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Tree-hugging snakes put safety first


Still Waters

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When a snake climbs a tree, it squeezes the trunk up to five times harder than necessary, according to a new study.

For the first time, biologists have measured the force exerted by climbing snakes, using pressure sensors on a vertical pipe, wrapped in tennis grip.

All 10 of the snakes in the study held onto the pipe much tighter than was necessary to support their own weight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-28853225

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very interesting. I would be interested to know if the results would be the same on smaller/thinner species of snakes as opposed to larger boas/pythons that are widely known to climb frequently. Oh well, I don't blame them. If they fall its not like they can land on their feet

mike

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very interesting. I would be interested to know if the results would be the same on smaller/thinner species of snakes as opposed to larger boas/pythons that are widely known to climb frequently.

Agree...

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"Much tighter than was necessary". "Snakes put safety first". yikes!

That seems weird to me. It's a snake. It holds on to and climbs the tree exactly as tight as it should for it's size, weight and strength. Saying they hold on tighter than they have to seems so silly. It's like saying when a bear swats a spawning salmon out of a creek it hits it harder than it has to, or when a wolf howls it's louder than it has to be, or when a whale clears it's blow hole it uses more air than it has to, or....... well you get my point. It's an animal and I think they do exactly what their supposed to do, exactly the way their supposed to do it. I would venture that those biologists have way too much time on their hands, I mean, pressure sensors on a vertical pipe with "tennis grip".....wow.

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