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![A cottonmouth coiled up by the water raises its head](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K3RJ3mAQxM7MpQT6waqSKf-320-80.jpg)
Cottonmouth snakes: Facts about water moccasins
By Patrick Pester, Jessie Szalay last updated
Cottonmouth snakes, also known as water moccasins, are venomous snakes found throughout the southeastern U.S. that can be identified by the white color in their mouths.
![on the left, a baby snake in a person's palm, on the right, a box with straw with lots of baby snakes in it](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bnNpdWrhxi7oPAzeDiBcn6-320-80.jpg)
'Ronaldo had been looking slightly fatter than usual': Snake thought to be male has 14 babies in rare 'virgin birth'
By Hannah Osborne published
A captive Brazilian rainbow boa initially declared male by a vet gives birth to 14 snakelets in a rare case of parthenogenesis at a U.K. college.
![A close-up picture of a copperhead snake's head and left eye.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xgF2XT7kCVAnmEDDDymaJ7-320-80.jpg)
Copperhead snakes: Facts, bites & babies
By Ben Biggs, Jessie Szalay last updated
Reference Copperhead snakes are commonly found in the eastern U.S., where they inflict more bites than any other snake species. Luckily, their venom is relatively mild and rarely deadly for humans.
![A tagged leatherback on wet sand heads towards the sea.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bQhhEaMS7n3aBUrPysGcvh-320-80.jpg)
Leatherback turtle dives deeper than a Navy sub, smashing world record in the process
By Patrick Pester published
A Western Pacific leatherback migrating from her nesting grounds in the Solomon Islands dove to a whopping 4,409 feet, conservationists say.
![close up of a king cobra in an attack position with its mouth open](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7grkegytV4qrcMb9zSQT8V-320-80.jpg)
13 of the most venomous snakes on the planet
By Jeanna Bryner last updated
An encounter with one of these venomous snakes could cost you your life.
![A black and white snake on the grass lies on its back with its mouth open, as if it were dead.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dz3c5tMJcyFHZjFfzD9v88-320-80.jpg)
Dice snakes fake their own death, smearing themselves with blood and poop to make the performance extra convincing
By Richard Pallardy published
Dice snakes theatrically stage their own deaths, using blood and feces to convince predators they've shuffled off their mortal coils.
![a king cobra with fangs showing, an artist impression of a titanoboa and a close up of an anaconda](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VJ2JdJqjVBFB9rG7jUyyEC-320-80.jpg)
The biggest snake in the world (and 10 other giant serpents)
By Emma Bryce last updated
From Titanoboa and Vasuki — prehistoric snakes as long as a Tyrannosaurus rex — to modern-day pythons and boa constrictors that can swallow humans whole, these are the biggest, heaviest and longest snakes to have ever lived on Earth.
![Green Anaconda, Eunectes murinus, Formoso River, Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4wij3zPyDKT4xKYEXu4DyZ-320-80.jpg)
50-foot 'king of the serpents' may have been the biggest snake to ever live
By Jacklin Kwan published
Giant, 47 million-year-old snake fossils pulled from mine in India may be the largest snake ever, potentially surpassing Titanoboa by around 15 feet.
![two coral snakes with bite holds on each side of the wormlike caecilian creature.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Jzq6UG5SLon5cBj2jEe2a4-320-80.jpg)
Watch venomous snakes wrestling for wormlike creature in epic tug-of-war battle
By Elise Poore published
First-of-its-kind footage captures two coral snakes fighting over a wormlike creature in western Colombia.
![Snake boxes seen from above at a python farm.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jsY4P3rgyVn9Q8TbnxaJpN-320-80.jpg)
What does python taste like? Because it could be slithering onto our dinner plates.
By Sascha Pare published
A study conducted on two snake farms has found that breeding pythons for meat is more energy and resource-efficient than current livestock production, offering a viable protein alternative.
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