Poisonous snakes can surely cause fear and some of the most negative feelings towards some this crawling part of the animal world. The toxic secretion of poisonous snakes has such a lethal impact 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. Although 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: no snake will bite unless in defense or to hunt its meal . The rest of the negative impression on snakes comes from an incorrect perception nurtured by ancient myths.
The venom structure complexity is amazing: there is mainly a combination of proteins and toxins that when spread in the prey's body paralyze and eventually kill it. The toxin weakens the muscles, the lungs and the heart, and depending on this way of action scientists have classified poisonous snakes into species that destroy blood vessels and cause unstoppable hemorrhage, venomous species that have a paralyzing effect on the heart and, last but not least, others that only cause terrible muscle pain. Corals and cobras would thus occupy the first positions in a top of the most poisonous snakes.
The complex structure of the snake venom still fascinates scientists, and lots of tests are still conducted on it. The only remedy for poisonous snakes bites is the emergency antivenin administration. There are however some factors that influence the victim's chances of survival: thus, an identification of the snake is necessary as well as the proper location of the bite. If there is too much time between the moment of the bite and the administration of the antivenin, the victim will suffer extensive health damage or even die. 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 death from such accidents is a rarity in our times since medical assistance 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. Snake phobia could thus be developed because of a dangerous encounter with some poisonous snakes or this excessive fear can be the result of sociological ancestral traditions that are manifest even with people who have never felt threatened by a snake.
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