Jeff Gaddy, age 13, of Florence, S.C., for his question:

ARE THERE REALLY FLYING SNAKES?

Certainly there are creatures called flying snakes, also flying squirrels and even flying fish. However, the bird world would pooh pooh this whole idea, claiming that in order to qualify as a genuine flier, a creature must be endowed with flappable wings. The snakes, of course, have no wings or limbs of any sort. Nevertheless, several species do manage to hurl themselves through the air.

Years ago, the people of Malaya and Indonesia told visiting experts about their fantastic flying snakes. They explained that these long, slender creatures slither to the treetops, turn themselves into birds and fly. They land on other trees, where they wait for genuine birds to make an appearance. Then the tricky acrobats become snakes again and  guess what's for dinner?

Naturally, no serious minded scientists swallowed this impossible snaky story. And it was some time before they even believed that a snake could hurl himself through the air. Nowadays, this remarkable acrobatic feat has been captured by slow motion cameras. We have positive proof that certain tree snakes can and do fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

All of them are long, skinny tree snakes and expert climbers of the jungle treetops. They may be leafy green or black, spotted with vivid green or rows of scarlet beads. These quick, agile creatures scout the boughs for lizards, frogs and other live snacks. When one of them comes to the end of a branch, he coils loosely around a twig  and uncoils like a spring to fling himself across two or three feet of empty space.

Other flying snakes, having special expandable ribs, do even better. When in flight from tree to tree, they pull in their tummies and curve their ribs to form a concave hollow along their undersides. This enables them to glide on cushions of air from tree to tree. These aerial acrobats may be able to guide their flights to some extent. Their slender bodies are so light that even when they make bumpy landings there is no serious injury.    

Not too much is known about their family lives, though most of the flying snakes seem to be egg layers. Some and perhaps all of them have binocular and stereoscopic vision which makes it easier to spot possible dinners lurking in the leafy neighborhood.