SLITHER

A look at all things serpentine, from the Garden of Eden to robotics research into sidewinder locomotion.

Hall’s interest in snakes began in suburban Michigan, where he caught a ribbon snake and brought it home, the first in a collection. His fascination with snakes echoes a mixture of “awe and fear” that runs through centuries of art, religion, and the broader culture. Snakes in many ways “break the rules of biology” in their adaptations to a wide range of environments, beginning more than 80 million years ago. The book explores scientific studies of a variety of snakes—rattlesnakes, pythons, black mambas—with portraits of the herpetologists and amateur “snake guys” following them. A surprising number of people keep snakes, even poisonous ones, as pets. Among the subjects covered are venom, locomotion, and the snakes’ sensory apparatus—a refined sense of smell and the ability to detect infrared light. A point made several times is that snakes have definite personalities and are far more intelligent than we give them credit for. The author makes frequent use of his own experience, from traveling the Everglades with a python-hunting team to his attempts to pick up a rattlesnake with tongs. Along the way we learn that climate change and degradation of habitat have reduced the population of snakes in most developed countries—although the spread of Burmese pythons in Florida shows how readily snakes can adapt to new conditions. Readers are likely to come away from this book with a healthy respect for our scaly neighbors, as well as for those who study them.

An eye-opening look at the world of snakes by an eloquent admirer of the creatures.