Snake farms run the risk of being collateral damage in Chain’s fight against coronavirus, yet they probably help, rather than harm, the fight against disease.
In the blue corner is the extremely venomous Black Mamba – top snake of Africa – and in the red corner is the muscular Inland Taipan – Australia’s alpha snake.
Not much is known about the pathology of trauma of black mamba bites – that is, what the black mamba’s toxin does, physically, inside a victim’s system.
Oh-so-cute raccoons can carry diseases and also fight with pets. If you don’t want raccoons around, minimize food sources such as bird seed.
Nancy Salmon/Shutterstock.com
As humans encroach on wildlife habitats, it’s only natural that wildlife come into yards and playgrounds. Here are some tips to peacefully coexist, or to keep critters away if you don’t want that.
Yellow anaconda (snake) skins pegged to dry by indigenous people in Argentina.
Tomas Waller
Lisa Bitel, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
There are many myths associated with St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. But Patrick’s own writings and early biographies reveal the person behind the legend.
Reptiles add socioeconomic value but when it comes to accessing detailed reference information about them, students and naturalists can face serious challenges.
Echis, also known as the saw-scaled viper, dominates snakebite statistics and kills more people annually than any other.
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Indian-made antivenoms, common throughout Africa because they are affordable, showed little-to-no neutralisation of the African Echis venoms.
An eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis) in characteristic defensive posture. Orange spots on the snakes underside are a distinctive feature of brown snakes.
Matt Summerville
There has been at least one fatal bite from a very small brown snake in Australia. But now we know that venom is different in adult and baby brown snakes.
Scientists usually use the word “venomous” rather than “poisonous” when they’re talking about snakes.
Flickr/Sirenz Lorraine
Guam’s trees are in trouble, thanks to the accidental release of a snake species 70 years ago, which has killed off many of the bird species that are vital for the health of the island’s forests.
The way humans make an ‘ssss’ noise is different to the way a snake does it. We put our tongue behind our teeth when we hiss, but for a snake the tongue isn’t involved at all in making sounds.
Bites from brown snakes like this one were the most common, followed by
tiger snakes, then red-bellied black snakes.
Matt Clancy/SunOfErat/Wikimedia Commons