This snake typically feeds on the small mammals of the forest including rodents, rabbits, and small birds. It prefers smaller prey than most snakes its size. With a length of 6 to 12 feet, the bushmaster is one of the longest venomous snakes in the world.
Individuals may weigh up to 11 pounds. They have thick bodies and broad heads. Males are larger than females. Lifespan ranges from 12 to 18 years. Conservation Status. In This Section. Females lays 5 to 19 eggs in a burrow, often an abandoned agouti burrow, and guard the nest.
They do not eat during incubation and only leave the nest briefly to drink. Incubation requires 60 to 79 days. Newly hatched bushmasters are typically 30 to 50 cm long. Sexual maturity occurs at around 4 years of age. Females guard their nests until the eggs hatch. Young are independent once they hatch. Woodland Park Zoo, Lifespan of wild individuals is unknown. Captive specimens generally live 12 to 18 years, though have been recorded to live up to 24 years. Except during breeding activities, bushmasters are solitary creatures, usually active at dusk or after dark.
Many of their habits are unknown as they are so secretive. During mate seeking, courtship, and mating, bushmasters use chemical trails and tactile stimulation. Their forked tongues supply the vomeronasal organ, which connects with the accessory olfactory bulb in the brain. Like other vipers, they rattle their tails when threatened, but there are no actual rattles. Bushmasters also have paired pit organs on the face, between the eye and nostril as do other pit vipers , to sense infrared energy heat.
Bushmasters are crepuscular or nocturnal predators that mostly eat small mammals, such as rodents, in the wild. Birds and reptiles may occasionally be eaten. Spiny rats Proechimys species are favored prey items in Costa Rica. Bushmasters are mainly ground-living, sit-and-wait predators; they conceal themselves near likely areas of rodent activity and wait for a prey animal to come within striking range.
Young bushmasters are presumably subject to various predators, such as other snakes or raptors, but adults may have few predators other than humans. Bushmasters are primary predators of a wide variety of small mammals and perhaps frogs and birds. They are probably preyed on by relatively few species. Bushmasters presumably are subject to various parasites and diseases, but there is little information in the literature. Kohler, ; Leenders, ; Woodland Park Zoo, Bushmasters, like many other snakes, help reduce rodent populations.
In addition, bushmaster venom may offer possible applications for use in medical research and medicines. Bushmasters are of concern due to their venomous bites. Their venom attacks the circulatory system and can cause death without treatment. The cryptic nature and sit-and-wait predation habits of these snakes makes accidental envenomation a possibility. Bushmasters have been known to follow people for several meters, head held high, after being disturbed and may follow to attack.
Bushmasters are greatly feared in some places. Bushmasters are listed as vulnerable under the Red List due to habitat destruction. IUCN, The scientific name Lachesis muta means "silent fate" referring to their tail shaking, though they lack a rattle.
Due in part to their large size, bushmasters produce much more venom than many other species of vipers. For comparison, a bushmaster produces eight times more venom than an American copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix. Jacksonville Zoo, ; Woodland Park Zoo, You can find the Chocoan species throughout Ecuador, Columbia, and Panama. The black-headed species lives in a small region of Costa Rica.
Like all snakes, these reptiles are carnivores. They only eat other animals, and never feed on any types of plants. Younger and smaller individuals prey on smaller animals. Conversely, larger snakes hunt for larger prey. Some common prey items for these snakes include rats, mice, rabbits , birds, lizards , and other snakes. Like most vipers , they hunt using ambush rather than actively searching for prey. Because these snakes live in dense rainforest, humans rarely cross paths with them.
They also help reduce the number of rodent pests in an area. However, their venom is toxic, and these snakes do bite when confronted. Because of this, humans often fear and attempt to exterminate these reptiles. Humans do not frequently house this snake in zoos or research facilities.
Collecting venom is important in creating antivenom to use when treating snakebites, but these particular reptiles do not fare well in human care. Like many other snake species, these reptiles prefer living alone.
They hunt for prey at sunset and during the night, making them crepuscular and nocturnal, respectively.
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