letoff

Great poster of all the snakes in Canada and America, drawn in a friendly, cartoon style. Buy it here:

Where to start??....Garlic and rhinoceros horn are not antivenoms! Two people died during the filming of this for goodness sake!

Indochinese spitting cobra (Naja siamensis) Spitting cobra South-East Asia Venom primarily postsynaptic neurotoxins and cytotoxins

Golden Lancehead (Bothrops insulari) Critically endangered Endemic to Ilha da Queimada Grande aka 'Snake Island'

Sharp-nosed viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) Viper Nocturnal South-East Asian Venom is hemorrhagic and causes necrosis - ouch.

Hump-nosed viper (Hypnale hypnale) Pitviper India and SriLanka 30–45cm length Snout is pointed and turned upwards in a hump, hence name

Pit vipers are not related to pit bulls, never worked down the pits, nor are they know for pit fighting. Instead, pit vipers (aka Crotalinae) are a subfamily of vipers, called such due to the presence

Rainforest hognosed pitviper (Porthidium nasutum) Central American and Northern South American Viper of the Crotalinae subfamily

Found an old newspaper clipping from a Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) newspaper Anyone heard of Mr P.R.Fox or know the year?

Sharp-nosed pit viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) Nocturnal, mountain-dwelling Asian Pit viper Hemotoxic and cytotoxic venom i.e. nasty venom

Bushmaster (Lachesis muta) Found in South America Primarily inhabit tropical, moist, forested areas Largest of the vipers

Indian cobra (Naja naja) Native to Indian subcontinent Neurotoxic venom Revered in Indian mythology and culture

Ground rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius) Small viper found in the southeastern United States Mildly venomous

King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) Longest venomous snake. Up to 5.7m Asian Not actually a true cobra Venom composed primarily of neurotoxins

European asp (Vipera aspis aspis) Found in southwestern Europe "Aspis", is Greek for "viper"

Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) Looks like a cobra, but is not a true cobra Spits venom Likes to 'play' dead

Venom vs. Poison - know the difference. See this nice image.

Eurpoean Adder (Vipera berus) Only venomous snake native to the UK Last reported UK fatality: 1975

Snakes really are one of the most beautiful species. Check out this nice picture blog. Challenge your preconceptions:

Using 'lower' estimates, per hour: 137 people are bitten by snakes 48 are envenomed (i.e. venom actually gets injected) ~2 die ~1 require amputation