Red-Tailed Boa

Family:  Boidae           Order:  Squamata

Closely related to the python, the boa constrictor is pale sandy brown (which may have a pink cast) with 15-20 chocolate brown marks on its back.  Normally it will grow to a length of 10 feet.  It is native to the tropical forests of Central and South America.  Boa constrictors may forage in the trees but they are mainly terrestrial, especially the larger ones, and live in hollow logs, mammal burrows, etc.  Their diet consists mainly of birds, iguanas, and monkeys.  The female boa constrictor bears her young alive and has been known to give birth to as many as 64 at one time.  The young are about 24 inches long. 

They have a keen sense of smell used to detect the presence of other animals.  It kills its prey by coiling around and suffocating rather than crushing.  As with other snakes, the boa's loosely hinged jaws can be stretched far apart, enabling it to swallow animals with bodies much larger in diameter than the boa's head.  Although a boa will hiss and strike when provoked, it is easily tamed and maintained in zoos.  All species are endangered or restricted due to hunting for leather and meat and the reduction of habitat.