World Snake Day: 11 Fun Facts You Should Know

Did you know that a lot of people all over the world suffer from ophiophobia or herpetophobia, that is, the fear of snakes? The thought of snakes alone is troubling to these set yet there are people who keep them as pets.

Green Vine Snake (Ahaetulla Nasuta). Photo credit: Elite Readers

Appearing in different colours and sizes, snakes have a lifespan of 4 to 25 years.

Here are 10 fun facts you should know:

• • Snakes’ ancestors are thought to be four-legged reptilian creatures that existed over a 100 million years ago. Boas and pythons testify to this with their traces of back legs.
  • Snakes are found in different parts of the earth except for Antartica, New Zealand, Iceland, Ireland, the North and South Poles.
  • There are 3400 snake species in the world. Of this number, only 600 are venomous. About 200 to 250 out of this number are deadly to humans. You might want to know which is.
  • You have probably heard of Medusa who the legendary Perseus killed. Turns out the there is another story to the hair asides the “legend”. A snake is one of the creatures that has a high incidence of polycephaly. Unlike humans, when faced with a meal, they can fight themselves to death. So much for living together in peace.

In this Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 photo provided by Daniel Parker of Sunshineserpents.com, a two-headed albino Honduran milk snake is shown in Ridge Manor, Fla. Parker, a University of Central Florida biologist, says that most two-headed snakes have typical coloration. Albino snakes don’t have dark pigmentation in their skin. Albino milk snakes appear in bright shades of red, orange and white. The biologist says two-headed snakes have been documented to live as long as 20 years in captivity. But with two brains giving commands to a single body, Parker says the snake would have a difficult time surviving in the wild. (AP Photo/Sunshineserpents.com, Daniel Parker)

• The Brahminy Blind Snake, or flowerpot snake, is the only snake female species.
• The old wives tale about running away from the head of the snake after you chop it off is true. A snake’s head can survive for 30 minutes and its venomous.
• The black mamba is the fastest snake in the world and it is venom kills in hours.
• The Brazilian pit viper’s venom is used as a treatment for high blood pressure.
• A snake cannot stop growing.
• Mongoose is immune to a snake’s bite.
• Snakes protect themselves from predators by appearing dirty with poop.