Food

Anacondas have many different types of things to eat. An anaconda’s jaw formation allows it to open wide enough to consume larger animals. They eat animals such as birds, small mammals (deer, peccaries, etc.), and large rodents. After the anaconda eats it rests while it digests its meal, sometimes for several weeks, depending on the size of the dinner. Younger anacondas feed on mice, rats, chicks, frogs, and fish. Anacondas kill their prey by waiting to ambush their unsuspecting prey when they come down for a drink. They first bite their prey with their sharp teeth, hold on to them with their powerful jaws and then pull them under water. The victim may drown first or it may be squeezed to death in their muscular coils. The snake squeezes tighter each time the victim breathes out, so that the prey cannot breathe again. Suffocation does not take a long time at all, the anaconda swallows its prey whole, starting with the victims head. The anaconda does this so that the legs fold up and the prey or victim slides down smoothly. An anaconda can swallow prey much bigger than its mouth because their jaws can unhinge.

Deer: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/santa_barbara_california/pages/mule%20deer%20fawn.htm

Bird: http://www.stiffsteiffs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rubery.htm