how to identify snake is poisonous or not

• Look at the pupil of his eye. The snakes that are not poisonous will have a round pupil.

• It has been seen that non-venomous snakes are of a single color only and will rarely have a combination of colors.
• The snakes that are poisonous usually have an elliptical pupil, like the eye of a cat, which gives the impression of a small slit in the middle of the eye.
• If you see a snake that has stripes all the way, from head to tail, it will most probably be a non-poisonous snake.
• The snakes that have a spoon-shaped round head are non-venomous, while those with a flat head are venomous.
• A rattlesnake is the one that has a rattle on its tail and it is definitely poisonous.
• Poisonous snakes have a small depression between the eye and the nostril, known as a pit.
• In case of water snakes, the ones that have most of the body floating over water are surely venomous.
• Browse the internet and search about all the snakes in your area. This way, you will know all about the structure of all the poisonous ones and will be able to identify them easily.

Effective first aid in the event of Snake bite 2

Do it Right

Common Mistake

There will be many who wonder where the tourniquet or compression bandage has gone, surely we must tie a ligature to stop the venom spreading. Others will be wondering why we don’t cut the wound to let some of the venom out. It is important in India that we address these two common actions to see if they benefit or potentially cause harm to the victim.

The danger of snake bites:

Each year, nearly 8,000 people receive poisonous snake bites in the United States. Even a bite from a so-called "harmless" snake can cause infection or allergic reaction in some people. People who frequently visit wilderness areas, camp, hike, picnic, or live in snake-inhabited areas should be aware of the potential dangers posed by venomous snakes.

What snakes cause poisonous bites?

Any of the following snakes cause poisonous bites:

• Rattlesnake
• Copperhead
• Cottonmouth Water Moccasin
• Coral Snake

What are the symptoms of poisonous bites?

While each individual may experience symptoms differently, the following are the most common symptoms of poisonous snake bites:

• bloody wound discharge
• fang marks in the skin and swelling at the site of the bite
• severe localized pain
• diarrhea
• burning
• convulsions
• fainting
• dizziness
• weakness
• blurred vision
• excessive sweating
• fever
• increased thirst
• loss of muscle coordination
• nausea and vomiting
• numbness and tingling
• rapid pulse

How are snake bites treated?

Call for emergency assistance immediately if someone has been bitten by a snake. Responding quickly in this type of emergency is crucial. While waiting for emergency assistance:

• Wash the bite with soap and water.
  
  
• Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart.
  
  
• Cover the area with a clean, cool compress or a moist dressing to minimize swelling and discomfort.
  
  
• Monitor vital signs.

If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, the American Red Cross recommends:

• Apply a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, to help slow the venom. This should not cut off the flow of blood from a vein or artery - the band should be loose enough to slip a finger under it.
  
  
• A suction device can be placed over the bite to help draw venom out of the wound without making cuts. These devices are often included in commercial snake bite kits.

Most often, physicians use antivenin -- an antidote to snake venom -- to treat serious snake bites. Antivenin is derived from antibodies created in a horse's blood serum when the animal is injected with snake venom. Because antivenin is obtained from horses, snake bite victims sensitive to horse products must be carefully managed.

Preventing snake bites:

Some bites, such as those inflicted when you accidentally step on a snake in the woods, are nearly impossible to prevent. However, there are precautions that can reduce your chances of being bitten by a snake. These include:

• Leave snakes alone. Many people are bitten because they try to kill a snake or get too close to it.
  
  
• Stay out of tall grass unless you wear thick leather boots and remain on hiking paths as much as possible.
  
  
• Keep hands and feet out of areas you cannot see. Do not pick up rocks or firewood unless you are out of a snake's striking distance.
  
  
• Be cautious and alert when climbing rocks.

