Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2018 i Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children

The holes around my mouth are my heat pits. Not all snakes have them, and some types have just two—one in front of each eye. The pits sense tiny differences in temperature to give me a kind of heat vision. I can see warm bodies, even in the dark. I can’t blink. I don’t have eyelids! Each eye is protected by a thin piece of see-through skin called a spectacle. My spectacles look cloudy blue when I’m getting ready to shed my skin. You taste with your tongue. I smell with mine. I flick it out to pick up scents, then rub it across smell detectors in my mouth. Why does my tongue have two tips? To help me tell which direction a smell comes from. You’re constantly shedding tiny…

Think of all the ways animals move from place to place. Fish use their fins to swim. Birds use their wings to fly. You use your feet to walk and run. When you walk, your feet push against the ground. A fish’s fins push against the water. A bird’s wings push against the air. Pushing against something helps animals move forward. A snake doesn’t have fins or wings or feet. How does it move around? How does it push its body forward? One way is by wriggling. A Mexican king snake slithers along the ground by curving its long, flexible body back and forth, pushing against grass and rocks. A carpet python is too large and heavy to move by wriggling. But most snakes have scales called scutes on their…

When Jaime brought home Sid the Snake, his mother was not exactly thrilled. “Yikes!” she said, walking into the kitchen. “What’s that?” “Not what,” Jaime said, “who. This is Sid. He’s our classroom pet. You said I could take care of him over break.” Mom raised her eyebrows. “I don’t remember that. And however did you get him home? This cage is big!” Jaime’s big sister Lupe overheard as she came in the back door. “Ms. Ross gave us a ride,” she said. “I just walked her back to her car. Isn’t Sid cool, Mom?” Mom snorted. “I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use.” She stepped closer to the cage and peered in. “Jaime! There is no snake in this cage! You haven’t let him out, have you?” Jaime…

Many snakes have skin with colors and patterns that help them blend in with their surroundings. Why? Hiding helps some snakes hunt. Without legs, snakes can’t run fast. Instead of chasing their food, they lie still and wait for food to come to them. Hiding can also keep a snake safe from all the bigger animals that want to eat it. When that doesn’t work, snakes have plenty of other tricks they can use. Cobras try to scare away enemies by spreading the ribs and muscles around their necks to make what’s called a hood. That makes them look bigger and tougher. Marks on the back of the Indian cobra’s hood look like big eyes. They can startle and frighten an animal attacking the snake from behind. Brightly colored snakes…