Six wise snakes to celebrate when we slip into the moon new year

On February 3, 2025By Littum

According to folklore, the sequence of the animals in the Chinese zodiac sign was determined in a “Great run“Hosted by the Jade Emperor over 2,000 years ago. All the animals of the world were invited, but only 12 appeared, and the order in which they crossed the finish line became the order they would appear on the ever-repeated moon-burning Zodiac cycle. Sociabel Rotte came first, friendly and gentle pigs last came and sliding in at number six was a snake.

Thousands of years later, every lunar year is still said to have certain properties of its animal names, and those born in each year are assumed to personify these traits. True to the snakes of its name are people born in the year of the snake held To be cunning, intelligent and charming.

In the 29th of January, people are introducing all over the world into the year of the snake and celebrating with their own iterations of moon value from moon values. To bowl this wisdom-impaired slice of the Chinese zodiac sign, we called six of nature’s smart snakes and paired them with ”Chengyu“Usually four-character Chinese idioms used to convey wisdom. Most Chengyu are derived from traditional Chinese folklore, like the story of the great race itself. From creative hunting tactics to naughty defense mechanisms, these snake species support the famous qualities that are chronic in the Jade Emperor’s long ago competition.

死里逃生 (Si li tao sheng): “To find a way out of certain death”

Tibetan hot-jumping snake

In the story of the big race, Snake Sixth did not come through brute strength, but through the cunning use of the resources available. The slinky reptiles jumped on Horse’s Hoof for most of the race, and only jumped off at the last minute to cross the finish line in front of him.

On extreme 14,800 feet high on the Tibetan plateau is expected higher than snakes typically to be found, Bor The rare Tibetan hot-jumping snake (Thermophis Baileyi). It survives in its priceless climate by adhering to the heat of the area’s geothermal pools.

“There it is freezing cold and the air is very thin,” says Alex Pyron, a herpetologist at George Washington University. “You could die from hypothermia and still get a sunburn. And yet, these snakes have carved a space for themselves. “

Pyrron says the Tibetan hot-tip snakes have probably inhabited their area for millions of years since before the platform was lifted by geological change. Instead of forfeit their habitat, the snakes have resourceful Adapted with itThere is rising on the rising plateau into the cold, thin air from their hangouts by the pool.

笑里藏刀 (Xiao Li Cang Dao): “A dagger hidden behind a smile”

Spider-tailed Horned Viper

When the spider-tailed horned lashes were first stumbled over by scientists in Iran’s Zagros mountains in the mid-20th century, they were wrongly believed to be deformed members of other snake species. But the bulbed decoration at the end of this Viper’s tail is not a tumor or other growth failure, but rather one of nature’s most difficult anatomical lures.

The spider-tailed horned viper (Pseudocerastes Urarachnoides) was correct Identified as a unique species in 2006 and gets its name from Hals Ornament, similar to a fleshy spider. Baby Viper’s tail grows bulbous when it matures, with the scales eventually spraying out to look like arachnid legs.

Camouflaged among desert mower, the deadly illusionist extends Its spider -like tail into the open and moves it to summon hungry insect -eating birds. When a predator falls down to snack on the spider, it instead meets with the jaws of the dishonest snake.

迫不及待 (PO BU JI DAI): “Impatient waiting”

Tentacled snake

Speaking of glorious hunting arrangements, thousands of miles away from Iran, in the stagnant streams and rispaddies in Southeast Asia, the tentacced snake (Erpeton tentaculatum)named after two antenna -like pendants that protrude from the nose. To live most of their life in water, tentacled snakes parties primarily on fish, a difficult prey to catch in view of their extraordinary Quick reflexes When they sense a disturbance in the water.

Instead of outswimming their fishy food, tentakled snakes left them. To chase, they bend their body, which looks like a waterproof branch, into a “J” shape, with their head curved around parallel with their neck. When a fish swims past, the snake moves its throat, a movement so fast that it can only be caught on High -speed film. Instinctively darts the fish in the other direction where the characteristic head of the tentacced fish. At times the fish even swim direct into the open mouth of the snake.

乘风破浪 (Cheng Feng Po Lang): “Having great ambitions”

Flying snake

Five known snake species over Southeast Asia (genus Chrysopelea) can “fly” or more precisely slip. Although they have no wings and may not necessarily get raised, the abilities of these glue -pless reptiles are still nothing short of creepy.

When a flying snake launches Even from a branch, it reveals its ribs and muscles to create a flatter, wider figure that is more suitable for flowing through the air. Once it is airborne, the hose stabilizes with strategic waves of the body. These movements may look like random, SnaLy wigging but really they are they calculated The key to why this snake is even better at skyve than the flying squirrel.

Some scientists studying these slinging -snake’s ability to “fly” hope the snake’s versatility can be Used in robotic development, especially to create search and rescue units that fit through the rubble of natural disasters.

塞翁失马 (焉知非福) (Sai Weng Shi Ma (Yan Zhi Fei Fu)): “Not all bad are going to cause harm”

Tiger Keelback

Many snakes produce their own venom but the resourceful tiger keelback (Rhabdophis Tigrinus) Disappears his toxic liquids from amphibians instead.

This snake, resident in East and Southeast Asia, lives by toxic toads containing the neurotoxic compound bufadienolid. Instead of succumbing to the sometimes mortal effects of this venom, Tiger Keelback hides it in the glands behind the head, where it can later excrete the venom when it feels threatened in a treat called “toxin sequestration.”

Although all Tiger Keelback’s snack on toxic toads, some amphibians hike more than others. Pregnant Tiger Keelbacks have been shown To go to greater lengths to chase these toads than male or non-raising females that prefer the more easily accessible wooden seeds of their habitats. But mothers to be, now eat poison in two, hunting toads more actively so they can pass the defensive bufadienolide stores for their young people, who are born too small to swallow toads themselves.

夸大其词 (Kua da qi ci): “Overdrive”

Cube snake

Different dice hose (Sodrix Tessellata) Population is known to exhibit different defensive behavior but those from Golem Grad Island in North Macedonia have been found To take it to a special theater rate: they play dead. When they grabbed by a predator, these dice snakes hoses, vomiting and velocity, before they finally become limp. Like a cherry on top of the performance, some even bleed from their meandering mouth.

“One of my first times, Studies The deathbed behavior of dice snakes like Doctorland at the University of Belgrade. “But of course it was just a defense. As soon as I released the snake, it miraculously returned to life and slid away. “

It oozes blood is one of the things that still puzzles and fascinates Bjelica, and one of the questions he hopes to answer in future studies. “Sometimes it’s a drop of blood, sometimes the mouthful of blood is,” he says. Among his theories, Bjelica speculates whether blood may have chemical communication properties that allow a death feuding snake to warn other snakes that it is being attacked.