Facts-sss
Sunday
Snakes and other reptiles are called “cold blooded,” but that doesn’t mean their blood is always low temperature. They are “ectotherms,” which just means they get heat from outside their bodies via the sun, as opposed to animals which can produce their own body heat internally. Their metabolism works best in warmer temperatures, though there is great variety in preferred temperatures among reptile species.
Monday
Despite huge mouths, snakes can’t chew, so must swallow their food whole, however large it may be. However, it is a myth that snakes dislocate their jaws to fit the feast. In fact, their jawbones are connected by cartilage instead of fused bone, and so allow for great stretching. After that, the powerful stomach does the digesting, though the venom of poisonous snakes can also help dissolve food.
Tuesday
In religion and mythology, snakes get mixed respect. In some, they represent sin, temptation, death or the devil, while in others they represent rebirth, fertility, immortality, or healing. In several myths, snakes play a central role in the world’s creation or destruction.
Wednesday
Oil produced by boiling Chinese water snakes was used by 19th century Chinese railroad workers in the US as an effective cure for joint inflammation after a hard day’s work. News of this soothing oil spread, but since there were no omega-3 acid-rich Chinese water snakes in the US, hucksters initially boiled rattlesnakes for the oil to cure “all pain,” despite their far less therapeutic oil composition. What’s more, shipments of this “snake oil” were later found to contain zero snake oil, but red pepper, turpentine, beef fat, and mineral oil, among other things. Thus, “snake oil” became a metaphor for grossly misrepresented products.
Thursday
Traditional Indian snake charmers appear to have the swaying serpent mesmerized with haunting reed music, but things are not as they seem. Snakes are largely deaf, so are responding to the movements of the instrument itself, called a pungi. These snakes are often harmless anyway, having been de-fanged and with their venom sacs removed. Sometimes the mouth is sewn shut, causing the snake to starve and get replaced when it dies. Because of these controversial practices and more enforcement of laws forbidding snake ownership, snake charming in India is on the decline.
Friday
You might think of the familiar S-shaped slither as snakes’ main movement, but it is one of four which have been known for decades, known as concertina, rectilinear, lateral undulation, and sidewinding. However, scientists recently discovered an amazing new motion, in which Guam’s brown tree snake climbs up smooth poles and gets around barriers by wrapping its body around the cylinders like a lasso, hooking on with its own tail, and inching up that way.
Saturday
Speaking of unexpected snake movement, snakes of the Chrysopelea family can “fly” in the same way flying squirrels glide through the air. These snakes can glide for several seconds at a time at about 25mph by flattening their body to catch the air.