This is the classic strike postion.

The snake’s head is pulled back and lifted up, the body is held in an ‘S’ shape below the head. This provides the snake with the energy to strike forward if need be.

If a snake is in this position it is feeling threatened, it is also very alert to any movement.

They can also hiss, the combination of the head raised and the noise is usually enough of a warning to make any animal back off.

Snakes in general have pretty poor eyesight as they only have a fixed focal length.

We have a variable focal length. This is because we have muscle attached to the lens of our eye. The muscle can tense or relax to change the thickness of the lens. This changes the focal length.

As an example, try this.............

Sit back in your chair and look at this screen.

Close your left eye.

Hold one finger up between your right eye and the screen, making sure that your fingerprint is facing you.

Look at the tip of your finger. Move it to a distance where you can clearly see the ridges.

Concentrate on looking at the ridges, keeping your finger in front of the screen. You will see that the text on the screen behind it is blurry (Out of focus).

Keep your finger there but now look at the text on the screen.

You will see that your fingerprint is blurry (Out of focus).

If you imagine that you could only focus on things close to you and everything else was blurry, that gives you an idea of how most snakes see the world.

They can’t really make out what they are looking at if it stays still but they are very sensitive to movement.

Everybody has probably seen the Indian snake charmers on TV with their little basket. The Cobra popping up out of it and swaying from side to side as the charmer plays his tune.

People watching this think that the snake is swaying to the music.

However, snakes don’t have any ears or hearing apparatus.

What’s actually happening is that the snake is watching the musical instrument. The man moves it from side to side and the snake follows because it sees the movement and is preparing to defend itself if need be.

The man could perform the same act with a stick but then it wouldn’t look so mystical.

There’s also the fact that the tourists probably wouldn’t tip so well for a guy just shaking a stick at a snake.   ;o)

Jim Lind