. . . those who have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Hebrews 5:14
SERPENTS ARE WISE BECAUSE THEY OPERATE BY THEIR SENSES
Snakes are marvellous creatures that live and move on the ground without the privilege of standing up to see what is happening around them. Yet, without the privilege of seeing what we see and hearing what we hear, and communicating like we do, they are able to live, eat, drink and avoid danger. They flourish where no other animal flourishes and they succeed where no other animal succeeds.
Like any professional assassin, a viper comes equipped with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and extremely sensitive detection equipment.
The eyes of snakes are particularly good at detecting movement. It has special sound detectors. Rather than hearing sounds as we do, snakes pick up vibrations from the skin around their jaws.
Pit Vipers are named after their specialized thermo receptors; heat-sensitive organs, located on either side of the head that look like small pits. These pits contain membranes sensitive to infrared radiation and allow the snakes to locate their prey based on temperature differences with their environment.
A snake’s tongue is also used to sense its surroundings. Snakes smell by using their forked tongues to collect airborne particles. The fork in the tongue gives the snake a sort of, ‘directional sense of smell.’
Snakes have no ears or movable eyelids. They do not hear airborne sound waves, but can perceive low-frequency vibrations transmitted from the ground to the bones of their skulls.
When a viper rests its jaw on the ground, any vibrations on the ground are amplified enormously. A snake can detect even the impact of a mouse’s feet on sand. When a mouse moves within 15cm of the snake’s head, a snake is bound to know that prey is within striking range.
All these facts reveal a creature that is very sensitive, perceiving all sorts of sensations and taking decisions based on them. Few creatures are so sensitive and accurate with what they perceive. We can learn a lot from this wisdom and begin to use our senses like God expects us to. Perhaps, we would live longer and achieve more if w
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