Myths vs Facts!



Hello there, welcome back to a new blog. This blog is to make you all understand the myths vs facts about snakes that you may have heard since the ancestral period. Snake myths are one of the main reasons for people's phobia towards these creatures and today let us break those myths and know the facts.

So, below are a few myths that i have come across during my rescues while interacting with people. 


MYTHS vs FACTS:


1. Myths: If a rat snake hits anyone with it's tail, one's bones can break!!

   Facts : Rat snakes are harmless (non-venomous) snake specie. There are no studies/proof to show the myth actually exists. 

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2. Myths: If a person whistles at night, it attracts snake to enter the houses! 

   Facts: Snakes are tone-deaf and do not have ears to hear anyone speak or whistle. Snakes senses purely depends on its fork-shaped tongue. Whereas, few snakes like Pythons and Pit Vipers have heat sensitive pits near their nostrils which becomes easier for them to detect a prey. 


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3. Myths: Snakes come to take revenge!

   Facts : Snakes do not have a well developed nervous system to remember a person, place or an incident. The reason why this myth is so popular is because when one snake is dead, it will leave its pheromones, which attracts any other snake (if around) to just come and see what exactly has happened. 

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3.  Myths: Snakes have hairs on their body!

   Facts : Snakes are reptiles and not mammals and they have scales and not hairs. 

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4. Myths: A snake dances to the snake charmers 'Pungi' !

   Facts : Snake charmers usually have an instrument called as 'Pungi' which they play in turn to make people believe that the snake is dancing to the tune. But, the truth is that the snake used in this is generally a 'cobra' and the snake sways to the direction of instrument and not to the tune. 

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5. Myths: Offering milk to the snake during 'Nag Panchami' has a lot of benefits!

   Facts : Snakes are carnivores in nature, which means they eat rodents, lizards, birds and other small animals. Also these are reptiles and not mammals that they will drink milk. If milk is given to a snake and the snake drinks it, the snake cannot digest as milk is not the food for snakes. 

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6. Myths: A few snakes have 'Nagamani' in them and are considered godly!

   Facts : There is nothing such as 'Nagamani' that exists in real life, the videos available on YouTube are staged whereas, the real name of this stone is 'Benzyte Carbonate'. 

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7. Myths: Snakes can fly!!

    Facts : There is a snake that is known as 'Ornate Flying Snake'. The reason why it is known as flying snake is because it glides from one tree to another.

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8. Myths: Snakes have two heads!

    Facts : In general, the snakes just have one head and other is a tail, which looks similar to the head. The name of the snake is 'Red Sand Boa'. But in extremely rare cases, two headed snakes do exists just like the conjoined twins in humans. But, these two headed snakes cannot survive in the wild, but might survive in captivity under controlled conditions.

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So, I have tried to cover as many myths as possible, i hope i have cleared most of your doubts that you had. In case you need more insight you can Inbox me or Mail me my details are provided below. In case if i have missed on anything do comment below. 



For any snake rescues in and around Mangalore:
Contact: +91 8618190692 (Atul Pai) 

You can also follow me on the following Social Media Websites:
Instagram: @mlrrescues
Twitter: @mlrrescues
E-mail: mlrrescues@gmail.com


 


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