Experts Articles

Poisonous snakes can certainly cause fear and some of the most negative feelings towards some this crawling part of the animal world. The toxic secretion of poisonous snakes is so deadly that it can kill one in no more than thirty minutes, not to mention the chances of losing eye sight if venom gets into your eyes. In fact the risk of bites remains high when you accidentally come across them, poisonous snakes are creatures like all others but rely on their venom to survive: snakes only bite to hunt or defend themselves . The rest of the negative feelings towards snakes comes from a faulty perception triggered by ancient myths.

The structure of the venom secreted by poisonous snakes is very complex: the paralysis and eventual death of the prey are caused by a smart blending of proteins and toxins. The toxin weakens the muscles, the lungs and the heart, and depending on this action mode scientists have classified poisonous snakes into kind that destroy the walls of the blood vessels and start an unstoppable hemorrhage, venomous species that paralyze the heart and, last but not least, others that inflict excruciating muscle pain. Corals and cobras would thus engage the first positions in a top of the most poisonous snakes.

The intricacies of snake venom still make the subject of comprehensive scientific studies. The only cure for poisonous snakes bites consists of the emergency antivenin administration. Certain elements do increase or decrease the victim's chances of survival: thus, an identification of the snake is necessary as well as the proper location of the bite. If too much time lapses between the moment of the bite and the administration of the antivenin, serious health damage or even death could occur. Furthermore, there have been cases of patients who developed instant allergies to poisonous snake bites or to antidotes and died.

Rattlesnakes cause most of the bites in the United States, yet lethal outcomes of such incidents have become a rarity in our times since medical help is usually very readily available. The water moccasin, the copperhead and the cottonmouth belong to the same poisonous family as the rattlesnake; they are highly poisonous snakes too that would surely mark the days of anyone who gets bitten. Stressful incidents involving snake attacks are often behind snake phobia or this excessive fear can be the result of sociological ancestral beliefs that are present even with people who have never felt threatened by a snake.

The snake is also a symbol not just an animal people feel afraid of. The graphical stylizations of snakes in our arts and cultures go back to the ancient mythical beliefs. Thus, regardless of the types of snake varieties, we are talking about important elements of ecosystems, with a well-determined function in the existence of certain species, and secondly they remain symbols of deep meanings. Their feeding on mice and rats keeps pest under control and prevents rodents from over-breeding. Yet, in the ancient traditions, types of snake worshiping did exist, with the serpent representing deities, or the immutable cycle of life and death or wisdom.

All types of snake-related traditions have been discovered everywhere in the world: for the old Greeks the snake was the a sign of sexual potency; Mesopotamians and Semites attributed immortal features to this creature because it shed its skin and it rejuvenated its look on a regular basis; Indians, Siamese and Burmese considered the snake the embodiment of a demon that also had its good parts.