The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite and laughs at his own inability to pronounce that correctly, which Mike Mills kept trying to get him to do. Stipe says he loved Dr. Seuss as a kid but always pronounced his name the wrong way. The song's complete title is not featured in the lyrics, but there is the line "the sidewinder sleeps in a coil" as well as the later line "the sidewinder sleeps on its back". A sidewinder is a species of rattlesnake ("Crotalus cerastes"), and also an antique style of telephone, with a winding handle on the side. The lyrics frequently refer to making and
Italian Aesculapian snake Italian Aesculapian snake The Italian Aesculapian snake (Zamenis lineatus) is a species of snake in the Colubridae family. "Z. lineatus" is endemic to southern Italy and Sicily. The northern limit of its geographical range is the Province of Caserta in the west and the Province of Foggia in the east. It is absent from the Salentine Peninsula (Salento), which is the "heel" of the "boot" of Italy. The type locality is Naples. The Italian Aesculapian snake is a medium to large snake that reaches a maximum total length (including tail) of . Dorsally, it is yellowish brown and may have