Fancy Fangs Most snakes’ fangs are in the front of their mouths, but a few snakes, like the boomslang, have fangs in the back. T e boomslang is a venomous tree snake in Africa. It feeds on lizards, birds, and small rodents. When the boomslang spots a lizard, it slowly
slides toward it. It stops periodically. During these brief pauses, it may sway gently. It looks like a branch waſt ing in the breeze. T e boomslang inches closer. Suddenly,
it strikes! Its rear-facing fangs fl ip forward. It lunges and sinks its fangs into its prey. T e boomslang releases its prey and waits for
the venom to work. While it’s waiting, this snake will stalk the prey. It fl icks its tongue to smell and follow the prey until it dies and can be eaten.
FAST FACT:
After swallowing food, snakes appear to yawn. They do this to make the skull bones that have moved apart slip back into place.
Open Wide Although snakes have diff erent ways of killing prey, all snakes eat in the same way. Snakes eat their prey whole, even if the prey is much bigger than they are. Snakes’ jaws and teeth move in a special way to allow this to happen. Snakes have teeth, but they don’t chew their
food. Teeth grab, hook, and hold prey. A snake’s jawbones expand to make way for large prey. A band of stretchy tissue, called ligaments, connects the snake’s jaws to its skull. T e two sides of the lower jawbone are not fused together at the chin. A springy ligament lets these two sides move apart. T e snake’s mouth can open wide and stretch. When eating, a snake like the Japanese rat
snake begins to “walk” its lower jaw under the prey. Its backward-curving teeth grip the prey. One side of the jaw pulls in while the other side moves forward for the next bite. Its skin stretches. Strong muscles crush the food and push it into the snake’s stomach. T e rat snake can swallow an egg quickly. Yet digestion can be a slow process. A snake may not need to eat again for days or weeks.
A Japanese rat snake swallows a large egg.
8 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
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