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Puzzle ZLHO 



??

At a recent visit to the reptile house at the local animal sanctuary, I counted a total of 27 heads and 70 feet.

I was counting snakes, lizards, and people and I know that there were exactly twice as many lizards as people.

How many snakes did I count?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Answer
6 snakes, along with 7 people and 14 lizards.

Reasoning
We know that for each person (2 legs) there were 2 lizards (4 legs each).

Which means for every person we can count a total of 10 legs.

Snakes don't have legs, so the total of 70 legs must have been 7 people (and 14 lizards).

This is a total of 21 heads, so the remaining 6 heads were all snakes.

Double-Checking
7 people gives 7 heads and 14 feet.

14 lizards gives 14 heads and 56 feet.

6 snakes gives 6 heads and 0 feet.

For a total of 6 + 7 + 14 = 27 heads, and 0 + 14 + 56 = 70 feet.

 

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