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About This Quiz
Snakes: the stars of horror movies, villains in Disney movies, and even a central character in the Bible. They are usually depicted as sinister, wily, and aligned with the bad guys. They make up lies, they give bad advice and they're greedy. Bad guys even turn into them sometimes, turn other objects into them, or send them to do their evil bidding. Very rarely do you ever see a snake that is working for the forces of good.
Of course, in reality, snakes aren't any of those things. They're just trying to get by, and rarely attack a human, even more rarely other than in self-defense. However, that doesn't mean they can't do a lot of damage when they put their minds to it. There are over 600 species of deadly snake, that live across six continents, and on land, in trees, and in the water. Snakes kill thousands of people per year, most of them in environments where there is relatively little access to medical aid.ÂÂ
Given how dangerous they can be, knowing a little about snakes can save your life. So let's find out whether you have the chops to stay safe if you do find yourself in a vipers' nest!
How do snakes blink?
They don't.
Snakes don't have eyelids but they do have a scale over their eye to protect it. Therefore, they do not have to blink.
With their eyelids
With the scales over their eyes
One eye at a time but so fast we can't see it
Which continent has the fewest snakes?
Africa
Europe
North America
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only place without snakes - as they cannot survive in a place where there is no sunlight for a long period of time.
What are the main ways deadly snakes kill?
Ambush and venom
Hitting their prey with their tail
Constriction and venom
Deadly snakes are typically either constrictors, or they are venomous. Neither is a very nice way to go!
Constriction and surprise
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What is the longest snake ever recorded?
33 feet
The longest snake ever recorded, at 33 feet, was a reticulated python. It is a constrictor and generally doesn't bother humans.
42 feet
12 feet
9 feet
What is the biggest venomous snake?
Taipan
Boomslang
Green cobra
King cobra
The king cobra can make it to 18 feet long. It has venom but can also constrict its prey.
How often do snakes typically shed their skins?
Monthly
Annually
2-4 times a year
Snakes typically shed several times a year once they are fully grown, but it varies depending on the species.
10 times a year
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How many people do snakes kill annually?
10,000
2,000
50,000
Deaths from snakebite and constrictors put together come to about 50,000 globally. This figure is greatly reduced compared to the days before effective antivenom, good infrastructure, and of course, phones.
20,000
What type of snake has a hood?
Cobras
Cobras have hoods, generally speaking, as do tiger snakes, bronzeback snakes, and a couple other kinds of snake. They produce the hood by flattening their neck out to make them appear bigger, which intimidates their prey.
Taipans
Rattlesnakes
Lancehead snakes
What breed of snake is the deadly Nagini from Harry Potter?
Boa
Viper
Nagini is some sort of viper, though the books are not 100% clear what exactly. Nagini is a servant of Lord Voldemort, who can communicate with snakes in their language of Parseltongue.
Cobra
Adder
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What's a good way to tell if a snake is poisonous, based on its head?
Its head is arrow-shaped.
Snakes with more arrow-shaped heads are generally venomous, but not always. It's a good idea to just assume a snake is venomous unless you know otherwise.
It has a zig-zag pattern on its back.
If it bites you and you die, then you know.
It has a forked tongue.
What characteristic of the eye tells you that a snake is probably venomous?
It has eyelids.
It has a long pupil that is oblong with pointed ends, instead of a round one.
While not all snakes with slitted pupils are venomous, snakes with round pupils typically are not. It's also not a guarantee, though, so watch out.
It has four eyes.
It has round pupils.
What kind of snake is Kaa from The Jungle Book?
A python
The book Kaa is actually Mowgli's friend and mentor, while the version appearing in the films is definitely a villain, albeit not the most major one. Kaa is a python, a kind of constricting snake.
An adder
A cobra
A viper
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According to legend, what snake can turn you to stone just by looking at you?
One that is serving as a gorgon's hair
The Gorgons' hair is made of snakes, and looking up the Gorgon will indeed turn you to stone. In Harry Potter, the basilisk has this power, but this is not from mythology. A basilisk is not always a large snake in mythology: it's king of the reptiles, but not just a snake.
A basilisk
A viper
A flying snake
How does a boa constrictor reproduce?
It lays eggs an buries them for months until they hatch.
It gives birth to live young, like a mammal.
It lays eggs and tends them in a nest until they hatch.
It has eggs that stay inside the body until they hatch.
A boa constrictor keeps its eggs in its body until they hatch, meaning the babies coming out, instantly hatch and are ready to slither under their own steam. This guarantees that they are best able to stay safe.
How do snakes chew?
They fold up their main fangs.
They don't, they just swallow.
Snakes don't chew, they just swallow their prey whole. They can unhinge their jaws, which are not fixed in their heads like mammals' are, meaning they can swallow a creature bigger than they are.
In small pieces, of course.
By grinding side to side, like a cow.
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How do snakes stay warm?
They eat food and turn it into energy, like we do.
They bathe in warm water.
They build a little nest with leaves and soil.
They bask in the sun or on a heated rock.
Snakes cannot stay warm without the warmth of the sun, which they get from sunbathing for hours. They especially like a nice warm surface like a rock or sand.
