10 deadly snakes. The most dangerous snakes in the world

Where they live: northeast Australia

Length: 3.5 meters

The strength of the venom is such that one bite can kill about 100 adults or 250,000 mice. Maximum dose (per bite) 100 mg.

The history of taipan exploration is associated with many dramatic events. Very for a long time people could not get this snake, and all the scientists’ information was based only on the legends of local residents about it.

The taipan was first described from a single specimen in 1867. In the next 56 years, no new information there was no information about this snake. However, at that time there was an urgent need to develop an antidote. After all, more than 80 people died from taipan poisoning in Australia every year.

Finally, on June 28, 1950, a young catcher from Sydney, Kevin Baden, went in search of this snake. He found the taipan, but when the catcher took the snake in his hands, it was able to dodge and bite his finger. Baden died, but the snake was still taken to the research center.

Mulga (Pseudechis australis) - Brown King

Habitat: Australia

Length: 2.5 - 3 meters

Mulga venom is considered highly poisonous and is produced in large quantities. In one bite average snake Mulga can secrete 150 mg of poison.

Mulga is found almost throughout Australia - all of the northern and most western territory mainland. They can be found in all states except Victoria and Tasmania. Mulga habitats include forests, meadows, grasslands, deserts, deep crevices and abandoned burrows. They don't live in tropical forests.

Mulga feeds on other reptiles: snakes (including poisonous ones), lizards, frogs, as well as birds and mammals. Their bodies are well adapted to digest others poisonous snakes, their poison is not dangerous for mulga.

Habitat: Australia, South Asia, islands of the Malay archipelago

Length: 1.5-2 m

One dose is enough to kill 10 people.

Prefers dry places rich in shelters (burrows, bushes, dead wood). Very often it crawls onto cultivated lands, into courtyards, and into people's houses. That is why there are so many cases of snake attacks on people.

The most common species is the pama or ribbon krait, found in India, southern China and Burma. Its one and a half meter body is covered with wide alternating yellow and black rings. Its venom is very strong, even a viper dies from the bite of this snake, although vipers are considered susceptible to many types of poison. If you encounter a krait during the day, there is little chance that it will attack. At this time, the snake is extremely lethargic, avoids the sun, seeks shade and moves slowly. If she is disturbed, she usually does not rush, but crawls to the side and curls up into a ring. But at night, kraits are extremely unfriendly; they can attack even if they are not threatened.

Their poison is very strong. A bitten chicken dies within 15 minutes, and one dose is enough to kill 10 people. The scientist Roussel conducted experiments to find out how the krait poison works. The dog bitten by the snake, 10 minutes after the bite, began to twitch its wounded limb and raised it up, but could still stand. After 5 minutes she lay down and started barking. Within 25 minutes of the bite, both hind legs were paralyzed. During the second hour, the paralysis worsened: the dog began to breathe heavily and died by the end of this hour.

Since kraits can lead a diurnal lifestyle, and, moreover, they are quite numerous, there are constant meetings between snakes and humans. More often than any other snake, the krait crosses the path of a traveler, penetrates not only into open huts, but even into locked houses, curling up on the threshold of a door, in the corner of a room, in a closet, and slips into bedrooms and bathrooms.

Where it lives: Australia, except for the northernmost regions, Tasmania and a number of islands off the southern coast

Length: 1.5-2 m

Among all the snakes that inhabit our planet, tiger snakes have the most powerful venom. Small animals bitten by a tiger snake die instantly, not even a few seconds pass. And all the poison contained in the glands of one snake is enough to kill 400 people! The snake's venom acts on the victim's nervous system and paralyzes it. When the poison reaches the nerve centers that control breathing and heartbeat, the victim dies.

An encounter with a tiger snake is very dangerous, although local residents reassure tourists. They say, despite the fact that the tiger snake is the most poisonous, it is the most cowardly: it never crawls into houses, does not deliberately rush at people and generally tries to stay away from them. Attacks only when defending.

