At that point I realized that my iPhone is the Primordial Snake from the Garden of Eden. One stroke downward and I see: The next thing on your calendar today is light candles at 5:54 PM, in 10 minutes. Stop to learn about things that creep you out. It was shortly before Shabbat that I pulled out my iPhone. (See a video of the nature center snakes.) But the fact that snakes can control their movement by using certain muscles, even down to activating different scales on their bodies, that really is quite amazing. So, yes, many people find snakes creepy because of how they move. When speed walking, we use much more of our feet. We go on tip toes to be quiet, but that slows us down. Think of how we control our speed/stealth by the way we walk as well. Or the study found that snakes lift parts of their bodies as they move, concentrating their weight or a few points and moving quicker. ![]() Perhaps the muscles to each scale can help them move in such small ways that affect their movement. Well, researchers again noticed that snakes were moving their scales. However, their scales resist moving backward or sideways.īut, in our video of Itsy Bitsy, she moves in a sidewinding pattern, easily moving from side-to-side. They found that when sliding forward, snakes move easily. So researchers looked at how snake scales help these creatures move without the use of legs. This movement is also known as lateral undulation. They don't have anything to push off of either. They would not be able to move over slick surfaces like glass at all. Or think of the videos you've seen of snakes moving through sandy areas. Some had speculated that snakes needed twigs or rocks to push against, but you can see in the video of Itsy Bitsy the western fox snake at the Dickinson County Nature Center that she doesn't need anything to be able to slither around. A study at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA, looked at just how it is that snakes can move. Different locomotions are used to move on different surfaces.Ĭheck out this graphic that has the muscles being used in each movement highlighted in blue.īut their muscle movement goes beyond even those basics. To move, different parts of the body are at rest while others are lifted and pulled. ![]() (See a video about how the nature center snakes are fed.)Ī snake's legless locomotion is possible because of its muscular body. It's just so weird.īut often what is weird about an animal is really amazing. ![]() I have to say, before I started working at the Dickinson County Nature Center, back when I was still petrified of snakes, I hated that about them. (The reason a snake sticks out its tongue, and why it's forked.) Besides their forked tongues, probably the main thing that creeps people out about snakes is their ability to move without legs or feet.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |