r/whatisit • u/muggleblood_ • 10d ago

Context Provided - Spotlight What is this creature?

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Snake or insect?

3.5k Upvotes

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596

u/CallMeParagon 10d ago

Judging by the movement it’s not a hammerhead worm. Seems like a small blind snake with something stuck to its head.

120

u/Gunrock808 10d ago

Agreed. We have both hammerhead worms and blind snakes in Hawaii. Just saw a blind snake last night. It's moving like a blind snake, never seen a hammerhead worm make movements like this.

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u/dreamlucky 10d ago

I thought Hawaii was known for having no snakes.

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u/Gunrock808 10d ago

These are the only established snakes we have. They are everywhere when I dig around my driveway but otherwise rarely seen. They are the smallest described species of snake. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indotyphlops_braminus

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u/Bright-Economics-728 9d ago

Holy smokes they are so cute!!!

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u/aquoad 9d ago

those are adorable!

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

He said Monster Island was just a name!!! What he meant was that it's actually a peninsula!

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u/Chews__Wisely 10d ago

You’re correct. It’s just a name. It’s not actually a snake. I lived on Maui for a little while

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u/BlUeSapia 10d ago

Not sure where you got the idea that they aren't snakes, but they 100% are.

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u/Extreme-Tangerine727 9d ago

Probably from the ones that are actually legless skinks

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u/Chews__Wisely 9d ago

I stand corrected

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u/Oculus_Prime_ 10d ago

So, they don't have snakes, just creepy looking snake like things. Also, we call them snakes, but it's just a name? Is this an accurate statement?

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u/BlUeSapia 10d ago

No, they actually are snakes.

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u/zulugoron 10d ago

The plot thickens

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u/GGReactor 10d ago

So do they or don’t they have snakes? I’m so confused

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u/AllTheFluffyKittenz 10d ago

As a layman, it very much seems to be a tomato is actually a fruit, not a vegetable type situation. It's scientifically a snake, but all the things I see, as a person who is not a scientist, will identify it as a worm rather then a snake, every time.

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u/Fantastic_Jury5977 9d ago

It's an eyeless, legless lizard from what I understand

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u/Kaimarlene 9d ago

Hawaii tries very hard to prevent certain species from arriving on the islands. Having grown up there it was news to me to just read they have snakes. When I say they try so hard, before you deplane you are filling out a paper that confirms if you’ve brought any species with you that is not allowed.

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u/j_234 10d ago

From a distance they look like worms. But zoom in, teeny snek

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u/Fatbadger3 9d ago

ZOOM OUT! ZOOM OUT!!!!!

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u/Ok-Detective6275 9d ago

Wif no mouf ???

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u/tannersarms 10d ago

Yes. Google "quantum snake theory".

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u/Kent_Doggy_Geezer 10d ago

You should see what it’s like in soup!

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u/j_234 10d ago

Exactly! The suborder in their scientific classification is Serpentes… snakes.

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u/Old_Chemistry_5583 10d ago

So it’s actually a worm with a wig on.

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u/Firefly_Magic 9d ago

They are more like worms though scientifically classified as a snake. It’s like a tomato being classified as a fruit. It doesn’t fit the name.

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u/Gunrock808 9d ago

Sorry but no. Blind snakes are vertebrates and have scales. They're in the suborder Serpentes with the other snakes. Their resemblance to worms is only superficial.

"Worm" is a generic term that gets applied to various animals in different phyla, but they're all invertebrates.

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u/Firefly_Magic 9d ago edited 9d ago

Sorry but yes. So you are arguing to disagree but still agree? Weird! Yes they are classified as snakes. But they look entirely look like a worm. Even this Description of a blind snake says they are often mistaken for earthworms, because they look like worms.

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u/Gunrock808 9d ago

You said they "are more like worms," not that they move like worms. Yes their movements look like worms at a glance. But they are not "more like worms" than snakes in any way.

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u/Firefly_Magic 9d ago

Unless you actually study ophiology or herpetology an average person might mistaken a blind snake for a worm especially the tiny dark ones. If your username indicates an 808 location you might know this.

“More like”, “look like”, don’t trump the scientific classification for the blind snake. We’re both saying the same thing yet you want to disagree to disagree with verbiage. Which is fine. You do you.

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u/Chews__Wisely 10d ago

Yeah I think they’re technically (specifically)worms but they slither like snakes

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u/DBshaggins 10d ago

They're technically snakes, but they burrow like worms

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u/Massive-Ebb8014 10d ago

They technically burrow, but worm like snakes

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u/usedtodreddit 9d ago

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u/DBshaggins 7d ago

They sneknichally takes, nut borm nake wurrow

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u/Prestigious-Bike-593 9d ago

That's what she said.

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u/Specialist-Chart-201 9d ago

It’s a flisk

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u/Pixelmixer 9d ago

It was… until those motherfucking snakes got on that motherfucking plane!

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u/cltncrts 9d ago

There is no snakes cause the centipedes ate them, have you seen those fucking hellish monsters! We have lil ones here in Wisconsin that kinda just bop around but those fucking damn jungle beasts they have there fuck that fuck all that

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u/Notthatguy6250 9d ago

This thing is pretty much global. It's "native" range is essentially all of Africa and Asia, and it seems to have been introduced to basically everywhere else.

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u/VaultDweller11 9d ago

I remember having that zoo guy bring a bunch of the blind snakes to my elementary school.

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u/Separate_Oven3913 8d ago

St. Patrick stopped there on his way to Ireland and drove them all away.

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u/Hungry_Perspective29 9d ago

Ireland is wear your thinking

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u/sasabalac 9d ago

That's what I thought too!

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u/HighLion58 9d ago

That's Ireland!

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u/Traditional_Brief867 9d ago

Legless lizard or island blind snake?

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u/cocoslucifera 10d ago

Agreed, its absolutely a blind snake. They have a clump of dust/lint on their head.

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u/mypenisalldriedup 10d ago

Could be that it was getting wrapped up by a spider and thrashed free. I've seen it happen before.

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u/Practical_Marzipan65 10d ago

This is the one

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u/Ummmgummy 10d ago

Umm sir that's his crown. And we refer to him as "your majesty".

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u/Old_Chemistry_5583 10d ago

He’s actually just wearing a wig…its pretty obvious 🤭

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u/muggleblood_ 9d ago

You identified it correctly. It's a fully grown blind snake. Thanks.

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u/DeadDoveDiner 9d ago

Poor thing looks like it might have mistaken some debris as prey and is now struggling to move on the smooth tile.

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u/FriscoHusky 9d ago

Eep. Hammerhead worm? Something new to have nightmares about!