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Appearance: Tire-like
Food Source: Normal snake food
Geographical Location: Midwestern United States
Habitat: The hilly, broad countryside
Intelligence: Quite smart
Status: Speculatory
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On the plane back from our last trip, we decided to investigate the infamous Flumpers, commonly called "
hoop snakes". Sightings of these "snakes" have been reported since colonial times but today
they are considered merely urban legends (Figure 4.1).
The story goes that these Flumpers have the ability to roll themselves up like a tire or hoop and roll down hills. I'm not going to lie, this sounds pretty far fetched, but lets stop and think about this for a minute.
There are many types of snakes that are able to hold up their own
weight. One type in particular is the cobra. It's said that, "When confronted, they can raise up to one-third of their bodies straight off the ground and still move forward to attack." (Figure 4.2)
Many non-believers argue that there are no animals which possess
rotating locomotion. David J. Tenembaum, accredited author of
"The Why Files", writes that the
Nannosquilla Decernspinosa, a species of mantis shrimp, has such an ability. He states that
"A shrimplike native to Panama’s Pacific beaches transports itself by rolling. When the animal washes ashore, it arcs its body into a ring and rolls back into the water, pushed by the head and tail at the stately pace of 3.5 centimeters per second. Nannosquilla decernspinosa may have learned to spin in its cramped burrows, but it’s the only known rolly-roller in the animal kingdom." If a shrimp is able to harness a previously unheard of quality in the animal kingdom, this adds probability to the existence of the Flumpers.
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| Eye Witness Accounts |
It could be said that snakes who are able to hold themselves up like a cobra are better suited for their environment. Through the process of evolution, these snakes could have developed the ability to hold themselves up like a hoop. Surely this trait would be advantageous; the ability for a snake to chase it's prey quickly and escape from its predators would give the Flumpers a greater chance of survival, and therefore more offspring to carry on these successful genes.
Though there is not physical evidence from the existence of the Flumpers, given the vast records of first hand accounts (Figure 4.3), we are forced to call their existence speculatory. For all we, and the world knows, the Flumpers could be rolling around out there somewhere.
