Atop trauma or intense stress, scientists speculate that a snake biting its tail may have mistaken itself for prey because it's hungry or got confused while attacking another snake.

"Snakes aren't brilliant, right? Then you might have a snake that's eating another snake. And then it accidentally just starts swallowing what it thinks is the other snake and it could be its tail," says Goode. "I could see that possibly happening just because they have such a strong feeding response."

Some snakes go as far as eating other snakes — especially certain species of cobras, whose diet mainly consists of other snakes, even venomous ones. "King cobras in India are one of those," says Goode. "They will sometimes eat an individual of their own species."

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