International Snake Day (16/07)

There are many holidays in the world calendar dedicated to individual representatives of the fauna or representatives of entire elements of the classification system of the animal world (classes, orders, families, etc.). International Snake Day is celebrated every year on July 16th.

Snakes (lat. Serpentes) — suborder of the reptile class of the order squamosals. Serpentology studies snakes.

Snakes have always occupied a special place in human life, in the culture of different peoples. They were either classified as creatures of hell or deified and worshiped. For most people, snakes still cause, if not horror and fear, then definitely fear. Some peoples, however, still worship snakes. As a rule, this is typical for the countries of Southeast Asia, India, and China.

If in Christendom the snake is associated with secret evil plans, temptation, betrayal, then in the East the snake was and remains a symbol of wisdom. In many ways, such ideas are due to the fact that over thousands of years the peoples of Asian countries have learned to live next to a large number of different poisonous and non-poisonous (the total proportion of which is more numerous) snakes, being able to realize that the behavior of this animal is dictated by its structure and habitat, as well as way of nutrition. By the way, some representatives of non-venomous snakes also instill fear in many people, and instill horror in the souls of many. We are talking about pythons and anaconda.

The founders of International Snake Day encourage all people to learn more through education about the life, behavioral characteristics, and habitat of representatives of this class of reptiles. Only in this way can it be understood that the snake will remain harmless to humans if it behaves correctly when meeting it or simply, if humans follow certain rules when being in the habitats of these animals.

The founders of the Day call through education to learn more about the life and behavior of this class of reptiles (Photo: Tom Reichner, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Serpentology scientists remind that snakes are a natural regulator of the numbers of many rodents, which, in turn, can be both simply pests of crops, supplies, and carriers of diseases. Snake venom is used in medicine as part of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Photo exhibitions and documentaries about the life of snakes also tell that, on the one hand, the habitat of many of them suffers due to human invasion, and on the other, – human housing and food waste – is a source of reproduction for rodents that lure snakes to them.

Most snake attacks are caused by careless human behavior in nature, when a snake that has not had time to retreat is forced to resort to a bite in defense. True, in some regions of hot countries, the proximity to these reptiles often causes inconvenience to a person and ends in bites and death, when snakes end up on plantations or make their way into houses.

Scientists urge people to learn to live next to these creatures, whose habitat is very wide and excludes only Antarctica and a number of island states.

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