With the exception of Antarctica, snakes are everywhere on the globe in warm and temperate geographical areas. Snakes vary in size from a few centimeters to more than nine meters in the case of the anacondas or the pythons. Venomous snakes are a minority in this incredibly large reptile family, but venom they inject in prey is so powerful that it could kill a human being within a few minutes. According to studies, the history and origins of snakes go back to the Cretaceous period, some 150 million years ago, when snakes are assumed to have evolved from a lizard and adapted to a different living habitat.
Primitive distinctive marks of this ancestry are still present with some snakes, this is the case with pythons and boas that still have hind limbs remains, which only make us think of a past when snakes resembled lizards a lot more. Snakes or serpents are present in all cultures, carrying symbolic meanings and being widely illustrated in artistic form. Worshiped or hunted down as evil creatures, snakes surely have a fascination on human mind; yet, modern attitudes are partly different towards snakes particularly under the emphasis of the ecological movements that insist on the importance of these creatures for the environment of the planet. And they couldn’t be more right.
There are many aspects in the life of snakes that fascinate scientists and indicate that not everything has been discovered about the many existing species. Thus, it is interesting to study how the patterns on the body of snakes differentiate between individuals even within the same species. Then, snakes’ response to vibrations, the superior sense of smell and even the reception of low frequency sounds make them pretty out of the ordinary. The same amount of scientific respect is due in terms of anatomical programing by the presence of the infrared sensitive receptors that allow pit vipers for instance to detect the warmth of the prey’s body.
Common habitats for humans and snakes are a reality, and people from areas with a higher variety of snake groups and sub-groups should learn to distinguish between the hazardous or harmless varieties, and thus avoid them accordingly. Non-venomous snakes are not that friendly when sensing danger, therefore, a healthy attitude towards such animals will save you a lot of trouble. Do not try to kill, catch or hunt snakes: they will never come after you for the sake of just biting.
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