The Chinese Lunar New Year begins today, ushering in the Year of the Snake. It is believed people take on the traits of the zodiac animal from their birth year. So those born in 2025 will take on the snake’s attributes, including wisdom, calmness and intelligence.

Unfortunately, not all people exhibit those things when they encounter a snake because they unwittingly fear being bitten. The truth is most bites in the wild result from bad decisions by humans—mostly males aggravating snakes by trying to catch or kill them, often while intoxicated!

In one review of 86 rattlesnake bite victims in Arizona, males accounted for 87% of bite victims. Many of the people who get bitten while intentionally interacting with a venomous snake were also intoxicated at the time (up to 57% of bites in one study).

Sigh.

But killing snakes for fear of bites is problematic—a decreased snake population is detrimental to the environment.

● As predators, they can help keep frogs, insects, rats and mice in check.

● As prey, they, are eaten around the world by skunks, mongooses, hawks, snake eagles, falcons, and even other snakes like the king cobra and eastern king snake.

● Nonvenomous snakes, which range from garter snakes to pythons, dispatch their prey by swallowing them alive or constricting them to death. Whether they kill by striking with venom or squeezing, nearly all snakes eat their food whole. That explains why snakes play a key role in dispersing plant seeds. For instance, when rattlesnakes swallow rodents (who consume seeds), the seeds are expelled into the environment intact. As snakes have larger home ranges than rodents—seeds tend to disperse at greater distances from the parent plant. This supports growth and survival of plant species without struggling for common resources of light, water and soil nutrients and hence essential for ecological restoration.

So during the Year of the Snake and beyond, let’s keep in mind that in Chinese mythology they aren’t manifestations of wickedness or evil as in Western cultures. Instead, they embody positive symbolism. Referred to as “little dragons”, their shed skin, the “dragon’s coat”, signifies good luck, rebirth and regality.

And in today’s uncertain world, we need more of that, not less!