INTRODUCTION
Although snakes today invoke fear and phobias in many people they were highly revered in the ancient world. The fact they could disappear for the winter and emerge fresh and renewed in the spring meant they were seen to be immortal and worshipped as a symbol of healing and renewal.
The Australian aborigines worshipped the Rainbow serpent and saw her as a symbol of water and life. Alexander the Great claimed he was conceived by Zeus in the guise of a snake and used them as a symbol of his power. Aesculapius, the Greco-Roman god of healing was portrayed as a man carrying a wooden staff entwined by a snake, and this emblem is still the symbol of modern medicine today. It was later, with the advent of Christianity, that snakes became the scapegoat for paganism; the snake became the evil serpent luring Adam and Eve away from paradise and the forked tongue became synonymous with deceit.Snakes evolved from lizards, which have a short trunk (snout to vent) and long tail. During the process of elongation, snakes developed the converse of this and have a long trunk with a short tail. They occur widely around the world, only being absent from polar and high-altitude regions where permafrost prevents them from hibernating. However, the majority are found in equatorial tropical rainforest where the abundance of food, high humidity and temperature provides the ideal habitat. In temperate climates, like North America and Europe, snakes hibernate during the cold months (Evans 1986).
Size
Snakes can vary greatly in size. At one extreme are the giant species like the Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), which can grow to 10 m, and the equally long but less wide in girth Reticulated python (Python reticulatus). At the other are the smallest snakes, which are the secretive and burrowing blind snakes (Typhlopidae), measuring only 10-30 cm (Bellairs 1969h).
Longevity
Snakes like pythons and boas can live for as long as 20-30 years, and colubrids live for about 20 years.