DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
North America, the largest snake inhabiting Cuba, endemic. Prefers tropical dry forests and thickets. Found in holes and rock piles, sometimes also in arable fields.
BEHAVIOUR
He hunts at night. It does not inflict fatal wounds with its teeth. Instead, he uses them to grab prey and then wraps his body two or three times. Each time the prey exhales, the boa will squeeze harder, preventing the ribs, diaphragm, lungs, and heart from functioning. The prey eventually suffocates.
DIET
Cuban boa eats small mammals including rodents.
REPRODUCTION
The female gives birth to 2–10 young, 60–70 cm long.
GOOD TO KNOW
Cuban boa have relatively poor eyesight and instead, rely on their tongues to smell the air. The flicking tongue picks up minute scent particles in the air, which are taken to the Jacobson’s organ, in the roof of the mouth where the smells are decoded.
- Latin name: Chilabothrus angulifer
- IUCN –Red List – LC – least concern/ mniejszej troski
- CITES – Appendix II
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