When you think of snakes, what comes to mind? Is it the slithering movement or the constantly flickering tongue? Perhaps you imagine a rattlesnake coiled up and ready to strike. Even the movies depict snakes as suspect or frightening creatures, such as a giant anaconda or a creature from the Harry Potter stories.
What would you think about snakes that are blind…or can swim…or change color? Such snakes may sound far-fetched, but Australia is home to snakes that do all these things and more.
Blind Snakes: Weird, Wormlike, Women Only?
Despite their name, Australia’s blind snakes can see – a little. Their eyes appear as dark spots capable of seeing light and dark, and not much else. All blind snakes are small and harmless. They burrow and feed on ants and their eggs. Luckily, their armor-like scales protect them from ant bites.
With a maximum size of only seven inches, one of the strangest blind snakes is more like a worm than a snake. Because of its size and ability to survive in small containers of soil, it is known as a “flowerpot snake.” In fact, these snakes may have arrived in Australia in such containers. The weirdest thing about “flowerpot snakes” is that there are no males of this species. How is this possible? The female snakes lay unfertilized eggs that hatch into clones of themselves. Therefore, all of the young are identical – and there’s never a boy in the bunch!
Marine Snakes – Great Swimmers, Stealth Hunters and Occasionally Deadly
With the warm tropical seas off its coasts, Australia is home to a variety of marine, or water-dwelling, sea snakes. Sea snakes are medium-sized, commonly ranging from 1.5 – 6 feet long. Their tails are flattened, shaped like paddles, to help them swim. Both their snug-fitting mouth scales and their nostrils can seal so that water cannot enter them. Wouldn’t that be awesome to never get water up your nose while swimming?
Marine snakes mainly eat fish. How do they catch and kill their prey? A bite from these snakes contains a poisonous liquid called venom. This venom causes their victims to be unable to breathe, thus suffocating to death. With venom more toxic than a cobra’s, people should beware of marine snakes. Fortunately, most water-dwelling snakes don’t have aggressive personalities. The most common cases of people being bitten by these snakes occur when fishermen sort through their nets and catch one by mistake. Ouch!
Can Snakes Change Color?
You may know that snakes come in a variety of colors, but did you know that some even change color? The Green Tree Python is a beautiful arboreal (tree-dwelling) snake that lives in the rainforests of Cape York in northern Australia. Despite its name, this snake begins life as either lemon yellow or brick red but turns a brilliant emerald green when mature. Why the change in color? Some scientists think it has to do with a change of habitat. Young snakes occupy different positions within the forest canopy than adults, so they need to blend in with their surroundings.
What other things can cause snakes to change color? The Oenpelli Python of northern Australia is brown during the day but turns a pale silvery gray color at night. The Inland Taipan, also known as the Fierce Snake, changes its skin color by season. In the summertime, the Inland Taipan becomes lighter. In the winter, its skin grows darker. This helps the snake to regulate its body temperature throughout the year. When its skin is darker, it can absorb more heat from the sun and keep itself warm. Inland Taipans range from light straw colored to dark brown.
It is amazing that on this island continent, there are such diverse and unusual snakes – ones that can barely see, those that can swim and dive deep, and even those that change color. Australia has many more strange snakes you might be curious to check out.
Here are a few websites to get you started. SSSee you later!