Effective first aid in the event of Snake bite

1	Reassure the victim
	Calm the victim down. Un-necessary panic will only raise the pulse rate and blood pressure and moves the venom into the system faster. Tell the victim that 70% of snakebites are from non-poisonous species. Of the remaining 30%, only half will actually involve injecting venom. The chances are they are OK!
2	Immobilise the bitten limb without compression.
	If the bite is on a hand or arm place it in a sling bandage or use a piece of cloth to support the arm. In the case of a leg bite, use a splint to support both legs and bandage them together. Do not tie the bandages tightly, we are only trying to immobilise not apply any pressure.
3	Get the patient to Hospital as fast as safely possible.
	Don’t waste time washing the wound, seeking traditional remedies or applying any drugs or chemicals to the victim. Science has shown that traditional remedies do not work and simply waste valuable time. Snakestones do not absorb venom and many herbal remedies make the situation worse. Keep the patient as immobile as possible.
4	Tell the Doctor any of the following signs appearing on the way to the hospital.
	The Doctor will want to know if any of the following signs or symptoms are noticeable on the journey to the hospital: Difficulty breathing. If the patient stops breathing, give artificial respiration. In Cobra and Krait bites this will save the victims life. Drooping eyelids Bleeding from the gums or any unusual bruising appearing. Increases in any swelling. Carry a pen and mark the limit of the swelling every 10 minutes or so Drowsiness Difficulty speaking Bleeding from the wound that does not seem to stop

Importance

Do not ever kill a snake!

Snakes are of major importance as pest controllers because of their extensive predation on destructive mammals such as rats and mice. Some, like the sea snakes and pythons, are highly regarded as food in Asia but, although most are probably edible, snakes are not widely used for meat. The skin is often used for belts, bags, and shoes. Venom is removed from snakes for use in treating certain diseases and to make antivenin for snakebites.

Medical importance

Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. The name, antivenin, comes from the French word venin meaning venom, and historically the word antivenin was predominant around the world, however, this usage is archaic in English. For the English language the World Health Organization decided in 1981 that the preferred terminology in the English language would be "venom" and "antivenom" rather than "venin/antivenin" or "venen/antivenene".

Antivenom is created by injecting a small amount of the targeted venom into an animal such as a horse, sheep, goat, or rabbit; the subject animal will suffer an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation in others. Internationally, antivenoms must carefully meet the standards of Pharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Relation with us

Snakes are a part of Hindu worship. A festival Nag Panchami is celebrated every year on snakes. Most images of Lord Shiva depict snake around his neck. Puranas have various stories associated with Snakes. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as "Ananta-Shesha" which means "Endless Shesha". Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Ananta, Vasuki, Taxak, Karkotaka and Pingala. The term Nāga is used to refer to entities which take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Snakes have also been widely revered, such as in ancient Greece, where the serpent was seen as a healer, and Asclepius carried two intertwined on his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death . In Christianity, Christ's redemptive work is compared to saving one's life through beholding the serpent of brass . However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent was seen as a representative of evil and sly plotting, which can be seen in the description in Genesis chapter 3 of a snake in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve.In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge.

Reproduction

Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes; all snakes employ internal fertilization, accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored inverted in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined in order to grip the walls of the female's cloaca.

Most species of snake lay eggs, and most of those species abandon them shortly after laying; however, individual species such as the King cobra actually construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches after they have laid them and remain with the eggs until they hatch. The female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water and will generate heat to incubate the eggs by shivering.

Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Recently, it has been confirmed that several species of snake are fully viviparous, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac, which is highly unusual among reptiles, or anything else outside of placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments, as the retention of the young within the female.

Locomotion

The lack of limbs does not impede the movement of snakes, and they have developed several different modes of locomotion to deal with particular environments. Unlike the gaits of limbed animals, which form a continuum, each mode of snake locomotion is discrete and distinct from the others, and transitions between modes are abrupt.

Lateral undulation


Lateral undulation is the sole mode of aquatic locomotion, and the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion.[36] In this mode, the body of the snake alternately flexes to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving 'waves'. While this movement appears rapid, snakes have been documented moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement is similar to running in lizards of the same mass.

Terrestrial

Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the Banded sea snake, Laticauda sp. lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8 along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.

Aquatic


When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic vs terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the pattern, i.e. moving backwards via forward-traveling waves.

