Facts about Snakes

Here are some more really interesting facts about snakes...


There are 2700 species and subspecies of SNAKES in the world.

As a group, they lack legs, hearing, and movable eyelids. Having evolved from lizards, some snakes still possess skeletal remnants of legs.

Snakes have a large number of vertebrae (180 to 435), most of which have ribs attached.

There are 4 families of snakes: Boidae (boas and pythons), Colubridae (racers, garter snakes, rat snakes and many others), Elapidae (cobras, mambas, and their relatives), Viperidae (rattlesnakes and other vipers).

Snakes have no movable eyelids or external ears.

Snakes are the world's most effective natural control on rodent population.

Most snakes can swallow prey that is 3 times or more their own body diameter.

Less than one-third of the world's snake species are venomous and less than 10% are dangerously venomous. However, in Australia 65% of all snake species are venomous, in the United States only 10% of the snake species are venomous.

You can't tell the age of a rattlesnake by counting its rattles because it gets a new rattle each time it sheds its skin, which can occur 1 to 6 times per year.

The world's longest snake (by reliable documentation) is the reticulated python, with a maximum length of, perhaps, 30 feet.

Common Cobra venom is not on the list of top 10 venoms yet it is still 40 times more toxic than cyanide.

The venom of the Australian Brown Snake is so powerful only 1/14,000th of an ounce is enough to kill a human.


Source: all-creatures.org , factsnfacts.com