{"id":39755,"date":"2024-07-04T14:44:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T12:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f4d544f9-df3a-442f-bd9e-30c02db45a4c"},"modified":"2024-07-04T16:28:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T14:28:50","slug":"discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover the weirdest snakes in the world, from flying serpents to spider-tailed vipers. There&#8217;s even a hairy species&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\">Discover the planet&#8217;s most bizarre and frankly weird snakes, including one that can glide through the air <\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Thursday, 04 July 2024 at 12:44 PM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p><strong>Snakes have always fascinated and terrified humans in equal measure, slithering their way through myths, legends, and the natural world with an enigmatic allure. <\/strong><\/p><p>Among the thousands of snake species that inhabit our planet, a select few stand out for their downright bizarre characteristics and behaviours. <\/p><p>We take a closer look at the strange and weird serpents, exploring the most peculiar members of the snake world.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-weird-snakes-that-could-give-you-nightmares\"> 9 weird snakes that could give you nightmares<\/h2><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-flying-snake\">The flying snake<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/06\/The-flying-snake-is-one-of-the-worlds-weirdest-snakes.mp4\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Ready, steady, go! Watch this great footage of a flying snake. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>A flying snake sounds like something out of your nightmares, but it does exist &#8211; although they are technically more gliders than fliers. <\/p><p>There are five species of flying snake in Asia, which can glide for about 100 metres. They are the only known limbless\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/vertebrate\">vertebrates<\/a>\u00a0that can glide though the air. <\/p><p>They like to eat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/rodent\">rodents<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/bat-mammal\">bats<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/bird-animal\">birds<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/lizard\">lizards<\/a> &#8211; and are bound to give prey a bit of a shock as they launch themselves.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-spiny-bush-viper\"><strong>Spiny bush viper<\/strong><\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Spiky scales give this snake a bizarre look. Credit: Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Is this a dragon or a snake? This blue-green snake&#8217;s unusual appearance and spiky look is down to its keeled scales which help give the Spiny bush viper &#8211; as its known &#8211; excellent camouflage in their forest habitat in the rainforests of Central Africa.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-malagasy-leaf-nosed-snake\">Malagasy leaf-nosed snake<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/Malagasy-leaf-nosed-snake.jpg?fit=1024,1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-104305\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The reason for this oddly-shaped nose remains a mystery. Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>We should really do a list of weird noses what with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/star-nosed-mole-facts\">star-nosed mole<\/a> and the Malagasy leaf-nosed snake. Yes that&#8217;s right there&#8217;s a snake with a leaf-shaped nose. <\/p><p>This non-venomous snake is endemic to\u00a0Madagascar and it&#8217;s not known why they have such weird noses, apart from to help them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/camouflage-animals-cryptic-coloration\">camouflage<\/a>. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-spider-tailed-viper\">Spider-tailed viper<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2120\" height=\"1413\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/Spider-tailed-viper-one-of-the-worlds-weirdest-snakes.jpg\" alt=\"The spider-tailed viper is one of the world's weirdest snakes\" class=\"wp-image-104306\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This viper has a beautiful, but deadly, tail. Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>And from weird noses we go to weird tails. Meet the Spider-Tailed Viper with &#8211; as the name suggests &#8211; a spidery tail. <\/p><p>It is believed this tail attracts birds looking for a quick spidery meal &#8211; but instead they become the meal.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-elephant-trunk-snake\"><strong>Elephant trunk snake <\/strong><\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/elephant-trunk-snake.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-104308\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This aquatic snake is found in Northern Australia and Southeast Asia. Credit: Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>It&#8217;s quite clear how this snake got its name as its loose, baggy skin very much looks like an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/how-the-elephant-got-its-trunk\">elephant\u2019s trunk<\/a>. <\/p><p>There&#8217;s a very good reason for its unusual skin, which is it helps it hold onto slippery fish, its primary prey.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tentacled-snake\">Tentacled snake<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tentacled Snakes, Erpeton tentaculatum, Eating Minnows.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wktwTyVwgIE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/erpeton-tentaculatum-frightens-its-prey-right-into-its-mouth\">tentacled snake (<em>Erpeton tentaculatum<\/em>)<\/a> conjures up some pretty far out images. A snake with tentacles \u2013 how weird must that be? <\/p><p>And, if you&#8217;re a fish, it will scare you to your very core: It lies in ambush, stretched out along the bottom with its head and neck curved back, forming a \u2018J\u2019 shape on the mud. When a fish enters the \u2018bay\u2019 formed between its head and body, the snake shakes its flank (the section \u2018across the bay\u2019 from its face). The alarmed fish usually turns tail and darts off in the opposite direction \u2013 often straight into the snake\u2019s mouth. The entire process, from feint to fish dinner, takes less than 0.02 seconds.