The articles written for last week and the week before were far too “political” for this space. The purpose for them is historical and family, not politics – thus, I pitched them.

My Dad was a storyteller; I have said many times. His animation of a good story was something to witness. I thought of him when I read in my Saturday morning newspaper about the Florida ten year olds who were taught that junk food wasn’t good for people, so when they were told to sell chocolate bars to earn money for a field trip to the Nation’s Capital, they refused. If it wasn’t good for them to eat junk food, then they shouldn’t try to make others eat it.

A myth is a kind of story which is both entertaining and also tells something that people think about the world in which they live – you know – “folk tales”. Myths are ooold, ancient even. They include the supernatural and the forces of nature. Myths are always told as truths and not to be questioned. Well, inquiring minds don’t buy that and they question – especially in terms of historical and/or scientific “truth”.

Back to “kids”; especially school kids. When in my final years of teaching, I kept snakes – hognose, garter, corn, and boas. The object of them in the classroom was to teach about the snake as an animal most useful, such as corn snakes keeping the mice population down in the corn cribs. Also, to teach that they were animals that got a “bad press” almost from the beginnings of writing or before. They were, of course, from ancient times a symbol of knowledge, etc. Take for instance the snakes entwined in the symbols for the medical profession[s].

Myths today are not taken as accurate; however, they often have elements of fact or truth in them. Take for instance the old tale that some snakes, including the garter snake, swallow their young in times of danger in order to protect them. Well, looked at this with a scientific and logical mind, we note that the teeth of snakes all tilt back toward their tail. It is very difficult for anything being swallow by a snake to reverse its direction. Besides garter snakes bear their young alive, like many other types of snakes. Upon birth they are fully independent and they scamper away from their mothers rather quickly.

Of course, there is that tale that snakes are slimy, thus yucky, disgusting animals. Upon the touch, the skin of a snake is quite dry and smooth [providing you stroke it from head to tail. The edges of their scales may make it a bit rough to the feel, but when stroked toward the tail folks find it pleasant to touch.

How about those kids who find a “hoop” snake and with a stick roll it about? “Hoop” snakes have the reputation of being very dangerous. When they are surprised they grab their tail in their mouth, forming a hoop and roll away. There is more than one version of this myth. One version says the snake will thus chase a person, while another version says it does this only to get away from danger. To scare children even more, there is a version which states that the snake will roll down a hill killing everything in its path. No one has one of these on display in captivity. There also is no documentation or verification of anyone every truly observing one. My family has visited many zoos and we’ve never seen one either.

How about rattlesnakes adding a rattle for each year they live. In reality, rattlesnakes add a rattle every time they shed. They shed several times a year. Besides, a rattlesnake could break off rattles for various reasons; therefore, counting rattles as age indicators is not the most scientific way of aging the snake.

Have you heard that “Milk” snakes sneak into barns and suck milk from cows? Now what self respecting cow would tolerate a snake with very sharp teeth that lean only backwards sucking milk from them? But, Milk snakes are found in barns enjoying mice and other rodents.

The Hognose snake, or puff adder, mixes poison with its breath and spits it out to kill a person at distances of up to 20 feet. Well, if you get close enough to smell the breath of a hognose, it may smell terrible, I don’t know, but for sure, the puff adder does not produce poison. They do flair like a cobra and hiss fiercely. They also, will beat their tail on dead leaves to make a rattle like sound. If that doesn’t scare off the danger, then they roll over and play “dead”.

Have you heard that when you cut off the head of a snake its body lives until sundown? The nerves in a snake may make the body move some for a period of time, but there is no proof of the statement that it lives until sundown. Also, along the same line, if injured it will die before sundown of the same day. The six foot boa kept in our classroom lost its tail due to aggressive pulling on the tail while it was wrapped around a pipe; it lived beyond my retirement from teaching.

Water Moccasins are venomous and very dangerous. There is a Northern Water Snake and a Lake Erie Water Snake. You can’t use the Water Moccasin ruse to scare your children from going near the waters of the Great Lakes, they don’t live in Ohio. The Cotton Mouth Moccasin is plentiful in the swamps and waterways in North and South Carolina for sure though, and it is venomous, where both water snakes in Ohio are not venomous.

Snakes can bite whether they are coiled or not. Snakes shed their skins several times a year. The top speed of any snake is probably no more than five to eight miles per hour. Snakes do not bite off more than they can chew – they can’t chew! Snakes are beneficial for they prey on insects, rodents, and other pests. There are three types of snakes above the Ohio River which are poisonous – the Northern Copperhead, the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake and the Timber Rattler. Many types of snakes subdue their prey by wrapping coils around them; thus, they are “constrictors”. Removing the fangs of venomous snakes does not make the snake harmless. A new pair of fangs will replace the lost fangs. Some snakes even shed their fangs and grow new ones regularly.

One last myth: Snakes travel in pairs for safety. If one is killed the other seeks revenge. Snakes will be seen together in hibernation boroughs and a male will closely follow a female during mating season, but there is no other evidence that snakes are socially inclined. Yes, I believe that students learn their lessons well and often are smarter than elders.

e-la-Di-e-das-Di ha-WI nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da.
(May you walk in peace and harmony)

Wado,

Bill

-=-