Anaconda , pronounced (au uh kahn duh), is the name of two kinds  of large snakes found in tropical South America. Anacondas are also called water boas. One kind can grow as long as 30 feet or more. No other South American snake is this long.
    Anacondas have olive-green skin, often with many black spots. These snakes live near water, often swimming in rivers or lakes. Their main foods are birds and small mammals. They kill their pray by wrapping their coils tightly around them to keep them from breathing. Like most snakes, they defend themselves by retreating or, if cornered, by biting. Their bite is not poisonous but their many teeth can inflict deep wounds.