The Undeserved Reptilian Reputation
Hello again readers if you read my last blog then you may be wondering why I am not talking about the various humorous antics my reptiles get up to. Never fear I shall cover that in a later blog post but I decided against it for this week’s instalment, as I found myself moved by a quote from the legend that is David Attenborough. The quote that really struck a chord with me is as follows: “Reptiles and amphibians are sometimes thought of as primitive, dull and dimwitted. In fact of course they can be lethally fast, spectacularly beautiful, surprisingly affectionate and very sophisticated” (David Attenborough). I for one could not have put this better myself, reptiles are often underestimated and thought of as slow thinking animals which cannot grasp the level of thinking we humans are capable of. It is the unspoken truth of humanity that we fear what we do not understand, could this help explain why many reptiles have been labled dangerous when in fact they can be surprisingly timid. As reptiles is such a large group we shall focus on two members of this remarkable family snakes and crocodiles.
Snakes
Snakes, this group of reptiles are probably the most feared out of all there reptilian counterparts, they are persecuted or used for human entertainment around the world. In India snakes such as the spectacled cobra (Naja naja) and the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) are collected by local snake charmers, to be used as entertainment. The idea is the snake listens to the snake charmers song, and is hypnotised by it. The human belief is that the captured cobra is entranced by the music being played by the snake charmer, the snakes swaying body is interpreted by us as the snake dancing to the charmer’s song.
Unfortunately folks this is not true cobras do not hear sound like we do so they are not listening, so to speak to the music. Instead they hear vibrations which is an important tool for hunting their prey which is rodents. The so called standing posture with the characteristic hood flared is the cobras way of saying I’m dangerous and you’re getting too close. You must be thinking well what about the swaying motion, snakes react to movement so the swaying motion is just the snake following the physical movement of the flute. It has evolved this behaviour in order to react quickly to its fast moving prey i.e. rats and mice. Therefore due to man’s misunderstanding cobras exhibiting this natural behaviour are accused of being aggressive. This is where understanding and compassion is essential the cobra is not saying I want to bite you, he/she is merely saying I don’t want to bite you please leave me alone.
Wild caught snakes are often kept in small baskets by snake charmers for ease of use. As you can imagine being taken from your home and stuffed into a cramped space is distressing for the snake. Therefore they come out of this environment with their hood flared not to strike at you but because they are scared. Unfortunately cobras kept in this way are often tied to the bottom of the basket meaning they cannot get away. So it is no wonder they are accused of being aggressive, as humans in this instance have taken away the cobras ability to run away. Cobras are often de fanged or have their venom glands removed so they cannot bite the snake charmer. In extreme cases the mouth of the cobra is even sewn shut. However thanks to education and increasing general knowledge snake welfare is improving, but we could all do with improving our attitudes towards these misunderstood creatures.
Crocodiles
Crocodiles are often thought of as dull reptilian creatures who show little to no evidence of higher level thinking. However with the help of science this is proving to be completely wrong, crocodiles are actually extremely clever strategists, they will use guile and cunning when hunting for prey. How you may ask yourself? Well it has been found in mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) living in India that they will lure unsuspecting nest building birds to their deaths. They do this by placing sticks on the tips of their snouts, adjusting themselves so only the tip of the snout and the stick itself are breaking the water’s surface. While the rest of the crocs body lays submerged under the water, the nest building bird swoops down to collect the stick from what its thinks is a harmless log. Within a fraction of as second the croc grabs the bird before dragging it under the water in a whirlpool of feathers.
Now don’t think crocodiles are all bad they are only doing what they must to survive, they are carnivores after all. Crocodiles can actually be surprisingly affectionate yes you heard right, affectionate, just look at a mother crocodile and her young. Crocodiles like most reptiles lay eggs which they carefully lay in large nests, normally a hole dug into the ground or in the middle of a large mound which is carefully constructed by mother croc. Mother crocodile even tries to lay her eggs on high ground along the river bank, to allow her babies easy access to water once they hatch plus keeping them safe from flood damage. She also does not feed for weeks at a time. In order to guard her eggs from land predators such as the common Indian monitor lizard (Varanus bengalensis). The maternal care and careful nest building behaviours found in wild crocodiles provides some evidence that even the non-fluffy animals are capable of compassion. Although to further support this argument more research needs to be carried out. To sum up readers, snakes and crocodiles are not out to get you but they should be treated with respect. They are hugely misunderstood creatures that are worthy of our admiration.
If you want to learn more about crocodile intelligence or snake behaviours then check out the papers below.
Dinets, V., Brueggen, J. C., & Brueggen, J. D. (2015). Crocodilians use tools for hunting. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 27(1), 74-78.
Spencer, M. M., Lardner, B., Mazurek, M. J., & Reed, R. N. (2015). Factors affecting defensive strike behavior in brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) provoked by humans. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 10(2), 703-710.