Editing Snake (section)

=== Snake charmers ===
{{Main|Snake charming}}
[[File:Snake in basket.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The [[Indian cobra]] is the most common subject of snake charmings.]] 
In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds.<ref name="Bagla"/> The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).<ref name="Bagla">{{cite news |last=Bagla |first=Pallava |name-list-style=vanc |title=India's Snake Charmers Fade, Blaming Eco-Laws, TV |date=April 23, 2002 |work=[[National Geographic]] News |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0417_020423_snakecharm_2.html |access-date=November 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218213538/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0417_020423_snakecharm_2.html |archive-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref>

The [[Wildlife Protection Act, 1972|Wildlife Protection Act of 1972]] in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and [[mongoose]] show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.<ref name="Bagla"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Harding |first=Luke |name-list-style=vanc |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/02/worlddispatch.lukeharding |title=Snake tricks lose their charm |date=April 2, 2002 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516141126/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/02/worlddispatch.lukeharding |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chandra |first=Sharmila |name-list-style=vanc |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19891231-indias-snake-charmers-sway-on-the-edge-of-extinction-816887-1989-12-31 |title=India's snake-charmers sway on the edge of extinction |date=November 12, 2013 |work=[[India Today]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=3 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503031951/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19891231-indias-snake-charmers-sway-on-the-edge-of-extinction-816887-1989-12-31 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BumyQJ14n8sC&pg=PA482 |title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia |last1=Burton |last2=Burton |first1=Maurice |first2=Robert |year=2002 |volume=4 |edition=3rd |section=Snake charmer's bluff |page=482 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9780761472704 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818204631/https://books.google.com/books?id=BumyQJ14n8sC&pg=PA482 |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>