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-penis-snake\">Penis snake<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1488\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/Penis-snake.jpg\" alt=\"Penis snake one of the world's weirdest snakes\" class=\"wp-image-104318\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">By Tobias von Anhalt<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>You probably haven&#8217;t heard the name of this species before, but you may perhaps have heard what some call it &#8211; the penis snake. While it&#8217;s not<em>\u00a0too\u00a0<\/em>difficult to see why it got that charming moniker, it&#8217;s not actually a snake but a caecilian! But it&#8217;s so weird &#8211; and it looks like a snake &#8211; we thought it was worthy of a mention.<\/p><p>Caecilians are limbless\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/amphibian-vs-reptile-whats-the-difference\">amphibians<\/a>\u00a0that live hidden in soil or streambeds, feeding on insects and earthworms. A particularly fascinating (or gross, depending on how you see it) fact about these amphibians is that after giving birth some species allow their young to feed on a special outer layer of their own skin, which the hatchlings peel off with specially modified teeth!<\/p><p><em>Atretochoana eiselti<\/em>\u00a0is not one of these species but is set apart by being the only known lungless caecilian and in fact the largest tetrapod (four-limbed vertebrate) to lack lungs.<\/p><p>We named it one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/weird-animals\">weirdest animals in the world<\/a><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-desert-horned-viper\">Desert horned viper<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/Desert-horned-viper-is-one-of-the-worlds-weirdest-snakes.jpg\" alt=\"Desert horned viper is one of the world's weirdest snakes\" class=\"wp-image-104315\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">It is believed these horns protect the snake&#8217;s eyes from sand. Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Yes, that&#8217;s right there&#8217;s a snake with horns, the Desert horned viper. <\/p><p>Native to the deserts of\u00a0Northern Africa\u00a0and parts of the\u00a0Arabian Peninsula\u00a0and\u00a0Levant it is easily recognisable by its &#8216;horns&#8217;.<\/p><p>Like all vipers it is venomous and bites can be serious for humans<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-brahminy-blind-snake\">Brahminy blind snake<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2304\" height=\"1536\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/Brahminy-blind-snake.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-103986\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The world\u2019s only unisexual snake. Credit:\u00a0Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The Brahminy blind snake is a tiny mysterious reptile that moves unseen beneath the soil\u2019s surface &#8211; but that&#8217;s not the most unusual thing about it as the way they reproduce takes their weirdness to a totally different level. <\/p><p>They lay massive eggs, each about 1.5cm long. This may not sound like much, but when you\u2019re only about 10cm long, that is a considerable relative to its size \u2013 especially since there are probably more than three eggs in a clutch and they can reproduce rapidly.<\/p><p>It becomes stranger still when you learn that all hatchlings will be female; there are no males. To date, every single brahminy blind snake is female. <\/p><p><strong>Discover more fascinating snake species and facts<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/how-do-snakes-move\">How do snakes move?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/how-long-do-snakes-live\">How long do snakes live?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/are-there-snakes-in-the-arctic\">Are there snakes in the Arctic<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/deadliest-snakes\">The deadliest snakes in the world<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/are-there-any-snakes-in-ireland\">Are there any snakes in Ireland? If not why not?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"\/><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-looking-for-more-weird-and-wonderful-creatures\"><strong>Looking for more weird and wonderful creatures?<\/strong><h1 style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; user-select: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: rgb(15, 44, 59); font-family: var(--primaryFont); font-weight: 600; font-size: 36px; line-height: 45px; white-space-collapse: collapse;\"\/><\/h4><p>Check out our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/weird-animals\">the weirdest animals in the UK<\/a>, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/animals\/pets\/rarest-dog-breeds-uk\">rarest dog breeds<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/go-outdoors\/top-10-most-intelligent-wild-animals-in-britain\">the most intelligent animals<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/10-of-the-most-colourful-animals-in-the-uk-a-rainbow-of-wildlife-you-never-knew-existed\">the most colourful animals in the UK<\/a>. <\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover the planet&#8217;s most bizarre and frankly weird snakes, including one that can glide through the air <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39756,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/discover-the-weirdest-snakes-in-the-world-from-flying-serpents-to-spider-tailed-vipers-theres-even-a-hairy-species-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Discover the planet's most bizarre and frankly weird snakes, including one that can glide through the air","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}