Ignoring the historical record and academic consensus, its very unlikely this trick could ever work. Ancient people weren't simpletons and the logistics of it all are pretty silly.
Its just poetic fiction in what is a long form poem.
Its just poetic fiction in what is a long form poem.
With that said, it always in turn felt like the serpents' presence undermined Odysseus' claim of being clever, since from that perspective the Trojans didn't have much choice but to bring it in, or risk the ire of the gods. It's hardly a ruse if the enemy knows it's a trap but is compelled by supernatural forces to take it anyway.
That kind of thing happens all the time. Just sticking to the Trojan War, the original mythology has the Greeks unable to set sail because Artemis maintains unfavorable winds, because Agamemnon has offended her. She demands the sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia, before she will allow the Greeks to depart.
This sets up several other parts of the story. It's load-bearing. But to the classical Greeks, it's a slander against Artemis, and we can see the process of mythological revisionism working to adjust what happened.