Ssss…nakes

I woke up this morning and I made up my mind to dedicate this day to some cold blooded creatures that use to haunt most of our dreams after having watched a movie depicting them in all sizes and colors hunting us down as if they considered us a delicious meal. If it were for me to make a joke and ask you how I call this kind of movies I’d say blanket movies since most of the times the “hard scenes” are watched from under the blanket. All around the world they carry just one name and they usually use to hiss it when introducing them to us. They are often associated with sin and honestly they seem not to have any problem with this at all. And finally in order to make you guess I shall tell you a riddle to which the answer is the name of these hissing creatures “What has no legs but can stand up high, / What has no cloak but can wear a hood?” Of course the answer my friend “is blowing in the wind” this time (or on your lips) and the wind carries the name of the snakes.

“Hardly a more perfect design, / Could Mother Nature had in mind, / Then this colorful and versatile creature, / With many an adapted feature / Of the most successful kind.”-I’ve decided to start their presentation by quoting some lines from a poem entitled “Snakes”, mostly because I think that they somehow present shortly these amazing creatures. You may say now that I use to call almost every creature amazing, but after all what can I do if they really are like this? Should I look down upon them and not watch them carefully enough to observe what they can or cannot do, where they begin and where they end? So, if you are curious enough too when it comes to finding out more facts about snakes then take a chair and sit down, get a drink you like and after that join me in this discovery attempt.

Sssss…snakes have almost always ensnared us and ironically they have also managed to scare the pants off of many of us, not only nowadays but since time immemorial, from the dawn of time if I may say so. Often associated with mystical and vile things they happened to be at times misjudged. Even so I consider these creatures quite duplicitary and I always tend to assign them two facets: on one side there is the evil, dreaded one and on the other side there is the one depicting them as some sort of representations of good luck and potency, nobility, daring and determination and last but not least important masculinity. Some of you may say now that in fact men do not hiss as much as women do, so why associating men with snakes? You may be right to a certain extent since indeed women tend to be more noisily and nagging and as such more likely to spend their time hissing but even so men are often associated with the notions of strength and power and so are snakes. In fact they may have stroke fear into many of you if not in real life then for sure in the books you happened to read or even in the movies you happened to watch.

Now I shall continue by telling you something about the big family of snakes. In case you did not know snakes belong to the larger order of reptiles known under the name of Squamata. They can as such be considered some sort of relatives of lizards. Even so family does not count very much to them and they may at times end up eating their brothers and sisters as well. What you should know is that there are about 20 families of snakes out there in the world out of which the most common ones, the ones you may have already heard about are the so called Viperidae which include the vipers and the rattlesnakes as well as many other snakes which I shall not mention here, Pythonidae including here the pythons, Elapidae including here such snakes as the cobras and the mambas, Colubridae – also the biggest family and the harmless one at the same time and of course the so called Boidae family which includes the well known boas.

As you already probably know snakes can be seen almost everywhere, except the areas of this world where the conditions seem to be unbearable for them, that is the areas where it is too cold for them such as Antarctica. Even so they are to be considered almost ubiquitous and can be seen in forest areas, deserts, streams, lakes and oceans. As I once heard it in a movie “On the page or on the sheet…” and I shall continue now by saying that a greater snake you’ll never meet. Perhaps you will and you can meet it not on the page and hopefully not on the sheet but for sure in trees, on the ground and even in water. If you ever wondered how many snakes are there in the world you should find out that there are just about 2700 species of snakes but not all of them are so threatening and dangerous as many of us tend to consider them. I say this mostly because those studying them managed to discover that in fact most snakes, more than two thirds of them in fact are non-venomous and as such “innocent”. If you fear them to death and wouldn’t like getting closer to one then perhaps you should avoid going to Australia since it is there that most venomous snakes feel at home. But after all if you ever had the curiosity to look for some statistics and find out how many people out there ended up dying because of being bitten by snakes then you would have managed to discover that in fact snakes are not the ones that bring death with them but rather other animals which we tend to consider inoffensive. Did you know that in fact more people end up being killed by bee-stings, in motor vehicle accidents or while riding horses than by snake bites? And even so this does not hinder us from eating honey, enjoying riding horses or being crazy about motors! So why would it stop us from looking closely towards snakes? Most surely snakes do not attack us unless we do something to irritate them: we either tried to kill them and they sensed it or we tried to change its place and again he didn’t like it or perhaps we attempted to stress the poor snake and he reacted or perhaps we dealt with it in an inadequate manner and again he hated it or we may have tried to catch it and as such he had to defend himself. So, as you see they are so innocent and shy poor them and it is all your fault (I hope you notice the irony here and take things as they are or as you consider them to be). Even so I have to tell you that rumor go that only 7% of the snakebites happen to be in toto (as some may say) accidental. But as some of you may say what are the odds of meeting a snake in the next few years or hours or minutes? Since the world is so unforeseeable nowadays we cannot be sure of almost anything and as such even though such an encounter is not in your agenda he may take you by surprise and appear in front of you. So better be prepared and have some knowledge about them rather than be taken by surprise!

