Why do snakes stare ?

Why do snakes stare?

Though snakes have relatively poor eyesight, they do stare. Their eyes are rotated a little forward and definitely fixed on the prey. Hypnotize, not really in the sense as we know it, but it appears that way because if the prey is either cornered or thinks that the snake is not yet aware of its presence, it will often remain perfectly still. 

Their eyes are protected by a rather hard protective covering (which is actually part of their skin, and loses and regains a layer while shedding); that is much like a contact lens that covers the whole eye, or the glass on a wrist watch. They do not have a movable membrane like sharks and crocodiles have to protect their eyes while eating, or for any other reason. 

If the prey is aware of the snake, and knows there's no escape, then they will certainly be in some kind of 'shock' trance. They aren't thinking of anything but the dire situation they are in. So, in a way you could say that they are hypnotized, but it’s not the snake's doing, it’s just a natural response to a life threatening encounter. Much like a rabbit will stop in front of a car's headlights. 

Some people think that snakes are always staring; that is because they have no eyelids and can't close their eyes. This is not true, many sleeping snakes (including large diamondback rattlesnakes) and they didn't move, strike or rattle their tails even though you would right up on them. The neurons stop sending signals from the eyes to the brain while sleeping. 

If you put mice in front of sleeping snakes, and it's pretty obvious when they wake up upon scenting the mice. The other way to tell if a snake is sleeping, is that the tongue doesn't flicker, while when awake, it will flicker its tongue quite a bit, more frequently during handling, travelling, feeding, or mating.