The egg is viviparous and brings abundant offspring - usually up to 72 snakes. (There is a known case when 109 embryos were found during autopsy in a large female.

When excited, the tiger snake raises the front part of its body high, greatly flattening its head and neck. Small animals bitten by a tiger snake die instantly, literally without leaving the spot.

Habitat: India, southern part China, Burma, Siam, Afghanistan, and southern regions Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea

Length: 1.4-1.81 m

“When Buddha once wandered the earth and fell asleep under the rays midday sun, the cobra appeared, expanded its shield and shaded the face of the god from the sun. Pleased with this, the god promised her extreme mercy, but forgot about his promise, and the snake was forced to remind him of this, since the vultures were causing terrible devastation among them at that time. In defense against these birds of prey Buddha gave the cobra glasses, which kites are still afraid of today.”

As long as it is not disturbed, the snake lazily lies in front of the entrance to its home, usually basks in the sun, and when a person appears, as a rule, it quickly hides. Only when brought to the extreme does she rush at the attacker.

Cobra venom has neurotoxic effects. A minute later, complete paralysis sets in. I spectacled cobra so toxic that a chicken dies from its bite in 4 minutes, and a laboratory mouse dies in 2 minutes.

But the cobra never bites a person unless absolutely necessary, and even if it makes a throw towards the enemy, it often does not open its mouth (a fake throw). Never anger a cobra. Even if it is nearby, you should not hit the snake with a stick or throw any objects at it. This will only anger the reptile, and it will attack in self-defense.

Length: 70–80 cm

Habitat: Found in foothills and valleys Central Asia, in all northern Africa to Algeria

Lives in lumpy sands overgrown with saxaul, in clay deserts, thickets of bushes, on river cliffs and in ruins. IN favorable conditions Epha can be quite numerous. For example, in the valley of the Murgab River, over an area of ​​about 1.5 km, snake catchers produced more than 2 thousand ef.

Efa is an amazing snake. In many ways it differs from its cold-blooded counterparts. For example, ephas may not hibernate if the winter is not cold. They can mate in January. And by March, small snakes appear, while in other snakes they appear no earlier than June. Surprisingly, the efa does not lay eggs and gives birth to live snakes. The female brings from 3 to 16 young reptiles 10-16 cm long.

Despite the fact that the efa is one of the most poisonous snakes, it rarely attacks living creatures that are larger than a vole. Most often, its prey is centipedes, spiders, grasshoppers, and midges. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the efa is quite nimble and cannot, like many snakes, simply lie in the sun. But in order to digest large prey, you need to be at rest for a long time.

Efa is characterized by sideways movement. She throws her head to the side, then brings the back of her body forward and pulls up the front of her body. This method creates better body support on a loose substrate. Because of this method of movement, a characteristic mark remains on the sand - individual oblique stripes with hooked ends.

Efa very rarely crawls into people's houses, but it still happens sometimes. Similar cases have been recorded in Egypt. You need to be especially careful with ruins or abandoned houses. In 1987, three children died in Cairo after finding a nest in an abandoned house where no one had lived for many years. The children entered this house out of curiosity and accidentally disturbed the ef family hiding there. The snake, protecting its newly born offspring, attacked the children. They could not be saved because the poison acted very quickly.

A first aid measure for a bite is to immediately suck out the venom from the wounds, so that a significant part of the venom can be removed from the body. Squeezing out the venom with your fingers and suctioning should be done within 7-10 minutes after the bite. Suctioning is completely safe for the people doing it. A tourniquet should not be applied. It practically does not delay the process of absorption of poisons.

Habitat: Australia, northern Africa, Brazil, Argentina, West Indies Islands

Length: from 60 cm to 2.5 m

The most common species are the Egyptian adder, the Coral adder and the Common adder. The Egyptian adder is the most poisonous snake of this genus. A person dies from its bite within 5 minutes. Its average size is about two meters. In coloring it resembles a spectacled snake. It is believed that the asp can cause harm not only when it bites, it can spit poisonous saliva at a distance of almost one and a half meters.