Paul Désiré Trouillebert,The Nude Snake Charmer

Kilograms…weight can be a problem for many of us but certainly not for snakes. So let’s try to discover a few things about their looks. Are they good looking or rather so, so? After all since beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder such is the case of snakes too. It all comes down to a matter of personal taste and choice of course. When it comes to these cold blooded (yet not heartless) creatures, when looking at them they seem at times to have embarked upon a war with their protective covering resembled by many to some sort of a suit of armor. In fact they have declared war only to “wrinkled”, rugged surfaces and to hot ones as well and as such they have adapted their bodies to serpent along the tree bark, the hot desert sand and even along the rocks. Their body is covered with rather rough scales and plates which can be resembled to our coats and as such have the role of protecting these winding creatures against water but at the same time as they do not have legs they may as well help them hold onto the branches of trees and move their at times rather massive body. Of course that much like in our case they tend to get bored of these “coats” and from time to time they shed it (much like it happens with the exfoliation of our skin but on a different level). The process of skin shedding has been resembled by many with the process of getting one’s sock off. A pretty funny image, don’t you think so? And the amazing things do not end here since you may be surprised to find out that these creatures do not have eyelids but instead their eyes are covered with a scale (a clear one of course since they have to see something), a scale which specialists refer to in terms of a spectacle. So be sure that next time you happen to see a female snake she will not be blinking at you in a flirtatious mood since in facts she “owns” no such eyelids to do this! The funny image comes when noticing a snake rubbing up against a rock or whatever rough surface they may find and all this with the sole purpose of getting rid of its “old” skin.

Errr…did you ever happen to see the way a snake simply wraps its body around its prey, of course if we are referring to larger preys and larger snakes as well? Their flexibility may have been at times envied by many of you and most of the times you probably thought that they didn’t have no bones at all and this was precisely what helped them contort their bodies in such a fascinating, at times miraculous manner. Even so you may be disappointed to find out that in fact they do have bones, being what scientists call vertebrates. In fact they have so many bones that one could not have even imagined: somewhere between 100 and 400 vertebrae with an almost equal number of ribs attached to them. As you can all imagine it is precisely this feature that allows them to move so easily and be so flexible in their movements. If you ever wondered where all the snake’s organs fit in there, in their body then the mystery is just about to be clarified for you. Now be attentive and follow me since what I am about to tell you sounds pretty interesting. Let’s see: the stomach must be there and for sure it is pretty long and pretty flexible as well since it has to make place to really big animals at times and so does the throat which amazingly enough occupies the front part of their body and when it comes to proportions then the throat takes up about one third of the body. Amazing, isn’t it? But even so the amazing things about snakes do not stop here. Inside their bodies snake hide away from our eyes two pretty long lungs, an equally long liver and of course intestines and kidneys. And if you ever wondered if snakes poop then be sure they do and as such they “own” what scientist call an anal plate. As you probably already noticed their bodies end with a tail.

