The anaconda snakes {genus Eunectes} refer to several species of aquatic anacondas that inhabit the swamps and rivers of South America to the east of the Andes. The anacondas are the world’s biggest snakes. The anaconda snake has captured the mass imagination ever since movies woven around it hit the silver screen to the viewers’ awed delight.

he size to which the anaconda snakes could grow has long fascinated the many. Documented evidence records anacondas measuring as long as 10 meters or 25 feet, while other claims allege anaconda snakes as long as 30-45 meters or approximately 100-150 feet long to exist. The largest anaconda ever recorded was almost 28 feet long and had a girth of 44 inches. It was believed to weigh well over 500 pounds.

Anaconda snakes are meat-eating and active by night. Anacondas possess no venom, but kill their victims by tightly squeezing them until they cease to breathe. The anaconda snakes may also frequently simply drown their preys to death.
After mating, the female anaconda gives birth to live young, and leaves them to fend for themselves. The young anaconda snakes, called neonates, can care for themselves soon after birth. They eat small rodents, such as mice and rats, and baby birds, frogs and fish. Most of the 20 to 40 baby anaconda snakes that are born at one time manage to survive. The life expectancy of the anaconda snakes may range between 10 and 30 years.

An interesting extension of the anaconda snake’s method of vanquishing its preys may be found in military strategy. This is best exemplified in the Anaconda Plan. Obviously inspired by the unusual mode employed by the anaconda snakes to best their preys, this plan was drawn up by General Winfield Scott to end the American Civil War in favor of the North.  Briefly, the Anaconda Plan envisaged crippling the crucial lines of transport of economic goods as well as arms reinforcements to render the enemies weak and defenseless. Though the Anaconda Plan may not have been officially adopted by the Union, elements of it were employed throughout the course of the war, and proved decisive in determining its eventual outcome.

It is an oblique tribute to the strange awe that the anaconda snake evokes that its influence may be traced from the cinema to the realm of military strategy. This draws from the fact that anaconda snakes don’t employ venom to kill, but seemingly nullify the prey’s ability to fight. The anacondas may have become an endangered species today, but their hold on the popular imagination continues to reign supreme. Checkout our videos section for a huge collection of anaconda videos caught in action.

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