According to a recent study, tree hugging snakes hold on very tight when they’re climbing trees.
According to a recent study, tree hugging snakes hold on tight when they’re climbing trees.
Scientists have conducted the first study to measure the amount of force that a snake puts into climbing a tree.
They found that some snakes use up to five times the necessary force when they’re holding onto a tree.
For the study, researchers used five different species including three boa constrictors, and a green tree python.
To measure the excessive force used by the snakes, researchers gave them a pipe to climb with sensors that recorded how much pressure was applied.
The authors of the study wrote: “Nearly all of the gripping forces that we observed for each snake exceeded our estimate of the minimum required, and snakes commonly produced more than three times the normal force required to support their body weight.”
Some of the snakes could support their entire body weight with the force they put into one coil.
Humans also tend to use excessive force when picking up objects, and experts say that it is a subconscious effort that makes it easier and safer to maintain a hold on something in case of a sudden change or movement.