In her book "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal," Mary Roach discusses the unique sensory capabilities of snakes, particularly their sense of smell. While snakes lack the ability to taste in the conventional sense, they possess a primitive but effective olfactory system. By extending their tongues, they can collect airborne chemical particles, which they then transfer to the vomeronasal organ in their mouths for analysis, allowing them to detect scents with precision.

Roach highlights how sensitive snakes are to the scents of their preferred prey, illustrating this with a striking example. If a rat's face is masked over an undesirable prey item, a snake like a python may confuse the two, demonstrating its instinctive drive to hunt based on scent rather than visual cues alone. This behavior underscores the importance of their olfactory skills in hunting and feeding.