Unfortunately, they bite, they slither, and they hiss. According to the World Health Organization, between 81,000 and 138,000 people die each year from snake bites.
Venomous snakes kill their victims with toxic substances produced in a modified salivary glands that the animal then injects into prey. Researchers reported in the journal Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution that venom has evolved to cause severe reactions in the victim. There are 10 snakes that have venom that can kill people.
The black mamba can kill someone with just two drops of venom. Black mambas are named for the dark color of their mouths. They can travel at 19 km/h and average around 8 feet in length.
The long snakes are lethal from the start because they have two to three drops of venom in their fangs. They can store up to 20 drops in their fangs. The African snake is lethal without treatment.
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Ryan Blumenthal reported in The Conversation that a black mamba's venom can cause paralysis if it is injected. The venom can cause a heart attack. A man in South Africa was bitten by a black mamba on his finger. He was in cardiac arrest by the time he arrived at the hospital. The man died after being treated with antivenom.
Blumenthal estimates that black mambas are responsible for the most snake related deaths in southern Africa.
A 1984 paper in the journal Toxicon states that a bite from a fer-de-lance can turn a person's body tissue black. According to a 2001 study, pit vipers are responsible for half of all snakebite poisonings in Central America. A bite from this snake can cause someone to bleed.
According to the University of Costa Rica, a female can give birth to 90 children.
After being bitten on the thumb by a boomslang, a herpetologist died from internal bleeding from his eyes, lungs, kidneys, heart and brain. The field museum in Chicago was where the snake was sent for identification. The boomslang (Dispholidus typus) couldn't produce a venom dose large enough to be fatal to humans, and that's what Schmidt believed at the time. They weren't right.
The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology says that the boomslang is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. The snakes have fangs that can be folded back into their mouths. The Museum reported that this snake has hemotoxic venom that causes it's victims to bleed out.
The boomslang has an egg-shaped head, large eyes and bright green body. The snake will expose a bright colored flap of skin between its scales if it is threatened, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute. A boomslang bite can cause death. The victims suffer extensive muscle and brain hemorrhaging, and on top of that, blood will start oozing out of every possible exit, including the gums and nostrils. The victim's urine, saliva, and vomit will pass through the body until they die. If a victim can get it in time, there is an antidote for the boomslang.
The eastern tiger snake has yellow and black bands on its body, but not all populations have that pattern. It can cause poisoning in just 15 minutes after a bite and is responsible for at least one death a year on average.
Around 58,000 deaths in India are attributed to snake bites every year, and the majority of these are caused by the Russell's viper. The species is considered to be one of the most deadly of true vipers.
High mortality among paddy farmers during harvest time is caused by this nocturnal viper. In the Handbook of Clinical Neurology, researchers reported that the snake's venom can cause a lot of symptoms. There are some components of the venom that can lead to strokes, and in rare cases, symptoms similar to Sheehan's syndrome. The handbook states that victims die fromrenal failure.
The smallest of the Big Four in India is the saw-scaled viper.
Rather than the stereotypical "hissing" sound attributed to snakes, this viper starts "sizzling" by rubbing together special serrated scales. A person will have swelling and pain in their body after being bitten by a viper. According to the educational society Understanding Animal Research, the venom messes with a person's ability to clot blood, which can lead to internal bleeding and even death. Understanding Animal Research said hydration and antivenom should be given within hours of the bite.
After dark, the banded krait is more likely to bite. According to a 2016 study, the venom of the snake can paralyze muscles and prevent the diaphragm from moving. Air entering the lungs is stopped by this.
According to the Natural History Museum in London, the longest venomous snake is the king cobra. The snake is able to see a moving person from nearly 330 feet away. The San Diego Zoo says that a king cobra can lift its heads off the ground if it's threatened, and it has special ribs and muscles in its neck.
The amount of venom injected into victims is what makes the snake famous, rather than the amount of venom it has. A single bite can kill a human in 15 minutes and an adult elephant in a few hours.
According to the Australian Museum, the coastal taipan is so fast that you could be bitten multiple times before you know it. When threatened, this snake, which lives in the wet forests of temperate and tropical coastal regions, will lift its whole body off the ground as it jumps fangs first and injects venom into its enemy. According to Australian Geographic, the snake's bite was almost always fatal before antivenom was available.
According to the International Journal of Neuroscience, the inland taipan is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. They live in the pre-dug burrows of other animals in the clay crevices of the Qld and SA floodplains. The inland taipan doesn't come into contact with humans very often, according to the Australian Museum. The taipan feels threatened when the snake coiles its body into a tight S-shape before darting out. The hyaluronidaseidase is the main ingredient of this venom. According to a 2020 issue of Toxins journal, this enzyme increases the absorption rate of the toxins throughout the victim's body.
The original article was published on Live Science in August of 2021.
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