Boas Idaho

There are at least 35 different species of boa.

The boas are very like another group of snakes called the pythons. Pythons and boas belong to the same scientific family, called the Boidae, which sounds like “boy-day”.

Like boas, pythons are powerful snakes that kill there victims by squeezing. Both groups of snakes include real giants. But most pythons live in Asia and Africa and lay eggs. Most boas, on the other hand, Live in the Americas and give birth to live young.

Like all snakes, boas have very long, thin bodies. But most boas are much thicker and muscular than other snakes. The exceptions are tree boas, which are quite slim. Boas have broad, flat heads, too. Unlike many other snakes, they have definite necks.

Most boas live in the hot, steamy rain forests of Central and South America. The heat suits them, and there is plenty for them to eat. Many boas live and hunt on the forest floor. Many boas are also good swimmers, and some live all the time in the water of rivers, lakes, or swamps. Others live up in the trees, where they ambush birds and other tree living animals. A handful of boa species live in the forests outside the Americas. Three live in the forests of New Guinea and nearby islands. Three more live on the island of Madagascar, off southern Africa.

Some boas don’t live in the forests at all, but in the dry places where there is plenty of sand. There are sand boas like this in the dry regions of Africa and Central Asia. They burrow into the sand buy day and come out to hunt at night.

North America also has two kinds of boa of its very own: the rosy boa in the southwest deserts and the rubber boa in the cool conifer forests of the America west and northwest.

Boas find their prey with their acute senses of taste and smell. Indeed, a boa live in a world of smells and tastes. A large section of its brain is devoted just to detecting and identifying them. The boa’s brain is linked by nerves to a pair of nostrils and to a cavity in the top of the snakes mouth called the Jacobson’s organ.

Missouri Botanical Garden

314-577-0254
4344 Shaw Boulevard
St. Louis, MO
http://www.mobot.org/