Snake brain is not developed..

Snake means death! It is amazing to find
foolish and utterly absurd misbeliefs like
this and many more about this misjudged
creature. Compelling folklores,stories,
myths and legends have us convinced.
Below are the some common beliefs
about snakes.
1. It is totally eroneous to believe that snake
bites can be cured by mantras,
mantriks,magic spells roots and herbs.Do
you know that in our country about
25,000 people die playing fools to such
beliefs? Anti-Venom is the only cure for
the snake bite! The other remedies are
useful to relieve fear and treat shock, but
should never be substituted for or
interfere with the anti-venom treatment.
Snake bites are cured only when timely
treatment is rendered to the patient.
Mantriks casting spells, using snake
stones to suck out the venom, Naagveli,
kinds of oil, ash etc. are all futile. The
snake stone is merely a benzoin or a gall
stone, and has no effecton the venomous
bite.
2. Snakes are revengeful. There is no
scientific basis to this. A snake's brain is
not developed to the extent of retaining
memory. It is said that if you kill a snake,
another (its mate) will follow you and
take revenge. That, of course is wrong,
but may have some basis in fact. When
you kill a snake it expels its musk from
the anal opening; it is very possible that a
nearby snake may show up to investigate
what the musk (a sex - attractant) is all
about.
3. Snakes guard wealth. This is a common
misbelief. Old crumbling houses, 'wadas'
are ideal for snakes as they find plenty of
hiding places together with rats and mice.
In the days of yore, people often buried
their wealth and it could be a possibility
that a snake and the hidden wealth were
unearthed together, giving this
impression.
4. Old snakes have hair on them. Hair does
not grow on snakes. Periodically snakes
cast of moult and if some moult remains,
it appears like hair. Sometimes some
snake charmers even stick hair onto the
snake's head.
5. 5. Snakes hypnotize. This is believed to be
so because snakes stare fixedly as they do
not have eyelids and cannot blink.
6. Snakes sway to the music of the flute . This
misbelief has been strengthened by our
ever popular but ludicrous Hindi films.
Even though it is now proven that they
can detect some airborne sounds, there is
no evidence that snakes can appreciate
music. Snakes are said to dance to music.
While playing the flute, the snake
charmer sways and the snake moves to
the swaying movement. It is the natural
instinct of the snake to keep a close track
of any moving object. In fact they
instinctively stay away from artificial
vibrations.The music of the snake-
charmers only serves to charm the
audience.
7. Cobras, particularly the king cobra, are
supposed to wear a 'nagmani' that makes
one a millionaire. The poor Irula tribal
snake-catcher has a good answer to the
legend of the jewel or light in the head of
the snake. When asked about this belief,
an Irula will reply, " if it was so we
would be rajas not snake-catchers."
8. Snakes suck milk from a cows udder by
coiling around its legs. This is not true.
Milk is not part of a snake's natural diet.
Where they would find it in nature, how
they would obtain it with no powers of
suction and with over hundred sharp
teeth in the way, and of what nutritional
value a few spoonfuls of milk would be to
a snake, are questions that should be
considered.
9. Sand boa bites cause leprosy. The blotches
on the skin of the sand boa have given
rise to this notion. Since this harmless
snake has a body pattern that vaguely
resembles that of patients suffering from
this dreaded disease, people are quick to
make this association. Actually, snakes
are clean and free of disease.
0. A green tree snake pierces a man's head
with its pointed head . The vine (common
green whip) snake is accused of poking
one's eyes out or `stinging' one on the
forehead. Actually, the pointed nose of
this harmless snake is soft and
rubbery.The vine snake can inflict a
painful(but harmless) bite on the finger
or even on the nose, but no one has ever
received an eye injury.
1. Snakes like the sweet pungent smell of the
kevada or the raat-ki-rani. This is an
unproven statement.
2. A small snake of Kashmir is supposedly so
deadly that it melts the snow it passes
through !
3. The tails of rat snakes, despite various
stories about them, are no more
dangerous then pieces of rope and so not
have stingers, do not suffocate cows, lash
down paddy and so on.
4. Bites by a snake with rings on its body,
does not give the victim's body a ringed
pattern.
5. In north western India, kraits are
supposed to suck a man's breath away as
he sleeps.This is perhaps the farmer-
labourer's explanation for the respiratory
paralysis that a severe krait-bite brings
on.
6. In Maharashtra, the little earth bound
saw scaled vipers are believed to jump
through the air for six feet or more. Six
inches would be more accurate.
7. Cobras are believed to mate with rat
snakes, but they in fact mate with only
their own species and generally keep
away from the larger and sometimes
cannibalistic rat snakes.
8. The red sand boa has an extremely blunt
tail; thus there are several popular stories
about `two headed snakes'. Just as it fools
the mongoose and other predators into
attacking its tail while the head seeks
escape, a large percentage of humans are
also fooled.
9. Pregnant women loose their eyesight if they
see a snake. This is not true.
0. Snakes hold their own tail in their mouth,
form a coil and chase people. Snakes use
their tails as whips.

SHIVARAJ .N