Snakes have been seen doing somersaults when they’re scared

When threatened, the dwarf reed snake can somersault away from hazard. The pinnacle-over-tail tumble is the primary sort of lively rolling movement documented in any snake or reptile.

Most snakes defend themselves by hissing, hanging or slithering away from predators. However dwarf reed snakes (Pseudorabdion longiceps) – native to forests of Southeast Asia – take a extra inventive method.

“I had noticed a dwarf reed snake carry out this behaviour as soon as previous to this report however didn’t have the tools on the time to report it. It was such a shocking behaviour to look at, and it actually caught with me,” says Evan S. H. Quah at College Malaysia Sabah. “This time, we had our digicam gear in hand.”

In August 2019, Quah and his colleagues discovered an grownup dwarf reed snake crossing a highway in Kedan, Malaysia. Once they approached, the snake started tumbling. First, it contorted into an S-shape, then lifted the entrance half of its physique off the bottom. Pushing off from its tail, the snake grew to become fully airborne. Simply when its head seemed like it will hit the bottom, the snake quickly tucked beneath and coiled right into a circle. Because it made a full rotation, it pushed off the bottom once more.

The snake travelled round a meter and a half downhill in 5 seconds – far sooner than it might have by slithering. Whereas some snakes will let gravity carry them down a slope, known as passive rolling, dwarf reed snakes are actively and repeatedly launching their our bodies into the air in a transfer Quah calls a cartwheel. As a result of this escape methodology requires loads of vitality, Quah suspect snakes are tumbling away solely when very spooked.

“I’ve seen snakes do loads of bizarre issues…however nothing like this,” says Frank Burbrink on the American Museum of Pure Historical past in New York. “It’s a reasonably surprising behaviour that exhibits us that even within the 12 months 2023, there are such a lot of issues left to be found with snakes.”

Quah desires to analyze if different snakes can journey this fashion, too. “There are solely anecdotal studies of some different species from the identical household, Calamariinae, that may cartwheel,” says Quah. Now, he simply must get them on digicam.