Mike Bowen 



snakes move to warm or cool places as 

 needed. 



• Without arms or legs, a snake 

 can't rip or tear its food apart. Instead, 

 it takes its dinner whole. To accom- 

 plish this feat, the jaws and skin of the 

 snake's head are malleable and elastic, 

 and the bones of the jaw are loosely 

 connected to one another and to the 

 cranium. The jaw can move outward 

 and backward and can even disconnect 

 from itself, allowing a snake to 

 swallow objects four times the size of 

 its head. 



• All snakes have teeth, although 

 some have very few and others have 

 well-developed teeth that release 

 venom. Snake teeth slant inward, 

 allowing the snake to get a good grasp 

 on its prey and move it down its throat. 



The Senses 



When you visualize a snake, you 

 often think first of its tongue: forked, 

 flicking in and out over and over again. 

 But the snake isn't licking its chops in 

 anticipation of a good meal. The 

 snake's tongue is a valuable tool, used 

 for deciphering its surroundings. 

 Snakes have a notch in their upper jaw 

 through which they stick their tongues 

 even when their mouths are closed. 



Snakes con- 

 stantly "feel" their 

 surroundings with 

 their forked tongues, 

 gathering scent 

 molecules from the 

 air. The forks are 

 then inserted into the 

 sensory-lined sacs of 

 the Jacobsen's 

 organ, a special body 

 part located in the 

 front of the mouth. 



This organ, 

 present only in 

 snakes and some 

 lizards, works with 

 the nostrils and the portion of the 

 snake's brain that controls smell. The 

 molecules gathered by the tongue are 

 identified by the Jacobsen's organ and 

 the information is passed to the brain. 



Snakes rely heavily on their senses 

 of smell and taste. Their sight is 

 relatively weak. Snakes are thought to 

 be deaf, but they do have a vibration 

 detector — a small bone called the 

 stapes that is connected to the jaw. 

 The stapes senses vibrations as the 

 snake crawls across the ground. 



Pit vipers also have special pits 

 behind their eyes. The pits, lined 

 with heat-sensitive cells, can detect 

 warm-blooded enemies or prey 

 with precision even in the pitch 

 black of night. 



The Skin a 

 Scales 



Unlike fish scales, which 

 can be scraped off, the snake's 

 scales are an integral part of 

 its skin. They are cool and 

 dry. Like links in a suit of 

 armor, a snake's scales 

 provide protection as the 

 creature crosses rough 

 surfaces. The tip of each scale can 



also be used to push off rocks or bumps, 

 helping the snake to move along. 



All snakes have scales, but their 

 size, shape, thickness and texture vary. 

 The scales also hold the pigments that 

 create the snake's patterns and colors. 

 In the case of the bright yellow, red and 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 7 



