for meat and leather.