A wild snake was captured by a photographer that knotted itself and later died on the porch of the Reddit user who took the photo. The photo was uploaded by a Reddit user into his account and asked the community the same question.
With the caption saying "this snake that knotted themselves up and died on my deck, it gained thousands of shares and comments.
It is nearly impossible for these reptiles to tie themselves by accident. They were notorious for how they suffocate their prey by coiling around until it loses air. The snake species on the photo was not clear.
Other Reddit users shared their two cents, on the post, garnering 60,000 interactional points, suspecting the snake didn't do that on its own.
Can Snake Commit Suicide?
In a study done by Edward Holden published in Nature, he witnessed a deliberate suicide of rattle snake. In 1888, Holden and his colleague Dr. Keeler saw a rattlesnake roaming into a laboratory's telescope. Using a blacksmith's pair of tongs, they brought the snake into the lab to examine.
Being rattled with the rattlesnake, the scientists put the snake into a gallon with water. At the time they noticed, even the rattlesnake that it would drown sooner, in a most unexpected manner, struck its fangs into its body which they believe done intentionally and with suicidal purpose.
Snake's Venom is made up of protein components that the reptiles carry into their mouth, waiting to release into their prey's bloodstream. According to Science ABC report, venomous snakes are not harmed if they accidentally digest their own venom.
However they clarified that if the venom was struck in the snake's body entering its bloodstream, similar reaction will happen to them, just like to its prey.
In a nutshell, the snake can commit suicide by biting themselves, providing that the venom will enter directly into its bloodstream.
Ouroboros: Infinite Form of Dying
The term ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a snake biting or eating the end of its tail as a form of suicide. It symbolizes the infinity sign that signifies birth and death.
According to Lastestly, ouroboros is the act of snake cannibalism, they added that the snake, in many times, mistakenly sees their tail as its prey when hunger strikes.
Since the reptiles are cold-blooded, when they feel high humidity, they initially get irritated and anxious, adding to the factor why they mistakenly cannibalize themselves.
Self-tying, according to experts, is possible for snakes, specially observed to pythons and boa constrictor, for they have more backbone units based on their body length.
Snakes tie themselves into knots as a defense mechanism during predator raids, they hide their heads and remain steady to confuse them.
But tying themselves into a knot without any natural challenges is a disease rarely present to serpents called inclusion body disease (IBD), that was first discovered in the 1980s.
It is a fatal retrovirus that can be diagnosed only with serpents, early symptoms of IBD are uneven pupil size, swollen mouth, vomiting and lack of appetite, according to Veterinary Partner. Serpents with IBD show different behaviors and present anxiety, they also develop internal malfunction of organs, Vet Partner added.
Large majority of diagnosed serpents that are confirmed to have IBD are not effectively treated, they are usually humanely euthanized and performed a complete necropsy after. If a snake showed related symptoms, it's better to rush it to the vets for early medication.
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