Page 16 - King Coba

More Vipers
Like the elapid snakes, all vipers are venomous and have hollow fangs that they use to hunt prey. But there are a few key differences: vipers can fold their fangs into the roofs of their mouths when they aren’t using them, they tend to have wide heads shaped like a triangle, and one of their subfamilies, called pit vipers, have special organs on their faces that can sense heat. Neat, huh?
Eyelash Pit Viper
The eyelash pit viper (also known as the “eyelash palm pit viper”) has scales above its eyes that look like eyelashes. Found mainly in tropical forests throughout Central America
and northern South America, this snake comes in many bright colors such as yellow, “mossy green,” or “Christmas” (green with red blotches).
They can hide among fruit and flowers to catch prey.
Gaboon Viper
This odd-looking viper has two large scales on its
nose that look like a pair of horns. It’s also one of the largest and heaviest vipers in the world, growing up
to 6 ft. (1.8 m) long and weighing in at up to 25 lbs.
(11.3 kg). They also have the longest fangs of any venomous snake at 2 in. (5 cm) long, or about as long as a rubber eraser. These snakes blend in with dead leaves on the forest floor, while they wait for prey to come close.
14