Sidewinding


A Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) sidewinding When compared, the Skeletons of snakes are radicaly different from those of most other reptiles (such as the turtle, right), being made up almost entirely of an extended ribcage. Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment which lacks any irregularities to push against (and which therefore renders lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune. Sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar 'rolling' motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than ⅓ of the cost for a lizard or snake to move the same distance. Contrary to popular beliefs, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with hot sand.

Concertina locomotion

When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.

Rectilinear locomotion

The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one in which the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.

Other
The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'. Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in mid-air.

Internal Organ

The snake's heart is encased in a sac, called the pericardium, located at the bifurcation of the bronchi. The heart is able to move around, however, owing to the lack of a diaphragm. This adjustment protects the heart from potential damage when large ingested prey is passed through the esophagus. The spleen is attached to the gall bladder and pancreas and filters the blood. The thymus gland is located in fatty tissue above the heart and is responsible for the generation of immune cells in the blood. The cardiovascular system of snakes is also unique for the presence of a renal portal system in which the blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart. The vestigial left lung is often small or sometimes even absent, as snakes' tubular bodies require all of their organs to be long and thin. In the majority of species, only one lung is functional. This lung contains a vascularized anterior portion and a posterior portion which does not function in gas exchange. This 'saccular lung' is used for hydrostatic purposes to adjust buoyancy in some aquatic snakes and its function remains unknown in terrestrial species. Many organs that are paired, such as kidneys or reproductive organs, are staggered within the body, with one located ahead of the other. Snakes have no colenary bladder or lymph nodes.

Venom

Cobras, vipers, and closely related species use venom to immobilize or kill their prey. The venom is modified saliva, delivered through fangs. The fangs of 'advanced' venomous snakes like viperids and elapids are hollow in order to inject venom more effectively, while the fangs of rear-fanged snakes such as the Boomslang merely have a groove on the posterior edge to are often prey specific, its role in self-defense is secondary. Venom, like all salivary secretions, is a pre-digestant which initiates the breakdown of food into soluble compounds allowing for proper digestion and even "non-venomous" snake bites (like any animal bite) will cause tissue damage.

Certain birds, mammals, and other snakes such as kingsnakes that prey on venomous snakes have developed resistance and even immunity to certain venom. Venomous snakes include three families of snakes and do not constitute a formal classification group use channel venom into the wound. Snake venomsd in taxonomy. The term poisonous snake is mostly incorrect – poison is inhaled or ingested whereas venom is injected. There are, however, two exceptions – Rhabdophis sequesters toxins from the toads it eats then secretes them from nuchal glands to ward off predators, and a small population of garter snakes in Oregon retains enough toxin in their liver from the newts they eat to be effectively poisonous to local small predators such as crows and foxes.

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins and are stored in poison glands at the back of the head. In all venomous snakes these glands open through ducts into grooved or hollow teeth in the upper jaw. These proteins can potentially be a mix of neurotoxins (which attack the nervous system), hemotoxins (which attack the circulatory system), cytotoxins, bungarotoxins and many other toxins that affect the body in different ways. Almost all snake venom contains hyaluronidase, an enzyme that ensures rapid diffusion of the venom.

Venomous snakes that use hemotoxins usually have the fangs that secrete the venom in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. Some snakes that use neurotoxins, such as the mangrove snake, have their fangs located in the back of their mouths, with the fangs curled backwards. This makes it both difficult for the snake to use its venom and for scientists to milk them. Elapid snakes, however, such as cobras and kraits are proteroglyphous, possessing hollow fangs which cannot be erected toward the front of their mouths and cannot "stab" like a viper, they must actually bite the victim.

It has recently been suggested that all snakes may be venomous to a certain degree, the harmless snakes having weak venom and no fangs. Most snakes that are considered non-venomous would still be considered harmless under this theory, because under most cases the snakes have no way of delivering much or any venom, certainly not enough to kill a human. Also under this theory, snakes may have evolved from a common lizard ancestor that was venomous, from which venomous lizards like the gila monster and beaded lizard may have also derived, as well as the monitor lizards and now extinct mosasaurs. They share this venom clade with various other saurian species.

Venomous snakes are classified in two taxonomic families:

* Elapids – cobras including king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, sea snakes, and coral snakes.
* Viperids – vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, adders and bushmasters.

