This snake in particular, we call it the Jumping Tommygoff, but it's also known as a Fer-de-lance or pit-viper. A Mayan Elder once told me the ancients used to place these snakes in hollowed tubes and then agitate the snakes so that they would leap out at their enemies. I've always wondered if there's any factual background to this, or if there's any record in the Americas of this kind of warfare happening that might have inspired the story. Thank you!
This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this. I don't think I have ever seen a depiction of such a thing happening on any of the ceramics or murals from the region. Most of the time if someone is holding a weapon it is a spear or club, sometimes even a macuahuitl. I would be interested to know if this was perhaps something done in the colonial area. I know the Maya resisted the Spanish for a long time with the last kingdom to fall in 1697. A cursory search on JSTOR brought up nothing, but that is not the end-all or be-all on the subject. I would be very much interested in the origin of this myth/legend if anyone has information on it.
There are numerous records of cattle being driven into stampede at enemy lines to break up their formation & cause general chaos. In 1670 this tactic was used in the sacking of Panama.