• nttea@kbin.social
    36·
    11 months ago

    I can’t believe after millions of years of evolution snakes still eat themselves.

    • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
      9·
      11 months ago

      Well, if the snake manages to reproduce, then eats itself, the genes for eating yourself after reproduction get passed on.

      TLDR: you actions have a must smaller effect on evolution after you have reproduced successfully.

      • BynaD@lemm.ee
        4·
        11 months ago

        Thanks for the tldr, your first sentance was rather cumbersome.

  • Tedesche@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    11 months ago

    Can someone knowledgeable please explain to me why snakes don’t realize they’re biting themselves when this happens?

    Also, related question: why do dogs sometimes bite their own tails and hind feet as though they’re foreign entities?

    • M137@lemm.ee
      7·
      11 months ago

      I’m not knowledgeable about this, but here’s my uneducated guess:

      They might just think it’s the prey biting back. Snakes generally have poor eyesight (of course, there are differences between species). And they’re so focused on the jump to catch their prey and subdue them as quickly as possible that they just bite down and kinda hope for the best for a bit before they realize.

    • Slow@lemmy.today
      10·
      11 months ago

      I read that snakes are not very sensitive to their venom. It will probably just be a painful nuisance for her.

      • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
        19·
        11 months ago

        The way it’s twisting I’d assume it’s a constrictor so probably not venomous. I’m no snakologist though.

            • MrShankles@reddthat.com
              5·
              11 months ago

              The first one, I would be wary because of the colors. I’d rather run from a corn snake than be bitten by a copperhead. When I see color like that, I’m taking a step back regardless, before I even have time to look at it’s face/head

              The second one… also gonna be wary of any swimming snake. Could be mostly harmless, or it could be a cotton mouth; but I’m not gonna check it out closely enough, before backing up. It still kinda has that “angry brow” too, if I did happen to get close enough

              But I see your point either way. You can’t rely on just one factor for identification. The snake in OP’s video isn’t an “actual” threat to me, so it’s easier to observe.

              I guess what I’m kinda saying, is that it helps to know a quick distinction between venomous/non-venomous. It might not be perfect for identification, but it helps the knee-jerk fear of thinking “the only good snake is a dead snake”. It at least helped me reduce my own fear, when I moved to a place where venomous snakes are much more probable.

              It doesn’t keep me from reacting, but it definitely helps me from over-reacting

              Edit: Looking at pics of the spine-bellied sea snake (Hardwicke’s sea snake), that thing definitely seems deceiving! It really doesn’t fit my usual assumptions. I still wouldn’t mess with any swimming snake, unless I absolutely knew what it was… but still, that is different from what I’ve seen

            • MrShankles@reddthat.com
              4·
              11 months ago

              They still have a bit of an “angry brow” and they are technically venomous… but I’ll be damned if they ain’t cute. One of the few snakes that make me feel compelled to snuggle them

              • prashanthvsdvn@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                11 months ago

                Isn’t the reason they do the bluffing by flaring the hood like cobra and the entire roll up throw tongue out pretend to die if you call out the bluff is because they are not venomous

                • MrShankles@reddthat.com
                  1·
                  11 months ago

                  They’re mildly venomous, but not enough to harm humans. And they really go out of their way to not bite when threatened.

              • lad@programming.dev
                1·
                11 months ago

                Yeah, it just make me go “aww what a sweetie, just who wouldn’t want you to bite 'em dead, awww”

    • liztliss@lemmy.world
      9·
      11 months ago

      Nah, these noodles mainly use strangulation to kill their prey, they just strike it first to get it in close- it just needs to detach itself from itself and it will be okay