28:3–5 Being cold-blooded, snakes can become stiff and motionless in cold weather, and Paul must have picked up the serpent along with the brush. Some have suggested that the snake was nonpoisonous, but the Greek word translated “creature” in v. 4 is one applied to dangerous animals and poisonous snakes, and there is little reason to doubt the islanders’ identification of the snake as poisonous.