Smitten by snakes

by Rian Viljoen

Reptiles, and snakes in particular, have always struck fear in to the hearts of most. Just the mention of them is enough to send people into shivers, and changing conversations on a dime. Yet, we know so little about them. Ask anyone to describe a snake, and it would probably consist of words like slimy, poisonous, creepy, deadly, and similar similes of a negative and evil nature. Strangely, not all cultures have reviled snakes and their kin. Some central African tribes revere pythons as gods (they hold they earth together at the equator by wrapping around the earth), and to harm or kill a python was punishable by death.

One of the most interesting things I have seen when showing people snakes, and letting them touch them for the first time is a shock, usually accompanied by the words “it’s not slimy!” No, snakes are not slimy. Their skin is actually hard little plates,that form a sort armour protection for them, and help in minimising water loss. Their old skin periodically as they grow their entire lives. Most snake’s skin is smooth, but some of them are keeled, or ridged, and feel rough to the touch.

Reptiles are also said to be cold blooded, which is actually a misleading term. They are actually ectotherms, relying on external sources of heat to warm themselves and can often be active in temperatures that most mammals would shy from moving in. Being ectotherms, they are less active in colder weather, and more active in warmer weather.

“Their tongue can prick you.” This is another fallacy that I often hear, very often followed by, “that’s how they can put poison in you.” The tongue is one of snake’s most powerful tools. With that simple organ, and it’s complimentary organ, the Jacobsen’s Organ (in the roof of the mouth), all snakes can smell in stereo, tracking their prey, a would be predator, or even a potential partner using their stereo sense, and following scent particles in the air. Poison is also ingested, whereas venoms are injected. Most snakes have teeth used for grasping prey, some have modified fangs for injecting venom, and there are even some that have no or reduced teeth, such as the egg eating snakes, that have boney protrusions in their neck, used to pierce the egg shells, so they can drain the contents, and regurgitate the shell.

Of the over 200 species that we get in Southern Africa, less than 20 of them would be able to kill you, and none of them see us a source of food, so they would never go out of their way to hunt us down or to try and attack us. Snakes only attack when they feel cornered, and have no other option but to defend themselves. If left alone, they will always move off, and would prefer not to confront something they have no intention of eating, and that would probably kill them.

A little reading on the internet, or in a reptile-related book, can go a long way, and it’s the start to an amazing journey, that even scientists and biologists haven’t finished yet. So much of what the general public knows, and what the media portrays is glorified, and there purely for ratings and sales, a lot of misinformation has been and still is dished out in huge doses these days.

Next week we’ll look at one of the most common snakes found throughout southern Africa.