7.5-Feet-Long Snake Shed Its Skin. Forest Service Officer Shares Image

Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan has shared a picture of a snake skin lying on the ground. It is 7.5 feet long and the very sight can be terrifying. But is it that dangerous? Well, if you believe the forest officer, then the reptile also follows social distancing provided it isn't disturbed. Mr Kaswan added that the snake lives in his house. 

“Somebody changed the clothes. This 7.5-feet lives in our house. We don't disturb him. In return he follows the social distance norms,” the officer wrote in the caption.

Seems like the message that the forest service officer tried to send out was we should be alert about snakes but need not fear them unnecessarily. Nature is for coexistence and snakes should be allowed to live in peace and not interfered with. Often it happens that after seeing a snake's abandoned skin, people get scared and try to kill the reptile. The better thing to do at that time is to leave it alone or call the forest department officials, who are better equipped to handle them.

There are two reasons why a snake sheds its skin. One, it is no longer able to fit into it. It is similar to a situation when humans grow longer than their clothes and buy bigger ones. The second is that snakes remove the skin layer to get rid of harmful parasites sitting on them. Before a snake sheds its skin, it begins to turn bluish and its eyes become opaque, hindering vision. Soon, the snake gets restless and rubs its head on something abrasive to tear open the outer layer and get back its vision. It then tries to widen the tear by crawling through tight quarters, leaving the skin inside out.