Science Snippet: Snakes Strike At Super-Speed

The latest study dealing with how fast venomous and non-venomous snakes can strike shows that they do so at super-speed. A mature rattlesnake may strike its prey at speeds up to 9 feet per second. At the average striking distance of up to six inches, the bite of a rattlesnake is over in 70 milliseconds. This means that when a jackrabbit ventures too close to a camouflaged snake, calculations indicate the snake has a tenfold advantage. (Penning et al, 2016, Biology Letters, vol. 12, 20160011; Nature, 2016, vol. 531, Mar. 24)