Snakes do not have limbs. They are just elongated structures. How do they move? Do you know that some snakes can move faster than a human? Did you know that snakes are found everywhere in the world except Anartica? They are found in forests, gardens, rocky areas, deserts, water, islands and everywhere you an imagine! Snakes use their bodies in a special way to get to where they need to. Their senses are specially equipped for the quick actions they need to take to survive.

There are three ways in which snakes use their bodies for locomotion -

Lateral Undulation-
Snakes use this method for motion in water and some snakes use method for movement on land too. In this method, the body of the snake flexes to the left and to the right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving ‘waves’.

Sidewinding-
This method is used mainly by colubroid snakes like the viper. This method of movement is used by snakes when there is no terrestrial imperfection for the snake to push against like a desert region. Sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which the snake moves the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar ‘rolling’ motion.

Rectilinear Locomotion-
This is the slowest method by which snakes move. In this method, snakes lift the scales and move them forward by pulling the body along with the scales. This method is used by pythons, boas and vipers.

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