Many people sympathize with snakes and even, quite often, keep them as pets. Meanwhile, snakes are one of the most terrible and dangerous living creatures on the planet, and this is not surprising. Many species of these reptiles get their food by biting their prey and injecting poison, which is produced by special glands. This is the main danger of snakes. A bite from any of the reptiles can lead to death. However, snakes very rarely attack a person first, more often, this happens if they are provoked or disturbed.
10. Rattlesnake
The only snake in our ranking, whose homeland is North America. It can be easily recognized by the thickening in the tail, which resembles a rattle. This snake is capable of striking at a distance of 2/3 of the length of its body. More dangerous is the view from the eastern part of the continent. Individuals who have not reached puberty are more dangerous than adults because of the inability to regulate the amount of toxin administered. Most varieties of rattlesnakes have hemotoxic poison, which damages tissues, destroys organs and causes blood clotting (coagulopathy). In some cases, after a snakebite, scars remain on the body, even with timely treatment.
Common symptoms: difficulty breathing, profuse salivation, extensive hemorrhage, paralysis. Untreated rattlesnake bites, especially large species, almost always leave serious injuries and can lead to death. Timely medical care reduces the likelihood of death by 4%
9. Spiktail Australian
Nesting habitat, Australia and New Guinea. These reptiles prey on their relatives, other snakes, attacking them, as a rule, from an ambush. The Australian tenon has a resemblance to a rattlesnake: the same triangular shape of the head and a short squat body. When bitten, a snake often injects 40 to 100 mg of poison. Since, in terms of its properties, the poison of tenor tail belongs to neurotoxins, it is considered the most dangerous because it causes paralysis of the respiratory organs, as a result of which death can occur within 6 hours.
The antidote used for a bite of a tenon tail works quite effectively, reducing general symptoms and alleviating the condition of the victim. Before the invention of the antidote, mortality from its bite was 50%.
Interesting fact: the snake's throwing speed during the attack is 0.13 seconds.
8. Viper
Vipers are found in many parts of the planet, but perhaps the most poisonous species, sandy efa, which lives mainly in the Middle East and Central Asia, in particular: India and China. These snakes hunt at night and become especially active after rain.
Symptoms of viper venom getting into the blood: swelling of the affected area, pain in the bite, often bleeding, lowering blood pressure and slowing the heartbeat, in severe cases, blisters may appear and extensive tissue and muscle necrosis may develop. Nausea, vomiting, and swelling of the face occur in approximately 30% of cases. Aching pain, not only in the affected area, can last from 2 to 4 weeks. Within 1 to 14 days, death can occur from sepsis, heart or respiratory failure.
7. Philippine Cobra
Philippine cobra is one of the deadliest species of cobra. It is noteworthy that this reptile is capable of “spitting” poison up to a distance of 3 m. Like the Australian tenon, cobra has neurotoxic poison, which causes paralysis of the respiratory and cardiac systems, resulting in death within 30 minutes from the time of the bite. Damage to the skin with a bite is minimal.
Common symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, cramps, diarrhea.
6. Tiger Snake
Habitat Australia. The venom of a tiger snake is also a neurotoxin. After it enters the bloodstream, it causes localized pain at the site of the bite, tingling, numbness, sweating, and after a while suffocation and death occurs. Most often, this snake, when meeting with a person, tries to hide as soon as possible, but can become dangerous and attack if it was taken by surprise, or driven into a corner. The tiger snake carries out an attack with lightning speed and without a miss.
5. Black Mamba
Black mamba found in many parts of the African continent. These reptiles are known to be very aggressive and strike with incredible accuracy. An interesting fact, the black mamba, is the fastest snake in the world. She is able to reach speeds of up to 20 km / h. The venom of these snakes is a fast-acting neurotoxin. Black mamba can bite up to 12 times in a row, and one bite is enough to kill 10 to 25 adults.
Symptoms of a black mamba bite: sharp pain at the bite site, less noticeable than from a snake bite with hemotoxic (rattlesnake) poison. Then, the victim experiences tingling in the mouth and limbs, double vision, confused consciousness, trembling, possible foam from the mouth and nose and severe cramping. In the absence of medical care, the symptoms progress quickly: pallor, severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, respiratory arrest, coma and death soon ensue. In the absence of an antidote, the mortality rate from black mamba poison, almost 100%, is one of the highest. Depending on the nature of the bite, death can occur in just 15-30 minutes.
4. Taipan
Taipan lives in Australia. This snake can be compared with the black mamba in morphology and behavior. If it enters the bloodstream, the poison contributes to the appearance of blood clots, thereby blocking arteries and veins. He is so strong that he can kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs. In addition, the poison has the properties of a neurotoxin. Before the antidote appeared, not a single Taipan survivor was known. Even with proper medical care and timely antidotes, the victim is guaranteed to stay in the intensive care unit.
3. Malay blue krait
The Malay or Blue Kraight is by far the most deadly of the snakes of this species. It is found throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Half of the cases of bites by the Malay Kraut are fatal, even with timely medical attention and antidotes. This snake hunts and kills other snakes, including those from the Kraits. They become more aggressive in the dark, because are nocturnal. However, in most cases, when meeting a person, they try to hide. The venom of a snake is 16 times stronger than that of a cobra. With a bite, convulsions appear, and paralysis develops quite quickly. Before the antidote, 85% of blue-kite bites were fatal. Death can occur in a period of 6 to 12 hours.
2. The Brown King or Mulga
The habitat of this reptile, like many other poisonous snakes, is Australia. The eastern species of the Brown King is considered the most dangerous. 1/1400 ounces of poison of this snake is enough to kill a person. Poison, even immature individuals, can kill a person. This snake has a difficult character, and it can quickly become aggressive. There are cases when the Brown Snake has long pursued the aggressors, repeatedly biting them. Despite the mortal danger, in half of the attacks, the Brown Snake does not inject poison into the victim’s body and generally tries not to bite, if possible. Since these snakes react to movements, when meeting with them it is better to freeze and stand still.
1. Taipan or Ferocious Snake
Taipan is the most poisonous snake on our planet. Its poison is the most toxic of all snakes living on land. The venom emitted by this snake is enough to kill 100 people or 250,000 mice. The toxicity of its poison is 10 times higher than that of a rattlesnake and 50 times more than that of a cobra. Fortunately, taipan is not aggressive, and, moreover, it is quite rare on the path of man in the wild. No deaths have been reported from a meeting with this snake, but potentially, death in an adult from a taipan bite can occur within 45 minutes.
+ Belcher Sea Snake
Found in the waters of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, Belcher's sea snake is the most poisonous sea snake in the world. It has such strong poison that literally a few milligrams is enough to take the lives of 1000 adults. This is a very dangerous snake, but despite this, less than a quarter of its bites contain poison, in addition, it is quite peaceful. Most often, fishermen, who, during fishing, have to get nets out of the water, suffer from its bite.