Rainbow Gallery

Because one picture is worth a thousand wor.... never mind too cliché. Well anyways here's a rainbow gallery for you just to show the wide variety of these creatures.

Red

YELLOW

Green

Blue

Something new

Silently Slithering across the Shrubbery, the Snake

a lynedduS .tnemeltteS sti sdrawot derepmacS

Shadowy Stern Man Scoped in on the Serpent. 

Not bothering the Nagger at all, the snake Never

eht ,nopaew yvaN eciN eht gnigduN .raeN ti was

man Narrowly missed the creature.  

Alarmed at the action of the Annoyer, the 

.noitcA ekat ot ti desivdA edutitpA s'laminA

Arching towards the Appalled man, All of the 

.rekcattA eht no saw noitnettA s'erutaerc

Knowing he was in trouble, the Knowledge-less

eh. ekans eht sdrawot llonK eht revo dekih relliK

had a Knack for messing up. the snake delivered                                                          .ssiK relliK eht

Everything went blurry as the lad tried to Escape.

redavE eht ,efil sih fo stneve lanif eht gniretnE

slowly got Erased. don't Ever Exasperate a snake. 

Self-Reflection and Criticism

Ok so this blog was started because I was assigned to keep make one for my English class. I've been researching snakes, 2 venomous and 2 non-venomous. But I haven't done a good job in consistently keeping up with my blog. I've completed each post just as a way to fill up space. But that is not what a blog is supposed to be. A blog is supposed to be a way to show your interest and like a hobby so I will try to make 3-4 posts a month. This way I can stay on top of things and make the blog more interesting.

Aside from just doing plain research on snakes, I will try to incorporate what I'm learning into my blogs but still keeping it snake themed. It's not too late to make this blog better and up to my standard. I've done many research projects throughout my journey from 1st grade to 11th. So because of the freedom allowed on this project, I don't want to do the same typical research project. I will include more of my own thoughts and opinions; because after all, blogs are meant to be personalized.
So up to this point, I would give myself a 3.5 stars out of 5. I know I can do better and make it more interesting for both those reading the blog and myself by being creative.

World War II attackers

In my AP English class, our teachers vouched for us to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The book itself takes place during World War II and follows the journey of Louis Zamperini. In respect to that, we have been assigned to somehow connect our blog topic to the book. So I did some research about snakes during WWII and turns out that snakes had a an influence in some battles. At the battle of Okinawa in Japan, snakes inhabited the waters around the island. So when the soldiers fought, some of them accidentally stepped on or destroyed the homes of many of these snakes. This created a sense of alarm by the snakes and many of them injected their venom into the soldiers, actually killing them.

It's a flip!

Snakes can grow to be huge and many feet long, so its a surprise to know that even the biggest snakes are scared of something. The biggest fear for snakes is us. That's right, humans. There is this misconception of snakes hunting down humans and injecting their poison. But the reality is that snakes are the ones that are hunted down and killed.  Hundreds of snakes have been harmed to the point to where they are on the endangered species list

Lycodon chrysoprateros

The Lycodon Chrysoprateros is a great example of an endangered snake. It's known as Ross' wolf snake. This snake is labeled as critically endangered. It's found in the Philippines are they are often hunted down for their skin. There are many more snakes that have the same condition if not worse. Many snakes are also hurt indirectly by humans. Us homo sapiens are always making pollution and hurting the environment. Water snakes often suffocate and die due to water pollution caused by humans. So although snakes are viewed as monsters who are "out to get us", it is in fact humans who are out to get snakes.

Boa Constrictor

Boa Constrictors

Introduction

Boa Constrictors are non venomous snakes native to tropical Central and South America. They come in various colors depending on where they live. They tend to camouflage into their surroundings and have distinctive patterns on their backs. These snakes can grow up to 13 feet which is pretty long! They also weigh over 100 pounds. These snakes are often hunted for their beautiful skin and are endangered.

Behavior/ Diet

Boa Constrictors are excellent swimmers as well but they prefer to live on land. They primarily live in hollow logs and abandoned burrows. The Boa doesn't have venom but it is still a carnivore. It uses its jaws which are lined with small teeth to grasp the prey while they coil their muscular bodies around the prey. This suffocates the prey and the method is similar to the Burmese python. These snakes will eat almost anything they can get their mouth on. Like the python, they also swallow their food whole.

A Boa Constrictor coiling around its prey

Burmese Python

Burmese Python

Introduction

The Burmese Python is a non-venomous snake that is native to the jungles and grassy marshes of Southeast Asia. These snake come in many beautiful colors. These snakes are HUGE! They can grow up to 23 feet long and weigh over 200 pounds. Unfortunately, they are often treated badly by owners and hunters and because of this, they become inclined to attack which gives them a negative image, although they aren't violent if not tempted. 

Behavior/ Diet

The Burmese Python starts off being a tree dwelling snake when young. But as they mature and grow bigger and bigger, climbing trees isn't possible anymore so they become ground dwelling snakes. They are docile snakes. Something not widely known is that they are excellent swimmers and can stay submerged for 30 minutes. These pythons are carnivores as well. They eat primarily small birds and mammals. They are blind so they catch their prey by using chemical receptors on their tongues and heat sensors along their jaws. Once they catch their prey, they grasp it with their mouth and coil around it and suffocate it. They also tend to swallow their prey whole. 

Burmese Python eating an alligator