7 Most Common Myths about Snakes in India

Snakes are fascinating and interesting reptiles on Earth,they play a major role in the ecosystem by keeping rodents in control that destroys a phenomenal amount of rice every year in India.Snakes are considered to be a keystone species.Rat snakes popularly known as Farmer's friends which eats rats as their primary diet helps the agricultural fields in keeping them rodent-free.

Snakes are closely associated with the Hindu Mythology and with the Hindu gods Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu,yet at many places they are killed mercilessly.

Here are 7 most common myths about Snakes.

                                      

                                                #1.Snakes drink milk

Snakes are not mammals to drink milk they are Reptiles and their body cannot digest the enzyme Lactase present in milk.They will eventually die if they are forced to drink milk.This is what happens during Nag Panchami where Snakes are confined and kept without food and water for a month and they become dehydrated and during the event they are forcefully being made to drink milk ultimately it  leads to the death of the snake.

    #2.Snakes take revenge

Snakes do not have a well developed brain like we do, and they cannot remember a person's facial features to trace down and kill them.If that was possible half the human population would be gone by now.Again it is the movies that creates this thought in the minds of people.

#3.Snakes are Venomous or Poisonous?

Still many people do have this doubt in their minds.This is more or less a misconception rather than a myth.Venom is a toxin that needs to be injected and has to be mixed in blood whereas poison is something that is consumed or absorbed through the skin.Snakes have fangs that inject venom so they are venomous.Recent discoveries have found that some snakes can be both poisonous and venomous.

#4.Snakes can poke your eyes and make you blind?

On a green foliage if someone is lucky and has a brilliant eyesight one can see a Green vine snake usually at eyelevel which means if the snake strikes it is at the face level either to the eyes or head and this has lead to the myth that Green vine snakes will poke your eyes they are semi-venomous snakes meaning they have enough venom to kill their prey and are not dangerous to humans.They are the only snakes that has binocular vision and horizontal pupils.

#5.Snakes with more than one head.Possible?

          Actual Image                        Photo-shopped Image

   

This is a well manipulated image of a normal King Cobra on the roads of Western Ghats but shown as a many-headed snake, Thanks to the media for creating ambiguity among people with the help of Photoshop.But a two headed snake can be present not only in snakes but also in Geckos,Turtles and Tortoises.The condition of having two heads is called bicephaly and is a kind of genetic mutation.Although the survival rate is low as both the heads fights for food and thereby leading to death.

#6.Rat Snakes and Cobras mate with each other.

Definitely not.Mating takes place only within their own species.Rat snakes mate only with Rat snakes and the same in the case of Cobras.In fact Cobras loves to eat Rat snakes and not to mate with them.

#7.Parental care in Snakes?

People tend to believe that when they see a small snake they assume the mother snake or its family to be nearby.Snakes are independent from the time they are born, there is absolutely no parental care in snakes except for the King Cobra which is the only snake in the World that builds a nest by forming a large mound of heap with leaf litter and guards it.

Snakes form an important chain in the ecosystem therefore we must learn to coexist with these wonderful creepy friends and to stop killing them and live in harmony with them.