North Dakota’s Creepiest Superstition/Urban Legend Unveiled

Summer Means Snake Season

As the temps continue to warm up, North Dakota snakes continue to get more active. With the unofficial start to summer coming up this weekend, that means watch where you step, especially if you're on the West River. With that being said, rattlesnakes continue to expand to the east side of the Missouri River. You can read more about that below.

(SEE ALSO: Rattlesnake Run-ins Continue to Grow East of the Missouri River)

If you are the superstition type (and I kind of am), thankfully, we don't have a Friday the 13th this month. Just too many bad things can happen. It's not just the title of the movies that made Jason Voorhees famous. Friday the 13th is widely known as being somewhat of a superstitious and/or unlucky day.

Maybe you don't believe in superstitions, or maybe you don't want to. Or maybe you are one of those types that just lock themselves in your home all month to avoid anything supernatural from happening.

Kill a Snake...Cut its Head Off!

Our friends at 24/7 Wall St. decided to find out what the craziest legends and/or superstitions are in every state. For North Dakotans, apparently, if you kill a snake, you will need to cut its head off and bury it far from its body to keep it from coming back together.

The #1 superstition for North Dakotans.

I can truthfully say, I have never heard of that one. Considering we only have one poisonous snake in the state (the Prairie Rattlesnake), and its range is rather limited in the state, this seems especially silly.

I don't know much about the laws of snake anatomy, but this would seem to defy basic animal biology. A snake cannot grow itself back together again, regardless of how far apart the remains of its disassembled body are.

However, get this, a snake's head can still bite for up to an hour after it has been decapitated from its body, according to LiveScience.  It's not only possible, but a severed snake head could even kill. This is because snakes have a low metabolism, which allows their vital organs to remain alive for longer periods.

There you have it, snakes cannot regenerate, but their head will bite even after it has been decapitated. There's a reason I don't usually hunt pheasants in southwest North Dakota until November, when the weather gets colder and rattlesnakes become less active.

Speaking of snakes, did I mention it's nearly summer, watch where you are walking, and now you know what to do if you kill one.