snake charming

Snake charming is an entertainment practice where a performer, known as a snake charmer, exhibits a professed ability to charm or fascinate venomous snakes. The Indian cobra (Naja naja) is a species often associated with this tradition. Snake charmers typically keep snakes in baskets and play music on an instrument called a pungi. The snakes, like the Indian cobra, do not hear the music but react to the swaying motion of the instrument. Historically, snake charmers might remove the fangs of their cobras or extract venom. While once a common practice, snake charming has seen a decline due to laws forbidding the keeping of snakes, which have been more strictly enforced.12