Deforestation puts snakes on the plain

(Photo of anaconda boa constrictor from Flickr and photographer Pierre Pouliquin.)
Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil in driving snakes into a nearby city in search of a new habitat. The EPA there has captured 21 snakes, including a 10-foot anaconda, in the city of Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon River. Illegal loggers, developers, farmers and ranchers cleared about 2,700 square miles in the last 5 months of 2007 alone, as demand for corn, soy and cattle puts pressure on forest land. Here's another good reason to keep the rainforest intact. (See MSNBC)