16th July: World Snake Day

Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, and they are distinct from legless lizards. The latter have eyelids and ears, snakes don't. Here are ten more facts about snakes:

1. There are about 2,900 species of snake. They range in size from the reticulated python, which can grow to 30 feet long, to the Barbados thread snake, which is just four inches long. The heaviest is the green anaconda, which can weigh up to 550 pounds. The largest snake fossil ever discovered is a Titano boa. It lived 60 million years ago and would have been 50 feet (15 meters) long.
2. Snakes are found just about everywhere with the exception of Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland (where St Patrick famously got rid of them),  Greenland and New Zealand.
3. The English word snake comes from an old Proto-Indo-European word meaning to crawl or creep. Another old word meaning the same thing is "serp" from which we get "serpent". An person who studies snakes is known as an ophidiologist. Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. A group of snakes may be called a bed, den, knot, nest or pit.
4. There is no such thing as a poisonous snake. Poison is inhaled or ingested, while snakes inject their venom, hence the correct word for a snake whose bite will kill you is venomous. 375 species of snake are venomous. Australia is the only continent where venomous snakes actually outnumber the non-venomous ones - but only about five of the 50,000 deaths from snake bites per year occur in Australia. Some snake venom facts: Before the invention of anti-venom, the black mamba had a 100% fatality rate and its victims would be dead in about 20 minutes. Bill Haast from Florida, also known as the “Snake Man,” injected himself with snake venom every day for over 60 years to build immunity. He saved countless lives with his antibody rich blood, and he lived to be 100. Roman military commander Hannibal filled jars of clay with venomous snakes and had his soldiers throw them onto enemy ships during a naval battle to incite panic. The decapitated head of a dead snake can still bite hours after death. Scientists are discovering now that there are proteins in snake venom which would make excellent painkillers or even cure cancer. There are species of snake which are not naturally venomous, but they eat poisonous Frogs, collect the poison and store it to use as venom.
5. Why do snakes flick their tongues out so much? Because they use them to smell the air. Since they don't have external ears, snakes in snake charming acts are not dancing to the tune. They respond instead to the movement of the flute. Snakes may not hear well but they are sensitive to vibrations, which tell them prey is approaching. A boa constrictor can also detect the heartbeat of its prey as it crushes it, so it knows when its dinner is dead.
6. There are snakes which can swim (sea snakes) and even snakes which can fly, or glide, at least. Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia can climb trees, and once up there can launch themselves from branches and make controlled glides for hundreds of feet and can even turn in midair.
7. Snakes aren't generally considered to be food, although Cantonese cuisine includes snake soup, which they believe warms the heart, and in parts of the USA, rattlesnakes are cooked and eaten. Other than that, snakes are only eaten in times of desperate hunger. U.S. Army Special Forces trainees are taught to catch, kill, and eat snakes during their survival course; which is why they are nicknamed "snake eaters". In parts of Asia, snake blood is thought to increase virility, in particular cobra blood. Some restaurants in Vietnam have cobra blood wine on the menu. Squeamish people should not order this as it consists of actual cobra blood in rice wine, and the cobra is killed and drained of blood in front of the customer. The snake's heart, still beating, is dropped in the mixture as well.
8. There is much symbolism connected with snakes. The serpent which tempted Eve in the Bible is just one example. In other religions, snakes represent fertility, life force, transformation (because they shed their skins), eternity, sexual desire and healing. The ouroboros, a symbol consisting of a snake swallowing its own tail represents eternity and renewal of life. The rod of Asclepius is commonly used as a symbol for medicine - perhaps snake venom's medicinal properties were known in ancient times, too.
9. The Sonoran Coral Snake, instead of hissing or rattling, farts when it is threatened.
10. The film “Snakes on a Plane” was intended to be called “Pacific Air Flight 121”. “Snakes on a Plane” was just the working title, but Samuel L. Jackson insisted that “Snakes on a Plane” was a far better title, and that he had only taken the role because he liked the working title on the script.