Facts

• Snakes are native to all countries except Antarctica.

• Some snakes are dangerous, but snakes are important in nature and to humans because they eat rodents. There are about 2,500 to 3,000 species of snakes throughout the world. Snakes live in almost every habitat except in deep seas and snow. Some live beneath the ground, and others live in trees.

• Snakes can't smell, but they use Jacobson's organ in the front of the roof of the mouth to identify smells. The tongue collects chemical particles from the air and takes them back to the Jacobson's organ.

• All snakes have a forked tongue, and are harmless. They use their tongues as sensors. They pick up odors from the air for food or danger.

• All snakes are cold-blooded reptiles.

• Snakes cannot maintain body heat so they have body temperatures that change. They control their body heat by moving in and out of the sun. The best tempertures for snakes is between 77 and 90 degrees F.

• Snakes are long and limbless reptiles. They lack limbs, but boas and pythons have small hind claw like spurs.

• Snakes have scales that are dry, not slimy like most people think.
• Snakes' skin is dry and covered with scales.It is for protection. It guards against injury and loss of moisture. The scales covering the skin are made from the folding of the upper layer of the skin. A snake must shed its old skin and replace it with a new one. It is believed that it has to do this because the scales do not grow or because it just wears out.

• The way snakes protect themselves are: 1. they hide 2. rattlesnakes shake their tails and 3. Hognose snakes turn over and play dead.

• Birds are enemies of the snake.

• All snakes are predators.

• All snakes swallow their prey whole.

• Snakes hibernate deep underground, where they remain inactive. Some snakes may estivate during extremely hot days. They go to deep cool places and live using their stored fat.

• A snake's eyes are covered by a transparent lower eyelid. It is attached to the upper eyelid so snakes cannot blink or close their eyes. The eyes are adjusted for distance and to focus on objects near them it moves the lense forward, kind of like focusing with a camera.

• Snakes do not have ear openings. When the snake's head is on the ground, vibrations from the gound are picked up by the lower jaw and skull.

• Snakes have unusual jaws. A snake can open its mouth wide because each side of the jaw can move by itself. That's why snakes can eat animals larger than their mouths.

• Snakes shed their skin because it becomes too tight. It doesn't grow and needs to be replaced.

• Snakes don't move very fast. They move as fast as a person walks, but only for a few minutes.

• How snakes move: Snakes can move by their muscles. They first become tight and then they move their body. Sidewinding movement and s-shape when the snake whips its head a couple of feet away and pulls its body back to its head, Concertina- when a snake is in a tight spot it bunches up into loops then straightens itself putting its head forward and pulls its tail to the rest of its body, and Wriggling when It pushes back and forth on rocks and other hard objects.

• Snakes cannot move very fast. They can move only about as fast as a person for about 4 minutes.
• A snake must shed its old skin and replace it with a new one. It is believed because the scales do not increase in size or it just wears out.
• All snakes are carvivorous. The smaller snakes eat earthworms or insects. Others eat snails or eggs or fish and other reptiles, birds or small mammals.
• Constriction does not crush the prey , but rather prevents it from breathing and suffocates it.
• Venom from poisonous snakes paralyzes the nervous system, causes heart and lung failure, or causes internal bleeding of their prey.
• Less than one-third of all 3,000 snakes are poisonous, and fewer than 300 may be fatal to humans.
• Snakes are believed to live more than 20 years.

  

  Home