National Geographic Kids Chapters: Scrapes With Snakes: True Stories of Adventures With Animals
Join National Geographic expert and TV personality Brady Barr on some wild adventures with snakes! Readers won't believe their eyes as they read Barr's hilarious—and completely true!—accounts of his interactions with some of the biggest, weirdest, and craziest snakes on Earth.Filled with engaging photos, fast facts, and fascinating sidebars, readers won't want to put this book down.
Читать National Geographic Kids Chapters: Scrapes With Snakes: True Stories of Adventures With Animals онлайн беплатно
Copyright © 2015 National
Geographic Society
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
Published by theNational Geographic Society
Gary E. Knell, President and Chief Executive Officer
John M. Fahey, Chairman of the Board
Declan Moore, Executive Vice President; President, Publishing and Travel
Melina Gerosa Bellows, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer, Books, Kids, and Family
Prepared by the Book Division
Hector Sierra, Senior Vice President and General Manager
Nancy Laties Feresten, Senior Vice President, Kids Publishing and Media
Jennifer Emmett, Vice President, Editorial Director, Kids Books
Eva Absher-Schantz, Design Director, Kids Publishing and Media
Jay Sumner, Director of Photography, Kids Publishing
R. Gary Colbert, Production Director
Jennifer A. Thornton, Director of Managing Editorial
Staff for This Book
Shelby Alinsky, Project Editor
Hillary Leo, Photo Editor
Callie Broaddus, Art Director
Ruth Ann Thompson, Designer
Grace Hill, Associate Managing Editor
Michael O’Connor, Production Editor
Marfé Ferguson Delano, Editor
Paige Towler, Editorial Assistant
Erica Holsclaw, Special Project Assistant
Allie Allen and Sanjida Rashid, Design Production Assistants
Margaret Leist, Photo Assistant
Lewis R. Bassford, Production Manager
Susan Borke, Legal and Business Affairs
Production Services
Phillip L. Schlosser, Senior Vice President
Chris Brown, Vice President, NG Book Manufacturing
George Bounelis, Senior Production Manager
Nicole Elliott, Director of Production
Rachel Faulise, Manager
Robert L. Barr, Manager
The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society’s mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 400 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation, and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy.
For more information, please visit
www.nationalgeographic.com, call 1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463), or write to the following address:
National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.
Visit us online at
www.nationalgeographic.com/books
For librarians and teachers:
National Geographic supports K–12educators with ELA Common CoreResources. Visit natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
More for kids from National Geographic:
For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights: [email protected]
Trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1914-3
Reinforced library edition
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1916-7
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4263-2224-2
v3.1
Version: 2017-07-11
Chapter 1: Not Going in There!
Chapter 3: Rescuing Robo-Weasel!
Chapter 3: Follow That String!
That’s me, Brady Barr, with my friend Gerry Martin on the left. Together, we caught this giant Indian rock python.
When catching a snake this big, it’s always best to secure its head first. That’s the biting end!
I was waist-deep in water in a muddy swamp. I was trying not to think about the leeches that might be crawling up my legs. Then—I spotted it! Stretched out in front of me was the biggest snake I had ever seen. It looked as long as a bus!
What was I doing here? My name is Brady Barr. I’m a zoologist (sounds like zoh-AH-luh-gist), a scientist who studies animals. I’ve studied all kinds of animals all over the world. My favorites are reptiles—really big reptiles.
I’ve worked with some real giants. I’ve wrestled crocodiles over 18 feet (5.5 m) long. I’ve captured 10-foot (3-m)-long lizards and turtles the size of small cars.
But until that day in the swamp, I’d never come across a giant snake. Although they’re among the biggest reptiles on the planet, they’re very hard to find. And scientists know surprisingly little about them.
The swamp where I met the giant snake was in northern India. I was there with my friend Gerry Martin, a reptile expert. We had teamed up to study a rare and endangered crocodilian (sounds like krah-koh-DIL-ee-un). But our croc project soon took an unexpected turn.
Some snakes can swallow things three times the size of their own head! How do they do it? Snakes have really flexible jaws. Human jaws are attached to the skull like a door on hinges. All we can do is open and shut them. A snake’s lower jaw is not solidly attached at the chin, like ours is. Each side can move separately. A snake’s jawbone is attached to the skull by stretchy bands of tissue, almost like rubber bands. Using its curved teeth to grip its prey, the snake can slowly stretch out its jaws and move its mouth around its meal.
