Who Is Afraid Of A Big Bad Snake?

Our scaly, legless friends are in all probability
the most misunderstood, and most illogically
hated wild animals on our planet. From the two
thousand odd species of snakes existing, only
twenty are venomous. People have an
uncontrollable fear of these creatures that goes
back for thousands of years. Maybe it was born
like an instinct for survival, when there was no
manner of assessing which snakes were harmful or
not. In other areas of people's lives, biblical
literature has given us reason to be afraid of
snakes for a very alternative reason. Other
people simply don't understand snakes, reasoning
that they are cold slimy creatures.

The first thing to realize about snakes is that
any harmless snake will strike out at you for 1
of 3 reasons. Firstly, if you smell like food.
If you have in the recent past been holding any
mammals, like hamsters, guinea pigs, even cats,
the snake may smell that on your skin and
mistakenly think you for something edible.
Secondly, if it feels you are a predator that
could harm it. Especially when reaching down
towards a snake, the snake can mistake your arm
as another animal wanting to eat it. Third case,
and the most probable reason non-venomous snakes
bite, is just that they are afraid. If it's a
choice between striking at you (the 5-6 foot
tall giant that just stepped into it's living
area) or scurrying away as quickly as it can
slither, it will always move away every
opportunity. If the snake however, senses it's
being trapped into a corner, or finding itself
to conceal itself, it might try to bite you,
which serves a warning to leave it alone than to
cause physical harm.

Non-venomous snakes are usually really easy to
handle, especially pet snakes or snakes that are
used to being handled. Even most species of
snakes in the wild that are not venomous are
quite able to be handled without being afraid of
bites (the exception may be water snakes and
other naturally aggressive species). If you do
try to pick up a snake, make sure you to move
slowly, and slide the hand under the belly of
the snake near it's tail portion. If you move
quickly, or from over the snake, it might
mistake you for a predator. Once you succeed in
lifting the snake and are holding it, don't grip
it by the tail, rather support it gently with
your hands (keep a loose but firm grip, don't
squeeze too hard as it will likely injure it),
and the snake will explore it's way around arms
and hands. If the reptile feels agitated, or
goes into a strike position, it is best to
slowly, but carefully return the snake to it's
habitat.

It is obvious that snakes are not slimy or nasty
at all. However if they get frightened, they
might poop on you as a display of this anxiety.
If this occurs, be sure to wash the skin very
well with detergent and hot water, because
reptiles can have salmonella bacteria in their
feces. You must also remember that reptiles,
while being beautiful and interesting to study,
just are not the brightest creatures in the
world, having about the same intelligence as a
goldfish. Remember when you are holding a
reptile that it likely perceives you as a very
strange tree, and does not recognize you as a
man or woman. Snakes interact with the world
with instinct rather than thought, and keeping
this in mind, being around reptiles is very easy
to do, as well as being fascinating.

So how do you distinguish between harmless and
poisonous snakes? There are a few ways to tell,
even though some kinds of harmless reptiles have
adapted so that they look like poisonous
varieties when they become scared. If you are
ever even slightly in doubt, leave the snake
alone! As a general rule, venomous reptiles have
diamond or triangle shaped heads, and not like a
head that looks rounded like most non-venomous
reptiles have. Also, the eyes are in the shape
of an ellipse like a cat's eye instead of having
rounded eyes. Pit vipers have a characteristic
pit between the eye and the mouth. This pit, an
organ that senses heat, is a mechanism for the
reptile to accurately launch itself at a warm
mammal, even if the snake can't see the animal.
Of course rattlesnakes normally make a rattling
sound, however this isn't always so. Some kinds
of this snake have developed with no rattling
mechanism! Be sure to take good advice on how to
buy a pet snake, and choose a docile species to
start with.

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James Bavery shares a strange interest in all
things snakey in a series of articles aimed at
the pet snake owner.

http://www.reptilesite.com/articles
http://www.reptilesite.com/news/what-to-know-before-buying-a-pet-snake/

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