Shed Your Nervousness: Some Not-So-Scary Snake Facts

I'm not afraid of much.

I was raised with a trio of brothers who made sure of it, whether by forcing me to dig for worms and bait my own hooks, find my way through terrifying haunted houses, ride on the back of four-wheelers that were going way too fast or cliff dive on family vacations.

I've jumped out of planes. I've flown a plane. I've run with the bulls in Pamplona.

But there's something about snakes. Let's be clear, here. It's not that I'm scared of them. It's more complicated than that. The best way to say it is, they make me straight up nervous.

So when I grabbed a 5-foot long yellow anaconda named Missy at in and let it wrap around my neck, it's fair to say I felt a tad uneasy. 

"Is she trying to strangle me?" I asked the handler.

"No, no," he said, sounding slightly reassuring. "If she was trying to eat you, she'd definitely bite you first."

Oh. Well that's comforting.

Overall, was pretty eye-opening. I held lizards, snakes and all kinds of other creatures I expected to be slimy but weren't. It wasn't the first time I'd handled reptiles, or snakes for that matter.

My twin brother had a small ribbon snake when we were kids that he not-so-cleverly named "snaky." We practically pressed our faces to the glass during guppy feeding hour.

But even then, I didn't know as much about the scaly creatures as I do now. I learned so much that I feel compelled to share my "research" with you all.

Here are some facts (I bet) most of you don't know about snakes:

• Female snakes, most of the time, are larger than males. The larger the female, the more eggs she can carry.

• Snakes don't have to eat live food. In many instances, it's better if they don't. Feeding on frozen mice and other mammals is actually preferable. They get the same nutritious meal and are not trained to prey on live creatures, which can make them less aggressive. But even if an animal is already dead, they still feed the same — first a bite, then strangulation.

• Those who own snakes can feed them as infrequently as once a month.

• Snakes can open their mouths as wide as they do because their jaws aren't hinged like other animals or humans' jaws are.

• Some snakes can slither as fast as 12 mph.

• Anacondas, one of the longest snakes in the world, can measure up to 40 feet long.

• Many breeds of snakes never stop growing. Typically, their growth only slows as they age.

• There are more than 2,700 species of snakes and they are found in nearly every "corner" of the world.

• You may have learned, at some point, that snakes smell with their tongues. While that's true, the scent they gather in the air by extending their tongue is detected by another body part—the Jacobson's organ located inside the reptile's mouth. Some snakes even have organs on their face that allow them to detect temperature changes, easing the process of hunting prey.

See? You learned something didn't you? So did I—that snakes are nothing to fear, or even be nervous about. They're fascinating creatures with varying personalities.

I wouldn't know this if I didn't seize the opportunity on Saturday to step outside of my comfort zone.

I'm a firm believer that you should do something every day that scares you (or simply makes you nervous) and my time at the reptile convention only solidified why I love my job. I get to soak up knowledge each and every day.

And then, I get to share those nuggets with all of you!

Like us on Facebook