Crazy Snake Myths, Wives' Tales & Folklore

[StudentoReptile]

I know we think we've heard them all, but feel free to post some of the crazy ones you have heard.
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Here is a link I came across: Snake Myths, Superstitions, & Old Wives Tales | My East Texas

• · Hang a snakeskin from the rafters to protect a house from fire [WOW, with all the old molts I got, this crib is solid against a nuclear blast].
• · Tie the dead body of a snake around the wound (presumably snake-bite?). [But wait...that REALLY conflicts with all the advice about NOT using a tourniquet and NOT bringing the dead snake with you....sheesh!]
• · Snakes inject their venom via their forked tongue. [Dang, I'm like a freakin' god, I must be immune to all snakes.]
• · Still others cultures see the snake as a bad omen. Seeing a snake cross one’s path, or dreaming of serpents are both said to be bad luck, specifically that you have an enemy. [Boy, I must have a LOT of enemies! LOL]
• · Pregnant women who are frightened by a snake will likely give birth to a child with a constricted neck. However, a conflicted superstition says snakes will never bite a pregnant woman. Some say that tying a snakeskin around the waist of a woman in labor will ease childbirth, while carrying a snakeskin is generally supposed to be beneficial to health, effective against headaches and in extracting thorns from the skin. Some believe that feeding women in labor a drink made from the powdered rattle of a rattlesnake will also ease childbirth.
• · Some people believe that hairs taken from the mane or tail of a horse and placed in stagnant water will turn into slender snakes.
• · The presence of snakes in the landscape is an indication of a healthy environment. Snakes are a unique part of our wildlife and should not be harmed. [How on earth is this a myth?!?!]
• · When a snake’s head is severed it will not die until sunset.
• · Milk snakes drink milk from cows and steal milk from dairies.
• · A snake can sting with its tail or tongue. [Wait…didn’t we already go over that one?]
• · Black Snakes and Copperheads can cross breed producing a poisonous black snake. [Sooo…that means we can’t eat it then, right?]

[StudentoReptile]

I also came across this one the other day during a search: If you slap a black snake with a Bible, it will sprout legs.

I REALLY want to know where that one came from! LOL

[SSSSnakes]

Coachwhips chase you down, wrap you up and beat you to death with their tails.

Snakes can't bite you under water.

[StudentoReptile]

And there's the hoop snake: The hoop snake will grab its tail in its mouth, then roll downhill to chase people like a hool-a-hoop, stinging people in its path with its sharp tail, which contains poison so potent it can kill an oak tree.
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This legend stems from the eastern mud snake, which does have a sharp tail that it uses to secure its slippery prey (eels and amphiumas) when swallowing them. If you pick them up, they will dig the tail into your skin, which does kinda smart a little, but nothing more.

[CosmicOwl]

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

I also came across this one the other day during a search: If you slap a black snake with a Bible, it will sprout legs.

I REALLY want to know where that one came from! LOL

Well, I have a bible. Time to find a black racer and test this out.