--- title: Snakes Hunt in Packs, Study Says description: According to a new study, some snakes coordinate their hunting missions to increase their success-rate. canonical: https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-26T12:54:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:59:56.422Z article:section: Science og:title: Be Afraid Because Science Says Some Snakes Hunt in Packs og:description: Snakes are not the solitary hunters and eaters we perceive them to be og:url: https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447706496791b79e/6988cf150a4a2252859ce59c/be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5646 og:image:height: 3176 og:image:alt: be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Be Afraid Because Science Says Some Snakes Hunt in Packs twitter:description: Snakes are not the solitary hunters and eaters we perceive them to be twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447706496791b79e/6988cf150a4a2252859ce59c/be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Be Afraid Because Science Says Some Snakes Hunt in Packs > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fe3f47a5-fe63-4ac0-a527-30da21283055&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson May 26, 2017 12:54 PM UTC  South American Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor constrictor), mass of babies, native to South America South American Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor constrictor), mass of babies, native to South America Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson May 26, 2017 12:54 PM UTC It’s the worst nightmare of anyone who suffers from [ophidiophobia](http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/11/24/so-it-turns-out-snakes-can-fly-cue-obligatory-snakes-on-a-plane-punch-line/). According to a new study, snakes are not the solitary hunters and eaters we perceive them to be. In fact, some of the slithery reptiles coordinate their missions to increase their success rate. For the study, Vladimir Dinets, a research assistant professor of psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, observed the Cuban boa — the island nation’s largest native terrestrial predator — hunting for food in bat caves. Dinets discovered that if more than one boa was present, the snakes would team up and coordinate their positions by forming a wall across the entrance to the cave — with a 100% success rate. “Such group hunts were always successful, and the more snakes were present, the less time it took each to capture a bat. But if there was only one boa, it sometimes failed to secure a meal,” a [press release](http://tntoday.utk.edu/2017/05/23/study-shows-snakes-thought-solitary-eaters-coordinate-hunts/) about the study explained. According to Dinets, only a small number of the world’s 3,650 snake species are known to hunt in groups and coordination between them has never been proven. “It is possible that coordinated hunting is not uncommon among snakes, but it will take a lot of very patient field research to find out,” he said. The study, ‘Coordinated Hunting by Cuban Boas’, was published in the journal [_Animal Behavior and Cognition_](http://animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/14/02%20Feb2017%20Dinets%5FHH%287%29%5Ffinal.pdf). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/"},"headline":"Be Afraid Because Science Says Some Snakes Hunt in Packs","datePublished":"2017-05-26T12:54:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:59:56.422Z","description":"Snakes are not the solitary hunters and eaters we perceive them to be","url":"https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/","keywords":["animals","nature","Snakes","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447706496791b79e/6988cf150a4a2252859ce59c/be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447706496791b79e/6988cf150a4a2252859ce59c/be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs","caption":"be-afraid-because-science-says-some-snakes-hunt-packs","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4795564/snakes-hunt-in-packs-study/","name":"Be Afraid Because Science Says Some Snakes Hunt in Packs"}}]}] ```