Why Don't We Eat Snakes?

Why don't we eat snakes? Snake is on the menu in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and at a rattlesnake roundup in Texas, but you'll never find it at your grocery store. And a 2024 study found that farmed pythons turn feed into protein more efficiently than chickens or cattle. So why is snake meat still missing from your fridge? In this video we look at python farming in Thailand and Vietnam, the snake detection theory, why babies react to snakes, religious food taboos, tapeworms in wild-caught snakes, and the domestication head start that chickens, cows and pigs got thousands of years ago. Timestamps: 0:00 - Rattlesnakes, snake soup and the missing meat 1:03 - Does snake taste bad? 1:57 - The python farming study 3:42 - Why your brain fears snakes 5:54 - Parasites in wild snakes 6:57 - Rattlesnake roundups and domestication 7:49 - Why snakes lost the race References: Natusch, D. et al. (2024). Python farming as a flexible and efficient form of agricultural food security. Scientific Reports. https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publ... Macquarie University: Snakes, the new high-protein superfood. https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/... Isbell, L. A. (2006). Snakes as agents of evolutionary change in primate brains. Journal of Human Evolution, 51(1). Hoehl, S. et al. (2017). Itsy bitsy spider: Infants react with increased arousal to spiders and snakes. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/... Wang, F. et al. (2014). Spirometra severely infecting wild-caught snakes from food markets in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The Scientific World Journal. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... Sparganosis, Henan Province, Central China. Emerging Infectious Diseases. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... Popular Science: Despite criticism, the last of the rattlesnake roundups hang on. https://www.popsci.com/environment/ra...