Early Blind Snakes: Anomalepididae

These snakes live most of their lives below the ground; one individual was reported buried 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) deep in the soil. They also spend time beneath rocks, logs, and piles of leaves. Like other underground-living, or fossorial (faw-SOR-ee-ul), species that stay out of human sight and live in remote areas, scientists know little about them. People have reported these snakes in a number of different habitats from dry forests to rainforests, and from low-lying grasslands to nearly 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) up rocky mountainsides. Although no one has seen early blind snakes doing it, scientists suspect that they can and do climb trees.