IT is believed that snakes and Man evolved about the same time and this could have accounted for the mutual competition and distrust with which they regard each other.  However, in many ancient cultures and civilisations, snakes were regarded with awe and endowed with mystic qualities.  Among the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, snakes were regarded with respect and replicas of snakes were worn in the headdresses of the Pharaohs and among the Greeks they were associated with the deities and in day-to-day life were used with symbolic meanings.  For instance, a snake intertwining a rod, associated with the deity  Mercury, was used by doctors and other healers as their symbol and today, the same symbol has continued in use by the medical profession.

In Indian civilisation, from very ancient times, snakes were endowed with mystic qualities and paintings and statues of them are still used in Hindu temples, an example of which could be seen at the temple at Camp and Quamina Streets, Georgetown.  In the Aztec and other pre-Columbian cultures, snakes played a prominent role.

In the West, however, with the dominance of the Abrahamic religions, the story of Adam and Eve and their temptation by the evil snake was fully accepted and believed and snakes became the ancestral enemy of Man to be killed whenever encountered.  But even in this story, there is a hidden mystic element that credits the snake with bringing knowledge into the world and being responsible for humanity with all its imperfections, but nevertheless, being responsible for us all!

In today’s world, dominated by the culture of science, the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and the evil snake has been rejected or at best, placed in the realm of myth.  The widespread acceptance of the Theory of Evolution and the comparatively new science of Ecology now perceive snakes as sharing a common life with Man and all other living beings, including trees.  All living creatures form an interdependent chain of Being, ultimately helping to make Human life richer.

Snakes play an important part in the world’s ecosystems and they are both a prey and a predator.  As a prey, smaller snakes are eaten by hawks, eagles, weasels, foxes and other animals and as a  predator, they eat insects of every sort and rodents which make human life unpleasant;  ground rats, for example, damage growing crops such as sugar cane and even invade homes.  When snakes eat rodents who have eaten various fruits, they disperse the seeds, giving new places for plants to grow.  Snakes, therefore, help to control pest populations and are of value to humans.

With their colourful skins and their regular and unique designs, they bring variety and beauty to nature.  Their skins are so attractive that they are used to produce expensive handmade clothing such as shoes and ladies handbags for the wealthy.  The venom of certain snakes are being  used to produce  medications, and  fruitful  research is developing in this field.

There are less than 4,000 species of snakes in the world and they are found in every climate and terrain except the Arctic regions. Of these, only 600 are regarded as venomous and of these, only 200 are dangerously so. This fact may be surprising since most people tend to believe that all snakes are venomous and this accounts in part for the fear with which snakes are generally regarded.

Snakes, though not an endangered species, are declining in numbers owing to deforestation and climate change.

The almost atavistic fear and hatred that humans felt for snakes are disappearing and with the spread of knowledge of snakes and the ecological realisation that the survival of the snake has an ultimate linkage with human well-being, a revolution is occurring in the attitude of Man to snakes.  The celebration of World Snake Day on 16th July each year is a manifestation of this changing attitude.