Description: Pythons are sometimes found near water, where they hide in foliage or hang from tree branches.

Range/Habitat: Rainforest areas of southeast Asia from India to China and on some of the islands of the East Indies. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees.

Adaptations: Pythons are large and muscular, and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until it suffocates, then the prey is swallowed whole. They can stretch their jaws wide apart to swallow animals larger than their heads; but, while a large snake might easily kill an average-size person, it would have difficulty swallowing the body, and is generally not considered a threat to humans. Depending on the size of its prey, a python may take several days to digest its food.

Courtship/Gestation/Birth: The female lays 15 to 100 eggs, varying with size and species, and broods them until they hatch.

Diet: Although most feed on small mammals, some large species can kill and swallow small pigs and goats.

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