A species of tiny snakes? Cool and creepy at the same time.

Just as much as I would hate to find a giant snake laying around, I would be pretty freaked out by finding a tiny snake too. The Leptotyphlops carlae is the smallest species of snakes known. Also known as the Barbados Threadsnake, it is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and is blind…or rather it doesn’t use its eyes to “see”. So far, it has only been found is the forest of Barbados. It primarily feeds off of termites and ant larvae.

It only grows as long as 4 inches. Mother snakes lay one egg at a time and the hatched snake is practically as long as an adult threadsnake. Why one? Why is the hatchling so big? Well if the baby snake was any smaller it may be too small to find anything smaller than itself to eat. And since the adult mother is so small, her tiny body may not be able to hold more than 1 rather large baby.

Not much is known about the snake, since it has only been discovered in 2008, but it is considered to be an endangered species due to lack of habitat. Many of the forests in Barbados are being “paved to put up parking lots” (metaphorically, they are actually building housing and such, but I love that Joni Mitchell song…”they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”).

I have the heebie jeebies. It’s so small…it’s like a worm…but instead it’s a snake! Interesting from a far, but this would be a scary encounter for me. I wonder if they pick up their heads and hiss like bigger snakes. Below are a few more pics and a video of one in action.

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