Thinking I should clarify. Obviously in my story below, the snake had ample
leverage of the mud and rock bank, from the part of its body not in the tunnel,
to pull out backwards. I expect that is how it was done, rather than backward
moving of the part in the tunnel. Thus the story may not be relevant to John's
question about a snake moving backwards on an even surface. On an even surface,
snakes would normally just turn around and go forward.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Veerman
Sent: Monday, 18 December, 2017 10:19 AM
To:
Subject: A question I have been asked (reptile related)
Some years ago (early on in the COG blitz days) I watched a Brown Snake
investigating tunnels of (I believe) Bee-eater nests near Gigerline or Angle
Crossing near Tharwa. The birds were in the vicinity but not attending the
nests whilst the snake was there. It moved along the bank going forward quite
deliberately from one nest to the next, maybe 5 or so whilst I watched. It went
in each tunnel maybe a third to half its body length and then pulled out as I
recall backwards. I did not think of it as a problem but the snake had no
difficulty that I could see in doing this. I can not recall whether the going
in was quicker than the reverse. The soil there is very sandy and it would be
hard to imagine something as flexible as a snake getting stuck.
Philip
> On 17 December 2017 at 16:08, John Leonard <
> <>> wrote:
>
> I have an undeserved reputation at work as a natural history expert.
> Here's one I have been asked: can a snake reverse, that is if it
> goes down a narrow hole where it can't turn round, can it come out
> backwards?
>
> John Leonard
>
>
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