There is a third family containing the opistoglyphous (rear-fanged) snakes as well as the majority of other snake species:

* Colubrids – boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, mangrove snakes, although not all colubrids are venomous.

Feeding & diet

All snakes are strictly carnivorous, eating small animals including lizards, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails or insects. Because snakes cannot bite or tear their food to pieces, a snake must swallow its prey whole. The body size of a snake has a major influence on its eating habits. Smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example. African Egg-eating snake

The snake's jaw is the most unique jaw in the animal kingdom. Contrary to the popular belief that snakes can dislocate their jaws, snakes have a very flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in their skull (see snake skull), allowing them to open their mouths wide enough to swallow their prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself, as snakes do not chew. For example, the African Egg-eating Snake has flexible jaws adapted for eating eggs much larger than the diameter of its head. This snake has no teeth, but does have bony protrusions on the inside edge of its spine which are used to aid in breaking the shells of the eggs it eats. While the majority of snakes eat a variety of prey animals, there is some specialization by some species. King cobras and the Australian Bandy-bandy consume other snakes. Pareas iwesakii and other snail-eating Colubrids of subfamily Pareatinae have more teeth on the right side of their mouths than on the left, as the shells of their prey usually spiral clockwise Some snakes have a venomous bite, which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction. Still others swallow their prey whole and alive. After eating, snakes become dormant while the process of digestion takes place.

Digestion is an intense activity, especially after consumption of very large prey. In species that feed only sporadically, the entire intestine enters a reduced state between meals to conserve energy, and the digestive system is 'up-regulated' to full capacity within 48 hours of prey consumption. Being cold-blooded (ectothermic), the surrounding temperature plays a large role in a snake's digestion. 30 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature for snakes to digest their food. So much metabolic energy is involved in a snake's digestion that in Crotalus durissus, the Mexican rattlesnake, an increase of body temperature to as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius above the surrounding environment has been observed. Because of this, a snake disturbed after having eaten recently will often regurgitate its prey in order to be able to escape the perceived threat. When undisturbed, the digestive process is highly efficient, with the snake's digestive enzymes dissolving and absorbing everything but the prey's hair and claws, which are excreted along with waste.

Perception

Eyesight
Snake vision varies greatly, from as good as blind to keen eyesight, but the main trend is that their vision is adequate although not sharp, and allows them to track movements. Generally, vision is best in arboreal snakes and weakest in burrowing snakes. Some snakes, such as the Asian vine snake (genus Ahaetulla), have binocular vision, with both eyes capable of focusing on the same point. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina, while in the other amniote groups, the lens is stretched.

Smell

Snakes use smell to track their prey. It smells by using its forked tongue to collect airborne particles then passing them to the Jacobson's organ or the Vomeronasal organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue gives the snake a sort of directional sense of smell and taste simultaneously.[28] The snake keeps its tongue constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water analyzing the chemicals found and determining the presence of prey or predators in its local environment.

Vibration sensitivity
The part of the body which is in direct contact with the surface of the ground is very sensitive to vibration, thus a snake is able to sense other animals approaching through detecting faint vibrations in the air and on the ground.

Infrared sensitivity
Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas have infrared-sensitive receptors in deep grooves between the nostril and eye, although some have labial pits on their upper lip just below the nostrils (common in pythons) which allow them to "see" the radiated heat. Infrared sensitivity helps snakes locate nearby prey, especially warm-blooded mammals.

Skin

The skin of a snake is covered in scales. Contrary to the popular notion of snakes being slimy because of possible confusion of snakes with worms, snakeskin has a smooth, dry texture. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, gripping surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales which remain permanently closed, also known as brille.

The shedding of scales is called ecdysis, or, in normal usage moulting or sloughing. In the case of snakes, the complete outer layer of skin is shed in one layer. Snake scales are not discrete but extensions of the epidermis hence they are not shed separately, but are ejected as a complete contiguous outer layer of skin during each moult, akin to a sock being turned inside out.

The shape and number of scales on the head, back and belly can be characteristic are often used for taxonomic purposes. Scales are named mainly according to their positions on the body. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing scientists to count the vertebrae without dissection