The closest relative of boas and anacondas, the rubber snake (lat. Charina bottae) is one of the most “undersized” representatives of her family. Her dense, brownish-olive body grows only 60 cm, while the length of her cousin, the ordinary anaconda, can reach ten meters.
  Rubber snakes live in coniferous forests, meadows and brushwood in the western United States and Canada. Hiding under the bark, fallen leaves or logs, they patiently track down prey - small rodents, birds, salamanders, look for eggs of other snakes.
One of their favorite activities is to destroy the rodent burrows. If a rubber snake has found a hole with a brood, then no one will be able to escape: first, it will eat offspring, repelling the mother’s attacks with a thick tail, and then the mother herself, pulling her out with the same tail.
  Being very calm by nature, rubber snakes never make attempts to bite. Knowing this quality, people use them to help others overcome the fear of snakes. Unlike their female relatives, rubber snakes, even defending themselves, do not attempt to attack. Instead, they excrete bad-smelling fluid from the anus to scare off the offender.
  If you lift a rubber snake with your hand, it will gently wrap around your wrist and sag in this position for about an hour, until it comes to her that it’s time to leave. Even being well-fed and in a good mood, these snakes crawl slowly and carefully.
Rubber snakes can slowly move in the water, lifting his head high up, but skillful swimmers can not call them.