Do snakes really hear sounds like humans? Know the truth behind the ‘dancing cobra’ myth

Snakes have long captivated people with their enigmatic presence and occasional lethality. In India and beyond they feature prominently in myths, embodying both dread and veneration. A familiar image is the snake charmer coaxing a cobra to rise and sway to a flute. Sight alone suggests the serpent responds to music, but biology tells a different story. Snakes lack external ears and do not hear airborne melodies like humans. Instead they sense vibrations through the ground and track movement with acute vision. When a charmer plays, the cobra focuses on the moving instrument and the vibrations it creates, adopting a defensive posture rather than enjoying a tune. The spectacle blends cultural myth with instinctive animal behaviour and human imagination combined. The 2023 study “Sound ga