Make the Year of the Snake a Year for Snakes

Snakes are often surrounded by an air of “mystery,” but these remarkable animals are not so mysterious. We know that snakes are shy and generally passive. They smell with their tongue and can even tell which direction a scent is coming from. They are intelligent and sensitive. They have been on Earth for —evolving from prehistoric lizards. And we know that snakes feel pain in the same way as humans do. The Year of the Snake commences January 29. Let’s also make 2025 a year for the snake—and a year for kindness.

More Surprising Snake Facts

• Snakes and other reptiles have pain receptors and respond to painful stimuli just as humans do.
• Snakes are mostly solitary, except during mating season. Anacondas, for example, mate in a “breeding ball,” which consists of one female and approximately 12 males. They stay this way for up to a month.
• Snakes live everywhere on Earth except for Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the North and South Poles.
• The smallest snake in the world, the Barbados thread snake, is just 4 inches long.
• Snakes are acutely sensitive. Their bellies can detect even the faintest vibrations in the air and on the ground, allowing them to send the approach of other animals.
• There are around 3,000 different species of snakes. Roughly 600 of them are venomous, but only about 200 are capable of causing significant injury to or killing humans.
• Snakes usually only strike in order to eat or defend themselves. Snake venom immobilizes prey and aids in digestion by breaking down flesh. It is not meant to kill humans. Venomous snakes probably don’t even realize that they have

Buying Snakes and Keeping them as “Pets” is a Bad Idea

Snakes are exploited by the exotic pet trade. They suffer miserably in captivity and require specialized care that few people are equipped to provide. Every day, snakes sold as “pets” end up perishing from untreated illnesses, infections, or injuries. They’re often confined to severely crowded and filthy enclosures and denied the most basic necessities.

Ditch Exotic Skins

PETA Asia has exposed farms that supply snakeskin to companies like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The scenes were nightmarish: confinement, filth, cruelty, and prolonged, gruesome deaths. Workers in the exotic skins industry frequently take snakes from their natural habitat, lock them in cages so small they can’t stretch out, and then skin them—often while they’re still alive.

Take Action For Snakes!

January 29 begins the Year of the Snake. Let’s also make 2025 a year for the snake. Choose kindness over cruelty.