Serpent like movement – how many times did you hear these words being uttered by those close to you? Now don’t start counting because most surely it will take you a long time to do this! As it is evident that snakes move too and they do it very well too then you should perhaps find out that what helps them do the “walking” part so well are in fact its muscles and of course its scales. You may probably do not know but when it comes to the moves adopted by snakes or the so called “walking” the situation comes to be more complex than many of you deem it to be. I say this because scientists have managed to discover four so called “methods of walking” or winding as I would like to put it that snakes use: namely the sidewinding, the rectilinear, the concertina and of course the well known serpentine movement. Each of these movements requires the use of muscles and scales and of course the skillfulness of the master snake. At times it is even said that even us humans we can serpentine through the alleys of life. Now what do you think, can this be true?

Did you ever watch a snake eating? Quite a picturesque image I dare say! After all you may as well wonder what snakes eat. Of course when it comes to things being mentioned in the snake’s menu of the day it all goes down to their size and their habitat. They may have on their menu birds and mammals as well, amphibians, other reptiles, fish and even snails, worms, insects, spiders or crustaceans. Or they may as well prefer eating eggs. And you may also be surprised to hear that in fact there is a species of snakes called the tentacled snake which may as well eat only plants to be found in water, some sort of a vegetarian as some of you may rightfully say. And of course if we are referring to larger snakes their preys will be equally large and as such they may even consume hippos and crocodiles as well. When it comes to eating these winding creatures, as I sometimes like to call them, show an incredible patience and determination and as such they are capable of waiting minutes and minutes and sometimes even days for its delicious meal to pass by. And when it comes be sure that it would be quite a show to be watched!

Mr. Snake makes use of its two lethal weapons in order to turn the poor meal to silence. He may either use constriction or its equally lethal venom to make it surrender in its large throat. And what can its poor prey do but succumb to its wish, moreover its command?

And as you can all imagine after such a huge meal the snake needs a siesta too and this siesta period may as well last for a few days and at times even a month. They need time to digest their food and if they happen to be scared or if they proved to be too greedy and chose to ingurgitate a bigger prey than most surely they will face some so called regurgitation problems or in day to day language they will throw up. Amazingly enough certain species of snakes can resist for months without eating but be sure that if they do this then most surely their last meal was quite an enormous one. However it has been discovered that their metabolism is much slower than ours and that as such they can go on without food for longer periods of time. Which snakes can stay without food for such long periods of time? Of course the larger ones such as the Anaconda and the reticulated python! How can they ingurgitate such enormous animals at once without bursting out? First of all as you can all imagine they are helped by their jaws which are not fused together to say so and as such at times they can eat bigger animals than their own bodies.

What other interesting features do snakes possess? You most certainly happened to see their forked tongue coming out of their mouths. In fact, most of the times this is what attracts our attention towards them, this as well as their size and color (at times changing color) but did you know that this forked tongue helps them smell? Well, it does and when doing this it is helped by a special organ that he possesses and that is located somewhere on the roof of its mouth. As some of you, “the connoisseurs” as I prefer calling you probably already guessed I am referring to the so called Jacobson’s Organ (probably named after the one who discovered it). And if you ever wondered if snakes have teeth then find out that they do and quite a lot of them! If you take your time to count them (quite a risky job I dare say!) you will manage to find out that snakes have neither more nor less than 200 teeth which surprisingly enough they do not use to chew their preys but rather to bite them and hold them better as if afraid that they could escape.

But do snakes manage to see something or perhaps hear something at all? If you ever imagined that they see like we do then evidences clearly prove that you are wrong. Snakes mostly detect heat and movement and as such they manage to make surrender even the larger prey. When it comes to hearing you may scream as long as you wish at them because they will not hear you, but if you choose to “hoof it” then most surely the snake will manage to feel the vibrations of the ground and know you are there. Talking about seeing and hearing abilities I cannot but mention that while shedding its skin the scale covering its eyes will also shed and as such the poor snake will end up blind for a few days. And all this effort for a new coat! Now dare to say that snakes are not really preoccupied with their looks!

