Posts Tagged ‘poison’

Finding Snakes And Reptiles

Monday, April 26th, 2010

There are few places in the world that haven’t been colonised by snakes and other reptiles. Snakes are even found in cities, although it is only the friendlier ones that usually survive human wrath. However, if you want to find some of the more uncommon snakes, you could look in parks and fields, on beaches or in rivers and ponds and even in the sea, depending on where you live, naturally, as sea snakes tend to inhabit warmer, tropical waters.

You will have to be very alert and train your eyes to notice even the slightest movement. Wear clothes of dull, drab colours and move very slowly, stopping often to listen out for movement in the grass or bushes. In the beginning, you will have many false hopes, until you learn to tell the difference between the sounds of the various animals that live or hunt in the grass.

Snakes are difficult to find. Most of the adventurous snakes get killed by frightened (and often ignorant) humans, but a good tip is to look for relatively damp areas in arid regions and, conversely, dry spots in damp areas. Look for where their prey might congregate. For example, near water for toads and frogs. Watch for frightened lizards or birds fleeing for all they are worth. And listen for geckos warning each other of the presence of a predator.

If you need to disturb anything, at least don’t wreck it and furthermore, make sure you put it back as you found it. Two useful tools while out looking for snakes and other reptiles are binoculars (for tree snakes) and a snake-hook, which should also be used for moving bits of debris so that you don’t risk getting bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion. A camera, a torch and a notebook and pen are quite, depending on how seriously you take your interest in herpetology.

You might also take a rule or tape to measure your specimens and a few plastic bags and boxes to hold them while you are doing it. However, do not harm anything and do not take anything home with you either! Besides it not being right to wander into their domain and cause mayhem, it is often against the law too. Be very wary of picking up any snake that you cannot definitely identify as non-venomous. You could be miles from anywhere and will probably not have any anti-venom with you. Since many snakes can kill within 30 minutes, you would probably die.

To summarize, go looking for snakes by all means. However, take it easy and slowly and wear camouflaged clothing. Furthermore, wear strong, climbing boots to give you some protection where you are most vulnerable and do not move anything unnecessarily. Use a snake-hook to move things if you have to; a tape, torch, camera, notebook and pen to record your experience and/or findings and a couple of clear plastic receptacles just in case you feel that you have to pick something up.

I hope you really enjoy your hunt for snakes and other reptiles, but always remember that snakes are not friendly and they are definitely not pets, so be wary of snake bites especially if your search is not taking place in the gardens of a hospital!

If you are interested in snakes and reptiles, you should go over to our web site called Caring for Snakes

categories: snakes,reptiles,herpetology,pets,hobbies,interests,animals,poison,blood,family,recreation,walking,outdoors,other

Stalking Snakes and Reptiles

Monday, July 20th, 2009

There are not many places in the world that haven’t been colonised by snakes and other reptiles. Snakes are even to be found in towns, although it is only the friendlier ones that tend to survive our wrath. However, if you want to find some of the more uncommon snakes, you could look in parks and fields, on beaches or in rivers and ponds and even in the sea, depending on where you live, of course as sea snakes are inclined to inhabit warmer, tropical waters.

You will need to be very alert and train your eyes to spot even the smallest movement. Wear clothes of dull, drab colours and move very slowly, stopping often to listen out for movement in the grass or bushes. In the beginning, you will have many false hopes, until you learn to tell the difference between the sounds of the various animals that live or hunt in the grass.

Snakes are difficult to find, because most of the adventurous snakes get killed by frightened (and often ignorant) humans, but a good tip is to look for relatively damp areas in arid regions and, conversely, dry spots in damp areas. Look for where their prey might congregate. For example, near water for toads and frogs. Look out for frightened lizards or birds fleeing for all they are worth. And listen out for geckos warning each other of the presence of a predator.

If you need to move anything, at least don’t damage it and furthermore, ensure you put it back as you found it. Two useful tools while out looking for snakes and other reptiles are binoculars (for tree snakes) and a snake-hook, which should also be used for moving bits of debris so that you don’t risk getting bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion. A camera, a torch and a notebook and pen are quite, depending on how seriously you treat your interest in herpetology.

You could also take a rule or tape to measure your specimens and a few plastic bags and boxes to hold them while you are doing it. However, do not harm anything and do not take anything away with you either! Apart from it not being right to wander into their domain and cause mayhem, it is frequently against the law too. Be very wary of picking up any snake that you cannot definitely identify as non-poisonous. You could be miles from anywhere and will probably not have any anti-venom with you. Since many snakes can kill within 30 minutes, you would almost certainly die.

To summarize, go looking for snakes by all means. However, take it easy and slowly and wear camouflaged clothing. Moreover, wear strong, climbing boots to give you some protection where you are most vulnerable and do not move anything unnecessarily. Use a snake-hook to move things if you have to; a tape, torch, camera, notebook and pen to record your experience and/or findings and a couple of clear plastic receptacles just in case you feel that you have to pick something up.

I hope you really enjoy your search for snakes and other reptiles, but always remember that snakes are not friendly and they are definitely not pets, so be wary of snake bites especially if your search is not taking place in the gardens of a hospital!

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Venomous Florida Snakes

Friday, May 29th, 2009

The Florida snakes, along with the turtles, lizards, alligators and other reptiles are all part of a complex wildlife structure that plays a marvelous role in the maintenance of Florida’s ecosystem. There are many species of Florida snakes. There are forty-four species living in an unbelievably varied habitat, ranging from salt marshes and fresh water marshes to dry uplands and coastal mangrove swamps to residential areas.

Only six Florida snakes are poisonous, and they happily live with their non-poisonous cousins, even venturing into towns and cities too. The best way to stay out of trouble with snakes is to care enough to learn about their morphology and therefore become able to distinguish between these Florida snakes. Avoidance is the wisest approach a person can adopt in relation to snakes.

The Coral snakes and pit vipers are by far the most dangerous of the Florida snakes. They are identifiable by quite a range of mutual characteristics. Pit vipers which include the Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth and the Copperhead all have in common: vertical eye pupils, a v-shaped head and facial pit sensors: one between the eyes and nostrils and the others along each side of the head.

The poison of this type of Florida snakes is haemotoxic, which means that their venom attacks the red blood cells, destroying the walls of the blood vessels and causing uncontrolled bleeding. Coral snakes however, use neurotoxic venom, with the toxins in the venom acting on the body’s nerves causing paralysis.

Most of the snake bites reported every year in the United States are attacks by Florida snakes or by rattlesnakes to be precise. Because their venom spreads quickly through the body, the victim will almost certainly die within thirty minutes without the immediate injection of anti-venom.

A one exception in this group of Florida snakes is the copperhead, the venom of which very rarely, if ever, requires an antidote. Their poison is the least potent and thus they are considered the least dangerous of the venomous Florida snakes.

It is because of the danger they present that poisonous snakes are the first kind to attract attention, however the most widespread of Florida snakes is the Black Racer, which is a non-toxic species that relies on very sharp fangs to hold onto its prey.

Although home owners usually try to remove snakes from their gardens, specialists point out that, without them, rats and mice would soon multiply out of control giving us an even more cause for alarm.

Therefore, unless there are any special causes for worrying, like snakes breeding in great numbers in your garden or outhouses, there is no real reason why you should upset the lives of these usually shy, helpful animals.

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