Most of the Oxnard snake species on this earth have poor vision, but they are blessed with other powerful senses to predict the danger around. One of the most important sense of snakes is their smell. Studies reveal that snakes depend on their sense of smell to perform various routine activities such as navigation etc. But the interesting thing to know is that they don’t use nose for this purpose. Although snakes have a nose, it is not used for smelling rather they make use of their tongue to know about things around. For some of you, this concept may sound little strange, but it is completely true that snakes make use of tongue to smell surrounding environment and send a message to their brain as per this sense to do next action.



By using their bifurcated tongue, California snakes can pick various types of smells from surrounding area. To do this, they simply extend it out from their mouth, and the tongue picks up various types of odors present around. Nature has given a special power to snake’s tongue by which it can capture all potential odors from the environment, and when it goes inside, now the details are inserted into Jacobson’s organ in the form of few chemicals. In this way, a message is transferred to the brain so that it can understand the situation and carry out various tasks accordingly.

Once brain receives a signal via the tongue, it takes a further decision about whether there is some danger around, it is time for mating, or you can have meals. Experts reveal that snake’s tongue also has a fork that assists in the fast picking of smells. In case if snakes also had single tongue same as other animals and humans, it would be difficult for this creature to smell the odors around.

The surprising fact to know about Oxnard snakes is that they also use this scent to navigate in the environment. When they pick up odor using their tongue, it also helps them to know about the source of this odor. Hence, they can easily come to know the direction of prey and can plan for the attack. Depending upon the signals received from the brain after sensing the smell, they can become defensive, offensive or get a feeling of safety in particular direction.

Studies also reveal that California snakes do not have external ears like most other animals; still, they are able to hear. They make judgments about surrounding sound with the help of vibrations. By judging these movements, they can easily decide whether to attack or retreat. Note that, few snake species have great vision, but their ability to smell things around is still their biggest power. He relies on the touch and smell for most routine activities. They can quickly determine whether it is prey or foe around and can take an immediate decision on their next move accordingly. So, next time when you see a snake waving its tongue in the air, it means it is sensing your presence.

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