SUIT OF ARMOR
Snakes bodies are covered with plates and scales. Without this protective armor snakes
could not move over rough or hot surfaces like tree bark, rocks, and hot desert sand. Their scales are also nearly waterproof and help to keep the water out. Rough belly scales allow the snake to keep their grip on rough branches and to push off of surfaces when they need to move.
Scales are made up of layers of cells stacked one on top of the other. The outer cells are dead and protect the living ones underneath them.
A few times every year a snake will shed a layer of dead skin. The cells underneath are then ready to take over as the outer layer.
When a snake is ready to shed it’s eyes get cloudy and it is temporarily blinded. Why? Because snakes eyes do not have eyelids (that’s why they don’t blink) but instead are covered with a clear scale called a spectacle.
When a snake is ready to shed its old skin it will rub up against a rough surface, like a rock, to rip the skin and then slide right out. Just like taking off a sock! |