How often does a boa constrictor hunt, at minimum?
Daily
Every few weeks
A boa constrictor can go for several weeks without eating if it has to, and assuming it has had a nice big meal. It will grow more torpid but otherwise it will be fine.
A couple times a week
Weekly
How does a boa constrictor kill its prey?
Suffocation
Crushing its bones
Cutting off the blood supply
Since many creatures can often go quite a while without air, and can pass out and seem to be dead, but actually still be dangerous. However cutting off the bloody supply to the brain is a surefire way to kill them. The snake can even monitor the heart rate of its enemy.
Crushing the internal organs
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What is a "pelvic spur"?
It's the part of the snake that is its midsection.
It's a vestigial leg.
A pelvic spur is a sort of protrusion from the snake where its legs would be, that looks somewhat like a claw. It helps the snake get around and is also used in mating and combat.
It's a special kind of scales that are on the snake's underside.
It's a way the snake undulates to go especially fast.
How many lungs do deadly snakes have?
One
Two
None
It depends.
Most snakes only have one lung, but boa constrictors have two. This is possibly due to their superior size, meaning they can fit two.
How long does a boa constrictor live in the wild?
20 to 30 years
Generally in the wild, boas live 20 to 30 years. However, they can live much longer in captivity. This is why it is highly recommended not to keep one as a pet, since it will outlive a great many owners (plus it requires a lot of care).
10 to 20 years
5 to 10 years
30 to 40 years
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What color is a coral snake?
Red, blue and yellow
Red, black and yellow
Coral snakes are highly venomous, and are black, red and yellow. A number of snakes have evolved to look like them, in order to scare people away - which is generally a wise course if you see one, just in case.
Black, white and pink
White, yellow and red
How fast can a snake strike, relative to a human blink?
It takes the length of one blink for them to strike.
Up to four times as fast
Snakes can complete a strike in a quarter of the time it takes the human eye to blink. So that means by the time you've spotted it about to come for you, it's already got you. The trick is to simply not get that close in the first place.
Up to three times as fast
Up to twice as fast
What trick does the spider-tailed horned viper use to catch its prey?
It lies in wait for them.
It hunts them down.
It wiggles its tail to look like a spider and attract them.
The spider-tailed horned viper can wiggle its tail in a way that really looks like a spider from a distance. Birds then come to investigate, whereupon the snake pounces.
It seduces them with its hypnotic eyes.
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How do snakes hear?
With an external ear that can rise up from their head
With an internal ear that you cannot see
With echolocation like a bat
By feeling vibrations in their jaw
Snakes don't have ears, and they don't use sonar or echolocation. Instead they "hear" by feeling vibrations through the ground, which they use to get a sense of the world around them.
Where do you find flying snakes?
North Africa
Southeast Asia
There are five species of flying snake to be found in southeast Asia. Flying snakes live in trees and they launch themselves from branches and then writhe in the air in such a way as to make the best of their flattened bodies.
Western Europe
South America
How do snakes see?
Their eyes see visible light, just like ours.
They have regular eyes and extra heat-sensing eyes.
Snakes have regular eyes, but some species also have something called a pit organ that is like another set of eyes. It senses infrared light, meaning it effectively works like a heat-seeking device. Snakes can use this to "see" their prey in the dark.
Their skin can "see" as if it is covered in eyes.
They use echolocation..
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Which snake has the fastest strike?
Copperhead
Boomslang
Death adder
The aptly-named death adder doesn't mess around, boasting the fastest strike on the planet. It can inject poison and be back where it was before you even know what happened.
Life adder
How many people could the inland taipan kill with a single bite, in theory?
20
80
The inland taipan does not mess around. Its poison is so toxic that at any time its sacs contain enough to kill 80 people. Fortunately it is unlikely to bite more than one at a time!
100
6
What are rattlesnakes' rattles made of?
Bone
Cartilage
Calcium
Keratin
The rattling scales are made of keratin, like your hair and nails. Every time the rattlesnake sheds its skin, it adds another circle of rattles.
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What is the most common toxic snake in North America?
Garter
People did not used to know that the garter was venomous at all, but it is. It's a milder toxin than most that would probably not kill you.
Gaboon
Lancehead
Puff adder
How often do snakes grow new fangs?
Every 6-10 weeks
Snakes' fangs wear out and need to be replaced, with a fang lasting from 6 to 10 weeks. Snakes then grow a new one and shed the old, the way humans shed our baby teeth.
Every year
Every 6 months
Every week
What is one reason for the forked tongues of snakes?
It helps the snake to taste whether its prey is good to eat.
It helps tell the snake what direction to go.
The two forks of the snake's tongue taste very slightly different amounts of chemicals, which helps the snake figure out which way to go.
It looks cool.
It helps get oxygen to the snake's mouth.
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How far can the Mozambique spitting cobra spit poison?
3 feet
6 feet
8 feet
This cobra can spit poison a full 8 feet, which is handy considering that sometimes it has to do it from the ground and sometimes its opponents are larger animals walking on four legs.
10 feet
You Got:
/35
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