Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous repitiles. Snakes can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears.

1. A SNAKE CHARMER’S STORY
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
CBSE-V

2. I am Aryanath
I can do something special which
I am sure none of you can do!
Do you know what? I can play
the been! You must be surprised.

3. Yes, I can make snakes dance by playing the been. I have learnt this
art from my family members. We people are known as Kalbeliyas.

4. My grandfather Roshannathji was famous amongst our people. He
could easily catch many poisonous snakes. He tells me many stories
about his past. Come, listen to his story in his own words.

5. Dadaji remembers from the time of my grandfather and great
grandfather, we have always been saperas (snake-charmers).

6. Snake charming is the practice of a snake by playing an instrument
called pungi or bansuri.

7. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or
performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street
performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand.

8. The charm has nothing to do with the music and everything to do
with the charmer waving a pungi, a reed instrument carved out of a
gourd, in the snake's face.

9. Snakes don't have external ears and can perceive little more than
low-frequency rumbles. But when they see something threatening,
they rise up in a defensive pose.

10. "The movement of the snake is completely keyed in on the guy
playing the toddle thing," says Robert Drewes, chairman of the
department of herpetology (the study of amphibians and reptiles) at
the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "He sways, the
snake sways."

11. Snakes are elongated, legless, carnivorous repitiles. Snakes can be
distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and
external ears.

12. There are more than 3,000 species of snakes in the world and there is
at least one type of snake on every continent except Antarctica. They
are many different species, there are snakes of many different sizes.

13. The world’s smallest snake, according to National Geographic, is
the thread snake, which grows to only about 3.9 inches (10
centimeters) long. It looks much like an earthworm.

14. The largest snake, the reticulated python, can grow to a whopping 30
feet (9 meters). The largest snake fossil ever discovered is called the
Titanoboa. This creature lived 60 million years ago and would have
been 50 feet (15 meters) long.

15. Snake eggs & baby snakes- It is a common misconception that
snakes build nests for their eggs. Only one species of snake, that is
king cobra, will build a nest for its young ones. Not all snakes lay
eggs, but 70% of snakes lay eggs. These types of snakes are called
oviparous.

16. The other 30 percent of snakes directly give birth to live young,
much like mammals. This is because some climates are too cold for
eggs to develop and hatch, so snakes living in colder climates do not
lay eggs.

17. Snakes are carnivores. This means that they only eat meat. Snakes
are often seen as pests, but they actually can help keep pests at bay
by eating rodents.

18. Many people think that all snakes kill their prey by biting it and
injecting the prey with poison. This isn't true. Cobras, vipers and
other related species are the only snakes that use venom to hunt.

19. Most snakes simply swallow their prey whole. Large snakes, such as
the python, will strangle their prey to death and then swallow it
whole. Snakes can eat other animals up to 75 to 100% bigger than
their own size, according tonationa geographic. They have been
known to eat animals such as crocodiles and cows. To fit the large
prey into their mouth, the snake's jaw will unhinge.

20. Once the animal is inside, the snake's body releases enzymes to
break the food down into useable energy. Snakes do not need to eat
as often as other animals because they have a very slow metabolism
rate. King cobras, for example, can live for months without food.
Sometimes, though, eating a live animal can result in disaster.
Snakes have been known to explode after eating a living animal,
though it is not known why.

21. Snakes live in almost every corner of the world. They are found in
forests, deserts, swamps and grasslands. Many call underground
burrows or the spaces under rocks home. Some snakes, like the
cottonmouth water moccasin of North America live in water part of
the time.

22. Though they are found all over the world, however, like the cold.
They are cold blooded or ectodermic. This means that they don't
have the means to regulate their body temperature like warm
blooded creatures. Since their bodies do not use energy to create heat
to warm them. When it is cold, many snakes hibernate in tunnels
underground.

23. Snakes have been an important part of our life. We used to move
from village to village carrying our snakes in bamboo baskets.
Whenever we stopped in a village, a crowd would gather around us.
We would then take out our snakes from our baskets.

24. Even after the show, people would stay on. They knew that in our
inbox there were many types of medicines for them. We made these
medicines from plants collected from the forests.

25. I had learnt all this from my grandfather. I felt nice that I could help
people with my medicines even if doctors and hospitals were far off.
In return, people would give us some money or food grains. In this
way we could manage our life.

26. Sometimes, I was called to places where someone had been bitten by
a snake. From the marks of the bite I tried to find out which snake
had bitten the person.

27. .I would then give a medicine for that. But I have not always been on
time to help. As you know, some snake bites can even cause death on
the spot.

28. But most of the snakes are not poisonous. Sometimes, when some
farmers would come running for help shouting “snake, snake”, I
would catch that snake.

29. When I grew older, my father taught me how to remove their
poisonous teeth (fangs). He also taught me how to close the tube of
poison in the snake’s mouth.

30. Aryanath! your father used to travel with me ever since he was a
young child. He learnt to play the been without being taught. These
days it is difficult. Now the government has made a law that no one
can catch wild animals and keep them.

31. Some people kill the animals and sell their skins at high prices. So
they made a law against this. Now, with this law, how will we earn
our livelihood? We people have never killed snakes, and sold their
skin.

32. In our Kalbelia dance we also have movements similar to the dance
of the snake. Aryanath, you will have to make a different life for
yourself. You have got your father’s gift of playing the been. You and
your cousins can form a been party and entertain people.

33. But do not waste this knowledge about snakes you have got from
your elders. Share your knowledge about snakes with children who
live in towns and cities. Tell them, that they should not be scared of
snakes. Help them to recognize poisonous snakes.

34. Tell them how snakes are friends of the farmers. They eat the rats in
the fields, otherwise rats would eat the crops. Now you tell our story.
Also make a new story of your life, to tell your grandchildren.

35. Musical instruments used in been party Been, tumba, khanjiri and
dhol. Except dhol all the other three instruments are made from
dried gourd (lauki).

36. Do you know?
Of the many kinds of snakes found in our country, only four types of
snakes are poisonous. They are: Cobra, Common Krait, Russel’s
Viper (Duboiya), Saw-scaled Viper (Afai).

37. A snake has two hollow teeth (fangs). When it bites, the poison enters
the person's body through the fangs. There is a medicine for snake
bites. The medicine is made from the snake's poison and Cobra is
available in all government hospitals.