How To Identify Venomous Snakes

Posted by: lukwago J in Nature June 13, 2020

Snakes have the ability to terrify many people even when they are not venomous. Venomous snakes drive fear into every rational human being’s heart, as everyone has heard stories about deadly snake bites. Of all of the species of snakes in the United States, there are 20 species of venomous snakes. 16 of these species are all of the rattlesnake family, two are coral snake species, one is a cottonmouth, and the other is a copperhead. All in all, these snakes are formidable foes, as their venom can kill in as quickly as 6 hours, depending on the snake. If you ever see a snake, you might be leery whether it is poisonous or not. Keep reading for some guidelines on what to look for. Visit snakes in the attic for more information about snakes.

Tail Rattle

If you hear or see the tail rattle on a snake, move away as quickly as you can. Rattling is a sign of agitation in snakes and can be a sign that they are about to strike. Treat rattling as a warning to step away and give the snake a wide berth. Don’t purely rely on this, as sometimes rattlesnakes are startled and don’t have time to rattle before striking.

Elliptical Pupils

Many snakes in the world have round pupils in their eyes. Most snakes that have round pupils are not venomous. Poisonous snakes have elliptical eyes that look like slits. If you have ever looked at a cat’s eyes, a venomous snake will look much the same.

Colorful Equals Danger

If you ever see a colorful pattern on a snake, get away quickly. Colorful snakes are among the most dangerous types of snakes in the world. Even if they are not colorful, still exercise caution, as there are always exceptions.

Head Looks Triangular

Non-venomous snakes have heads that are more round looking and skinny necks. Most poisonous snakes usually seem to possess a broad and triangle head. This is because the sacs that hold poison are located directly underneath the snake’s lower jaw. Most harmless snakes will have slight changes between their head and neck, as they don’t have poison sacs.

Look For Heat Sensing Pits

Poisonous snakes have holes on their face between their eyes and nose. Strangely enough, this is only usually able to be seen on various species of vipers. Unless you are really close, it would be hard to see this, which means that you need to exercise caution.

Big, Fat Snake

The odd thing about most poisonous snakes in the United States is that most of them are very large and fat. You can expect that most members of the viper family will be much larger than a majority of non-venomous snake species.

These are all great rules of thumb to follow for identifying venomous snakes in the United States. That being said, DO NOT accept any of these general rules as being 100% true all of the time. Always be very cautious around snakes because there can always be poisonous ones that look like they are harmless. If you have snakes in or around your home, visit this website for tips on removing them.

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