Cody,
I’ve been out of town, away from computers, so I’m only just answering your questions now – I’ll begin my response to your Q’s (>>below) with CAPS:
>>I was watching some shows on anacondas. they talked about when finding anacondas (the walking around with no shoes on way) that there r blue stingrays, piranha, and caimans that they could step on and attack them. i know nothing about blue stingrays but they never came across them. have u even see them or get "attacked" by one? I have had piranha and they seem to run away from everything and be better on there own and not in a school. i was never bitten by my piranha and I use to clean there cage with no gloves and they would just swim away. i have talked to people about caimans and people have said that if u would step on one they will most likely run away. have u even stepped on any of these creatures or bin "attacked" by them?
TYPICALLY in the flooded savannas in the Llanos where we found anacondas, there were also many resident fishes, including pirana spp., fresh water stingrays, electric eels, plus spectacled caiman. I was lucky NOT to have ever stepped on a stingray – you shuffle your feet when you walk to avoid this. Most fish, except for the occasional great white shark, etc., will avoid people, including stingrays and pirana. If you get nailed by a stingray, it is because they feed in extremely shallow water and you stepped on it, which elicits a defensive (and really painful) reaction. Pirana will avoid you, unless perhaps they are in extremely high densities, and you are gushing blood from an open wound. And yes, I have stepped on many an (unseen) caiman, which will give you a great adrenaline rush but nothing worse, and although I wouldn’t do it on purpose, it is highly unlikely they’ll attack, they pretty much either sit still and try to remain undetected, or run off in an explosion of mud and water.
>>what r baby anacondas eating? r they eating the same thing as big anacondas like baby birds, baby caimans, baby capybaras, or r they eating something else i have not thought of.
IT IS hard to find many baby anacondas to determine diet, but we did catch a few, and they had eaten either passerine (small perching) birds, like a wren, and also mice. No doubt they also may feed on baby caiman. Baby capybara are more of prey size for juveniles, not babies, especially since they (capybara) do receive some protection from siblings and adults, making them a somewhat more risky prey item for a baby, plus they are just too big for a young baby (a pregnant adult capybara can weigh over 150 lbs.).
>>also on this show they said mating balls can last for up to 2 months. this seems a long time is this true or r they just saying garbage information?
NO, this is actually more or less accurate, since mating aggregations CAN last for up to 2 months, although the aggregation is not static. Different males come and go from the “ball” throughout the mating period.
>>also in the wild do u find anacondas with parasites or water blisters? and have you ever found other anacondas besides green anacondas?
THERE are only E. murinus in the area we conducted our research. It is quite typical for anacondas, and all animals, to have parasites in the wild. Our snakes were often seen with round worms, ticks, etc. plus when we tested 21 adults for malaria, all 21 were infected – and all were healthy as well. They are highly resistant to infection, since the water they live in is chock full of all sorts of parasites.
>>also on the show i was watching it said that local villages will kill anacondas on site if they find them. have u found this true with local people? I did not think this true because in most places in the world were there are big snakes they consider them as gods.
THIS is true – they are phobic of snakes, and big ones especially. Many believe that anacondas are venomous. Others don'’t care, they simply will kill them on sight regardless. We found a few that survived the attack, with long machete scars. There are some tribes that may revere them as gods or characters in their mythology, but this is in no way as common as fear of snakes. A few areas still kill them and sell their fat as a cure for everything you can imagine (of course it doesn’t work). Snake oil is still snake oil, nothing more.
Renee
