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The ancient myth about snakes finally falls apart after Australian scientists make a startling discovery.
- Just because snakes don’t have ears doesn’t mean they’re deaf.
- It means talking loudly on a bush walk might scare away snakes
Australian researchers have buried an enduring myth once and for all, showing that snakes are certainly not deaf and can even hear sounds in the air.
And it could mean that speaking out loud could help protect them.
“Because snakes don’t have external ears, people generally think they are deaf and can only feel vibrations through the ground and into their bodies,” said Dr. Christina Zdenek from the University of Queensland.
“But our research, the first of its kind to use snakes that move freely without anesthesia, found that they react to sound waves traveling through the air and possibly human voices.”
Dr Zdenek and Queensland University of Technology Professor Damian Candusso brought 19 snakes into a study and exposed them to different sounds.
Australian researchers have buried an enduring myth once and for all, showing that snakes are not deaf and can even hear sounds in the air. Pictured is a snake undergoing a hearing test.
The new research means that talking loudly on a bush walk could scare away snakes. In the photo, a snake in the bush.
One produced vibrations in the ground that snakes usually respond to. The other two were just airborne sounds.
They found that the snakes definitely reacted to sounds in the air alone, and those reactions largely depended on the type of snake involved.
Taipans, brown snakes, and especially death adders were more likely to move away from the sound. Only the female python tended to move toward the sound.
Dr. Zdenek said that’s likely explained by the fact that the python is a large, nocturnal snake with fewer predators, so it may not need to be as cautious as smaller species.
She said the study is a step forward in understanding how snakes perceive their environment.
“It’s not as big as seeing or flicking their tongues to taste the air, but now we can be sure that sound is part of that.”
But how does a creature without external ears hear? Through its interior, of course.
In simple terms, sound waves cause your jaws to vibrate and that is transferred as an electronic signal to the fluid in your inner ear.
Taipans, brown snakes (pictured), and especially death adders were more likely to move away from the sound.
While it’s hard to say definitively that talking while hiking in the bush will protect snakes, Dr. Zdenek said it was entirely possible.
‘In general, it’s best if a snake is aware of you, as long as you’re not right on top of it.
“And probably, in addition to making yourself known, with heavy footsteps through the undergrowth, talking can also be part of the repertoire to let snakes know you’re getting close.”
“Snakes are shy and very vulnerable creatures that hide most of the time and we still have a lot to learn about them.”