10 Surprising Snake Facts

Behavior, Feeding, Misinformation •

Happy ASPiversary! We launched Advocates for Snake Preservation on Endangered Species Day (May 16) in 2014. To celebrate a Decade of Demystifying of Snakes, here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about snakes.

1. There are over 3,000 species of snakes. They range in size from Barbados Threadsnakes, who weigh less than a paperclip and can coil up on a US quarter, to Green Anacondas that can weigh over 200 lbs.1

2. From oceans to mountains and forests to deserts, snakes inhabit nearly every ecosystem on earth.

3. Snakes can hear with their whole body — by sensing vibrations transmitted through the ground and air (like us).1

4. Rattlesnakes disperse seeds.2

5. Snakes can eat their own body weight in a single meal, in one bite, with no arms or legs!

6. Though they can’t unhinge, snake jaws are very stretchy — some can stretch four times wider than their skulls.3

7. Snakes usually eat 6-30x per year, but some can go without food for over a year.1

8. Vipers can have a greater impact on prey populations than bird or mammal predators.4

9. Lyme disease is less prevalent when rattlesnakes are abundant.5

10. There are no male Brahminy Blindsnakes. Females lay eggs that are her clones.1

Read More

  1. HB Lillywhite. 2014. How Snakes Work: Structure, Function and Behavior of the World’s Snakes. Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/how-snakes-work-9780195380378
  2. D Kobilinsky. 2018. Rattlesnakes may be overlooked seed dispersers. The Wildlife Society. https://wildlife.org/rattlesnakes-may-be-overlooked-seed-dispersers/
  3. B Brookshire. 2022. Here’s How a Python Jaw Can Fit a Whole Deer. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-how-a-python-jaw-can-fit-a-whole-deer1/
  4. M Amarello. 2013. Snakes Are Good Neighbors. Advocates for Snake Preservation. https://www.snakes.ngo/good-neighbors-greater-impact/
  5. University of Maryland. 2013. Timber rattlesnakes indirectly benefit human health: Not-so-horrid top predator helps check Lyme disease. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130806091815.htm