Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Boa. A non-venomous snake of the family Boidae, which also includes pythons and anacondas. The boa constrictor of South America is a typical individual of this group. A full-grown specimen is about twelve feet long. It has a prehensile tail by which it suspends itself, head downward, from a tree while waiting for its prey. It feeds mostly upon birds and small mammals. When one of these comes within reach, the boa seizes it with its jaws by a quick darting movement of the head, and instantly throws about its victim a fold of the upper part of the body, enveloping and crushing it. After the prey is dead, the boa coats it with saliva and swallows it, a process which sometimes takes several hours. While digestion is going on, a process which may require one or more weeks, the snake is sluggish and torpid. Boas are reputed to have swallowed deer, young cattle, and even horses, but such stories lack verification. By reason of the structure and loose articulation of the jaws, common to other snakes, the boa is able to swallow creatures larger than its own head, but it is extremely unlikely that it could swallow a horned mammal or a man.

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