Chicken snake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spilotes pullatus |
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| Cananina at Alto Ribeira Tourist State Park, Brazil. | |
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Spilotes
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| Species: |
pullatus
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The Spilotes pullatus, often called the caninana or tiger rat snake, is a really big snake! It's not venomous, meaning it's not dangerous if it bites you. This snake lives in warm parts of the Americas, from Mexico all the way down to South America. People also call it the chicken snake or yellow rat snake. In some places, it's known as serpiente tigre or tigre.
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Where Does the Caninana Live?
You can find the caninana in many warm places. Its home stretches from southern Mexico through Central America. It also lives in northern and central South America. You can even find it on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
What Does the Caninana Look Like?
These snakes can grow quite long! An adult can reach a total length of about 2.7 m (8.9 ft). That's longer than a tall person!
The caninana has a cool pattern. Its back is black with bright yellow spots. These spots sometimes connect to form stripes across its body. The very tip of its nose is yellow. The top of its head can be mostly yellow, mostly black, or a mix of both. But the lines between the scales on its head are always black. Its belly is yellow with black stripes that aren't always perfectly even.
The snake's body is quite thin and a bit flattened on the sides. Its head stands out from its neck. It has medium-sized eyes with round pupils. The scales on its back are pointed and overlap each other, like roof tiles.
Where Does the Caninana Live?
This snake loves to live in forest areas. You'll often find it close to water sources, like rivers or streams.
How Does the Caninana Behave?
The caninana spends most of its time in trees. This is called being arboreal. But it also spends time on the ground, which means it's also terrestrial. It's active during the day, so it's a diurnal animal. It's always on the move, looking for food.
What Does the Caninana Eat?
The caninana eats many different kinds of food. Its diet includes small mammals, like rodents and even bats. It also enjoys birds, lizards, and other reptiles. Sometimes it eats amphibians, like frogs. And it loves to eat eggs!
Different Kinds of Caninanas
Just like there are different breeds of dogs, there are different types of caninanas. These are called subspecies. Here are five recognized subspecies of the caninana:
- Spilotes pullatus anomalepis Bocourt, 1888
- Spilotes pullatus argusiformis Amaral, 1929
- Spilotes pullatus maculatus Amaral, 1929
- Spilotes pullatus mexicanus (Laurenti, 1768)
- Spilotes pullatus pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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See also
In Spanish: Mica (serpiente) para niños
