The Tail WIggle

One of my little snows is about as vicious as a sand boa can get, which isnt that vicious, but even still it seems she enjoys biting me. Recently, however, i havnt been getting bitten as much because she's predictable. Normally its almost impossible to tell when a sand boa will bite you because they generally strike side to side, which requires no recoil to bite. You can tell when most snakes will attempt to bite you because they bunch up like an s and spring forward. The little girl is predictable because every time she gets ready to bite me her tail starts to wiggle back and forth like a dog wagging its tail. I thought it was funny at first but it got me thinking about other animals that bait in prey, like angler fish and snapping turtles. I believe that a larger species of sand boa, the indian sand boa, commonly displays this behavior when threatened. Adults of the species usually retain a few of their juvenile rings at the base of their tail to make this effect even more confusing. Who knows, maybe my girl's just playing.