I was told that when a woman is pregnant more black snakes come around because they can " smell the scent let off by the breast milk" even if that is not the method that the mother is using to feed the child...can anyone shed light on this matter is this true or false??
sounds false. I don't remember seeing any snakes when pregnant. And I do see snakes from time to time.
FALSE! when i saw this request i had to go on here and see what people had said. I was told about the snakes and lizards. I do not beleive in these things. I have had 2 children and never saw any snakes while i was pregant.The only way to stop wives tales is to stop repeating them. I was brought up with alot of wives tales in my childhood and i refused to pass those along to my children.
I will tell you the true story behind the breaking the mirror and you get 7 yrs bad luck. Here we go wwwwwaaayyyy!! back when mirrors were first invented. They were very expensive and took a long time to get(they didnt have FEDEX LOL) Well the rich were the only ones that could afford them, so some rich person that had them told there servants that when they clean to be careful not to break the mirrors b/c if they did they would get 7 yrs bad luck, it was a story to keep the servant from breaking the mirror and to be careful.So if you beleive the 7yr bad luck thing.Your believeing in a story. I have more true stories but im not going to put on here too long.
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get...
posted 13 March, 2003 08:28 AM
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quote:
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Originally posted by snopes:
Comment: Have you heard of a snake in mexico that comes into the houses of women who just gave birth and are nursing their babies only to wake up and find that a snake has been suckling off the mom and the baby is sucking on the tail of the snake?
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Sounds like a variant of the myth about Milk Snakes--that they sneak into barns and suck milk from cows.
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Milk snakes are so named because it was once believed that these snakes would enter barns and steal milk from cows. This is false; snakes only drink water. They would become sick if they were to drink cows milk. Snakes also have sharp teeth; no cow would stand still for that! The milk snakes were in the barns actually helping the farmers by looking for rodents to eat.
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There is a Mexican Milk Snake
Ahh! here's your legend, from a usenet posting:
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[question]I'm currently researching a very strange myth: namely, the superstition that certain snakes steal milk from breast-feeding mothers as their infants waste away.
In Brazil, an actual snake called a "jararaca" is saddled with this bad reputation. However, I've run across a nearly identical myth in Northern Mexico about a snake called an "alicante
[part of the answer]I don't know anything about the application[s] of the common name "alicante", but somewhere I read a brief note that this version of the milk snake myth is applied to the common large neotropical snake _Spilotes pullatus_. [needless to say it doesn't actually leap or whistle or drink milk]. The same source [Mehrten's _Living snakes of the world_, perhaps] said that it was supposed to use its tail as a pacifier to keep the kid quiet while it nursed from the sleeping mother...
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This is a thread in sci.bio.herp.
Kathy "lactation innovation" B.
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more on the urban legend here:
I have never heard such a thing in my life! That sounds like someone's feeding you some kind of old wives' tale - don't let such a thing bother you. You don't need that kind of worry during your pregnancy - that just seems cruel. Did you happen to notice an increased snake population during your pregnancy with your other children? I'd love to read what others have to say about this -
If you believe this, I have a bridge for sale, cheap! While on a cool day a snake may have interest in your breasts as a source of warmth, at no time do they have any interest in your breastmilk.
No joke!!!! We had one in our pool cage the day before I went into labor!!! Haha!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!! That's a new one for me! Who told you that? You said they smell breast milk even if that is not the method the mother is using to feed the child, but you don't breast feed until AFTER the baby comes. This whole myth makes no sense to me. Why would a reptile care about human breast milk anyway? If someone can explain a scientific method to this madness, I'll stand corrected.
sounds like an old wives tail. Your breastmilk doesn't even come in until 3-4 days after the baby is born. Unless the snake is into minute amounts of colostrum? ;)
first off id like to say in florida we have an abundence of black snakes, and depending on the season, mating or hurricane or extreme heat will have the biggest bearing on any kind of snake coming out. even if the saying is true please remember that they help keep the rodent and other poisionous snakes population down. my grandmother used to tell me the same thing. then my grandfather would laugh and remind her of the seasons. so i really dont know. any way GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS J.
Superstitions are just that. Fairy tales based on ignorance. False. When I was pregnant, I didn't see any come around me, lol...if they came, I didn't notice it, I was too busy being pregnant!
Not sure if this is true or false. But I do know for a fact that if you have Black Snakes around that you won't have poisoness snakes around. Snakes are territorial and where there are Black Snakes there will not be poisoness snakes.
I have never heard of this "wives tale".
How did you hear about it?
I've never heard this and certainly hope its not true
A.,
In many Latin cultures the black snack is symbolic of getting close to delivery. The more the snakes or even seeing just one could mean that delivery is close. They say this is an old wives tale, but I have several Latin (Hispanic and Italian) friends that can attest to the black snake coming around the house a week or so before they deliver.
I’ve never heard of the breast milk thing though.
False, this is an old wives tale...That would be like saying more cats come around because they can smell the milk. People like to tell stories from the past because that is what they were told when they were younger. So relax. If you have black snakes around it is more than likely you have mice or insects in your yard. Black snakes are freindly and are good to have around. If you have them around your home feel blessed. They will not harm you and are no threat to you. But it is not because someone is pregnant or nursing.
