Venomous Snakes

What is venomous? It means poisonous. Venom is a poison the snake puts into its prey through its fangs (teeth). This either kills the prey animal or makes it so the prey can’t move. Once venom gets into the prey, it is easy for the snake to eat it. Some venomous snakes have bright colors or patterns which can warn us. Rattlesnakes have rattles to scare away animals or people that might hurt them. Snakes are skilled predators. Poisonous ones have poison to inject in their prey. The venom keeps small prey still so the snake can grab it with its mouth and swallow it whole. This is a helpful adaptation for snakes. It is really difficult to differentiate between venomous and non-venomous. Many non-venomous ones look venomous to protect themselves. There are also snake types whose teeth are placed like the teeth of non-venomous snakes although their bites can be dangerous. Out of the 2800 kind of snakes, only 270 types are venomous.

Some of the venomous snakes include Gaboon Viper, Fierce snakes, Taipans, cottonmouth, copperhead, King Cobra, Black Mamba, eastern Coral snakes.

Figure 1 King Cobra

King Cobra: The king cobra kills and eats other species of poisonous snake. It is the longest of all the venomous snakes, and its bite can kill a man in 15 minutes, yet it prefers to avoid confrontation. King cobra venom is very toxic. A single bite can kill an Indian elephant in three hours, provided a vulnerable spot is bitten. The fangs of the king cobra are around 15mm long, but can deliver more venom than any other snake.

Figure 2 Black Mamba

Black Mamba: After the king cobra, the black mamba is the longest venomous snake in the world. It is also the fastest-moving snake in the world, reaching up to 23km/h. In spite of its name, the snake tends to be grayish-brown in color. The venom is injected through two hollow fangs at the front of its mouth which lie flat until the snake bites something, at which point small, movable mouth bones erect them. The venom causes rapid paralysis. Enzymes in the snake’s saliva start to digest the prey before it even reaches the stomach, and most prey is digested within a few hours.

Figure 3 Gaboon Viper

Gaboon Viper: The Gaboon Viper lives on the rain forest floor in the equatorial belt of Tropical Africa. Though the Gaboon Viper may seem sluggish, it strikes its victims with amazing speed and agility. They are poisonous and deadly and they have two large venom glands. The venom is a powerful haemotoxin (destroys blood cells and vessels) and its venomous bite can kill a full grown human within 15 minutes or quicker. It is important to note however, that very few people have ever been killed by this beautiful snake.

Figure 4 Copperheads

Copperheads: Copperheads will attempt to warn off larger animals when they feel threatened by shaking their bare tail in noisy, dry leaves to mimic the rattle of their relative the rattlesnake. Many people are fooled by this but they don’t need to be quite as frightened of the copperhead since its venom is not as toxic as the rattlesnake’s. Western species seem to have higher venom toxicity and are much smaller than the Northern and Southern Copperheads.

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