As they are cold blooded creatures they highly depend on the sun’s warmth to regulate their body’s temperature and as such they choose to live in warm parts of the world. Even so, interesting enough is the fact that if they happen to inhabit colder areas then during the cold period they may be found in their homes hibernating; and if you imagine that it all happens like in the case of bears and that they spend their time sleeping then you are most surely wrong. Scientists managed to get in their underground place and notice that during winter time they prefer doing nothing and putting on the so called coat of laziness as I would call it until spring comes and he may come out and show himself to the whole world. This period is often referred to by scientists as brumation.

testing the gender of snakes

But, since they have to wake up how about trying to perpetuate the species too? Unfortunately for them they are not such good parents at all. Female snakes may either lay eggs or give birth to live babies and once the babies are born she goes away to continue her life considering that her job is done. Even so mothers are not be blamed too much since they are most surely not supported by their partners that only seem to like the sexual act and seem not to be able to assume their responsibility once the child or children are born. If it were for someone to make a birth certificate for these snakes then he would most surely have to write by the name of their parents absent mother and for sure absent father. And if you ever heard anyone talking about the natural sorting out taking place in nature then most surely this is what happens in the case of baby snakes. If they are lucky enough they survive, if not they die –as simple as this! And in case you happened not to know how things normally go inside a couple of snakes and wonder “what does the snake give to his wife?” then the answer is just this: “A goodnight hiss!”

You may have never envisaged the quite dreaded King Cobra as a good parent but in fact as appearances can at times be deceptive, they are one of the few snake species to actually try to guard their babies and protect them from any possible threats. So as you can all see there can be exceptions even in the animal world and probably even more exception than in human life! And as I do not want to make mother pythons get angry I shall as well mention the fact that them too take good care of their eggs and try to do their best to keep warm these eggs including here the fact that in order to do this they may as well make their bodies shiver to spread more warmth and they appear to be doing a great job too.

Snakes can be huge or small, thick or slim, venomous or non-venomous but no matter the situation they are nevertheless the proud carriers of the name of ‘snake’. And at times they can be so proud that they can even start eating their brothers and sisters as well (probably they consider there are just too many of them on this planet).

The funny thing about snakes is that there are some species out there that would fake death whenever they happen to feel threatened. And believe me that they prove to be best actors when it comes to doing this! They resort to all sorts of tricks such as opening their mouths, letting their tongues drop out, “release” an unpleasant smell coming from their anal plate and all this just to make it look as something not so delicious. Which are the snakes doing this? The Hognose, Grass snake and of course the so called Spitting Cobra, this would be the answer.

When it comes to defensive weapons being used to protect their “precious skin” then most surely one needs to bring into discussion the art of camouflage. Amazingly enough snakes too can change their colors and most often this color can be interpreted as a sign of “to be or not to be” poisonous, to put in a more poetic way. Usually bright colors clearly indicate us that we are dealing with a venomous snake whereas dull colors rather communicate us that these snakes wearing them use them as a technique of camouflage. So, you may either interpret it in terms of “Stay off!” or “You should not notice me!”

Coral snake

But even so, snakes can at times play tricks on you and can mimic the colors of poisonous snakes and as such try to keep predators away. As such now you can be sure that snakes can be pretty skilful actors as well! But if you know more about snakes then you most surely can make the difference between the real danger and the faked one if I may say so. While searching for information about snakes I managed to find somewhere a rhyme which can prove to be quite helpful for you next time you happen to encounter a snake: “Red and yellow will kill a fellow, red and black venom lack.” This appears to be the case of the so called Milk Snakes and Coral snakes. Of course as the name actually suggests it the Milk Snakes are quite inoffensive whereas the Coral snakes are what many label as poisonous snakes.

But even so snakes are interesting creatures. After all is there any creature in nature that can do the serpent movement better than they can do it? Don’t think so! Venomous or non-venomous they have for sure their own role in nature and when I say this I most surely think about the fact that their venom is nowadays being used in treating a whole myriad of diseases and even in beauty treatments. They may kill you in one bite but they may as well save your life! And what better way to end this periplus in the world of snakes if not by bringing up a riddle which clarifies the fear thing for sure. So, here it is: “You are in a bit of a pickle. You are trapped in a house of three rooms. Hungry alligators, lions that haven’t eaten in a year, and rattlesnakes. Which room is the safest room to enter?” The answer to this riddle may come as a surprise to many of you “The lions mainly because if they haven’t eaten in a year, they’re dead!”

If the answer is not the one you expected and you were rather expecting to hear that rattlesnakes should rather be avoided, then you should perhaps look for the first letter of some of the paragraphs of this article and find out their name “Snakes”. Surprise!