Where did the "snakes can hypnotize stuff" thing in the Jungle Book come from? The movie made me believe that was real as a kid but now I know that no snakes do that.
when a snake is frightened and can’t escape, they rear up on the back half of their body and display their fangs as a “you back off RIGHT NOW or I will BITE YOUR EYES! BITE EM RIGHT OUT, SWEAR ON GOD”
even nonvenomous snakes will do this when cornered!
and when the snake rears up, it often tracks directly on your face and sways back and forth slightly.
this is actually to help them with depth perception and to keep the best view possible of you in case you make any sudden moves (to snakes, humans are just SO SCARY)
but some people long ago thought that this sway-and-stare looked an awful lot like the snake was trying to hypnotize them, and the old wive’s tale has stuck around ever since in multiple cultures!
