Australian scientists have actually buried a long-lasting misconception at last, revealing snakes are definitely not deaf and can hear air-borne noises.
And it may indicate talking aloud might help ward them off.
“Because snakes don’t have external ears, people typically think they’re deaf and can only feel vibrations through the ground and into their bodies,” University of Queensland’s Dr Christina Zdenek said.
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“But our research – the first of its kind using non-anaesthetised, freely moving snakes – found they do react to soundwaves travelling through the air and possibly human voices.”
Zdenek and Queensland University of Technology Professor Damian Candusso took 19 snakes into a studio and exposed them to various noises.
One produced ground vibrations that snakes generally react to. The other 2 were airborne-only sounds.
They discovered the snakes certainly responded to airborne-only noises, with those responses highly depending on the kind of snake included.
Taipans, brown snakes and particularly death adders were most likely to move far from noise. Only the woma python tended to approach noise.
Zdenek said that was most likely explained by the truth the python is a big nighttime snake with less predators so it might not require to be as mindful as smaller sized types.
She said the research study is a leap forward in comprehending how snakes notice their environment.
“It’s not as big as vision or them flicking their tongue to taste the air but we can be confident now that sound is part of that.”
But how does an animal without any external ears hear? Via their inner one, naturally.
In easy terms, acoustic waves vibrate their jawbones which is moved as an electronic signal into the fluid of the internal ear.
While it’s tough to definitively state that talking throughout a bushwalk will fend off snakes, Zdenek said it was completely possible.
“In general it’s better if a snake is aware of you, as long as you are not right on top of it,” she said.
“And so probably in addition to making yourself known with loud footsteps through the bush, speaking can also be a part of the repertoire of letting snakes know you are approaching.
“Snakes are very vulnerable, timid creatures that hide most of the time and we still have so much to learn about them.”
