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Snakes​—Friends or Foes?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Panama

HERE in Panama we encounter a wide variety of snakes. There are more than 125 different types, but of these only twenty-one are poisonous. And the nonpoisonous varieties are much more populous than the poisonous ones. A number of missionaries of Jehovah’s witnesses have had interesting encounters. One of them, who lives in a town in the interior of the country, relates:

“One day we found the shed skin of a boa constrictor in our house. We were quite upset. When later we found the owner of the skin, we were even more upset. For we realized that he apparently had been in the house for some time feeding on the insects that inhabit our tile roof, without even letting us know that he was around.”

Another missionary recounts: “I noticed for several successive nights that something was in the spring of my bed. I could feel and hear soft movements during the night, but I could not see anything. Since I slept under a mosquito net, I felt quite safe from a mouse or even a rat, but imagine my horror when I decided to investigate and found a poisonous coral snake living in the spring!”

Yes, a common reaction to an encounter with a snake is that of terror. Is that your reaction? Is it a warranted one? Are snakes really dangerous foes of humans? Or do they serve useful purposes?

Snake Stories

A few types of snakes quite obviously can be dangerous. The very poisonous cobra, for example, is reportedly responsible for some 10,000 deaths a year in India alone. During the breeding season the cobra can be aggressive, and there are stories about its pursuit of humans in a life-or-death chase.

The python is another famous snake, the very mention of which arouses fear in some persons. It can be tremendous in size. An Asian python has been measured at thirty-three feet in length! The python kills by constricting or squeezing its prey until it suffocates. But there are few authenticated reports of these snakes’ attacking and devouring humans. In one instance, however, a fourteen-year-old boy in the East Indies was caught and devoured by a python. A couple of days later the large snake was captured and killed, the body of the boy being recovered.

The largest living snake is the South American anaconda, which also kills its victims by squeezing them. There have been stories from Brazil from early times about the anaconda’s great size and strength. A few years ago a photographer in Brazil distributed a picture card of a gigantic anaconda, reputedly 131 feet long. And in 1948 a newspaper account told about a snake 156 feet long that was killed by a detachment of the Brazilian army. Were the snakes really that long? The claims have not been verified. There are reliable reports, however, of thirty-seven-foot anacondas, which are big indeed! The boa constrictor, which is found in Panama, can gain a length of over fifteen feet, ranking next to the anaconda and python in size.

Degree of Danger

Since these big snakes generally prefer smaller prey, the danger to humans is minimal. Thus the greatest danger to man is from poisonous snakes. But only a small percentage, of the world’s nearly 3,000 known species of snakes are poisonous. It is estimated that only about eight out of a hundred present any danger to man.

One writer recently observed that ‘the chance of being bitten by a snake in Panama is about the same as being struck by lightning.’ He also notes, however, that ‘it is best not to play around with snakes, since it is snake handlers who most often experience snakebites.’

The most dangerous snakes in Panama are the venomous fer-de-lance, bushmaster and coral and, to a lesser degree, the palm and hog-nosed vipers. Also, the Pacific sea snake, the venom of which is considered fifty times as poisonous as any land snake, may be hazardous to bathers along the Pacific coast.

But if it attempted to do so, could a pursuing land snake catch a man? Probably not. The fastest speed that most snakes can attain is only about eight miles an hour, slower than a person can run, and few snakes can go that fast. A notable exception is the swift king cobra. However, as it travels along, it carries its head off the ground, but has to drop it horizontally to make turns. Thus a man, by dodging, may get away from it in the open. There are reports of persons escaping the king cobra by just such maneuvers!

The fact is that snakes generally are quite shy, and will get out of man’s way if given the opportunity. This preference for caution is true even of the poisonous varieties, including the cobra in most instances. Snakes, are not out looking to attack humans. So if one is careful when in the garden or around trees or shrubs, the chances of being bitten are small. It is also good in some places to be alert around the garage or home, because venomous snake invade these quarters too.

Undeserved Reputation

It appears that, for the most part, snakes have an undeserved reputation. Herpetologist (one who makes a study of reptiles) Sam Telford is among those who believe this. He says: “They have a reputation they don’t deserve; because a few are dangerous all of them have been maligned.”

Actually snakes serve useful purposes, as Telford points out. They are important in the control of rats, mice and other rodents that multiply at a rapid rate and can do great damage to crops. So, many farmers look at the snake as their friend, as a co-worker in their agricultural efforts.

But snakes serve man in quite a different way too. Willie K. Friar, writing in the Panama Canal Review, February 1970, observes: “The boa constrictor, which is referred to by some as a ‘fine hunk of meat,’ is a regular part of the menu served to students at the Air Force Tropical Survival School in the Canal Zone.”

While some snakes are dangerous and certainly should be treated with respect, the majority are useful to man. They are friends, not foes.