WE are taught that they mark their territories, which is right, but only the tip of the iceburg. While as adults, they mark possessions, there are far more important reasons for scent glands.

Simply put, its how snakes communicate with each other. And it starts with neonate survival. Live bearers, the female attends the clutch(broods) for a period of time, then leaves the nesting area. With egg layers, the nest smells of mom. The hatchlings stay in the nest for a period of time. In both cases, its about 10 days, more or less. As the neonates expand their range, its not haphazard, They are "bonded" to both their mothers scent and eachothers. Doing this a a teaching tool. The scent trails teaches the neonates where to go. Like where to go when its hot, cold, wet, dry, etc. Where the safety zones are, and what colony the neonates belong to. I can go on and on, but you can get the picture. Simply put, if you can track a running mouse by smell, you can smell a million times more. In nature, the landscape is visual to us, but not to them. Its a landscape of smells, these smells tell a history, It tells them where prey is, and when. Where predators are, and when, and where other members of their colony(family and littermates) and when. It tells them where to go and when. All of which are critically important to their survival.

whats funny is, its so common sense, with the abilities of their predators, ones that see many times better then us, can detect smell, again many times better then us. Hear many times better then us, do not require flashlites, and live there and hunt at the best times(their lives depend on it) If neonate snakes hatched and had to discover everything, they would not have a chance in heck. To wander aimlessly in a world full of predators, good luck with that. They have to have a way to survive. The simple fact that they do not pump out thousands of offspring per female tells you, they have survival skills. Any thoughts?

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