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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