The common adder is found in Australia and New Guinea. Its length is up to 1.5 meters. It has a very unfriendly disposition, as it attacks everyone who comes in its way, be it a pet or a person. From its bite they die quickly and in terrible agony.

If the asp attacks, then there is very little chance of escape. The traveler Anderson told the following story: “One day my friend was collecting herbs. Suddenly, a snake, previously unnoticed by him, pounced and tried to bite his hand. Anderson, without hesitation, ran away. The snake would have been able to catch up with him, but this story ended unexpectedly - the running man did not notice the anthill, tripped and fell into the nearest ditch. The snake, apparently blinded by rage, rushed past without noticing that the man had fallen..."

There is a vaccine against asp venom. But the fact is that the poison acts with lightning speed. A person dies in 7 minutes, so there is simply no time to administer the antidote. 8 out of 10 people bitten die.

Habitat: South and South-West Africa

Length: from 50 cm to 3 meters

The venom of the African boomslang is 2 times more dangerous than the venom of a viper or Indian cobra.

The front teeth on the upper jaw have a groove. This is where the poison flows during a bite. The poison itself is very toxic. As soon as it enters the bloodstream, it immediately begins to destroy cells. Experiments were carried out, as a result of which ducks bitten by a boomslang died from poison after 15 minutes, and paralysis occurred within a minute. The venom of the African boomslang is twice as dangerous as that of the viper or Indian cobra.

There is a known tragic incident in 1957. At this time, the famous American zoologist and specialist in reptiles, Carl Paterson Schmidt, died from a boomslang bite. He was trying to catch an African boomslang and study it: he grabbed the snake, and it was able to dodge and bite the zoologist on the hand. Dying, the scientist kept notes until the last moment in which he noted his condition.

Over the past 5 years, 23 people have died from the bite of the African boomslang. True, there are 2 times more deaths due to vipers, and almost 3 times more due to cobras.

With a boomslang, as with any other snake, you must exercise maximum caution: do not come close, do not anger the snake, do not make sudden movements.

Only through human fault does the boomslang become aggressive and attack. In 9 out of 10 cases, when meeting a person, the snake simply tries to hide. Don't touch the snake, then the snake won't touch you.

Habitat: South Africa

Length: up to 150 cm

The venom of the green mamba is very strong, it is even more toxic than the venom of some cobras. The green mamba can attack for no apparent reason.

Mamba is a very beautiful snake. Her scales shimmer emerald green, with shades of blue and yellow. If a mamba attacks, there is very little chance of escape. The snake attacks without warning, and its venom acts so quickly that doctors do not even have time to administer the antidote on the spot, let alone bring it to the nearest hospital.

Of course, it is very difficult to spot this green snake in the dense foliage. But still, if you are in places where green mambas can live, try to carefully monitor not only living creatures in the grass, but also look at the trees. If you notice a mamba in the leaves, do not take risks, but avoid it.

Habitat: Dagestan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. Türkiye, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North-West India.

Length: up to 1.5 m

This is the viper, a local deadly snake. Despite the fact that a vaccine against its poison has now been invented, they often simply do not have time to administer it to the victim, and 20% of all those bitten die. Once in the blood, the poison begins to destroy red blood cells and causes blood clotting. Numerous internal hemorrhages, severe swelling in the bite area, and blockage of blood vessels occur. All this is accompanied by severe pain, dizziness, and vomiting. If prompt assistance is not provided, the person dies within 2-3 hours.

The number of these snakes is large. Up to 5 individuals live on one hectare. Moreover, sometimes vipers gather as a whole group. There have often been cases where up to 20 snakes were found under one small stone at once.

If nothing threatens the viper, it is very slow and prefers to lie in the sun or under some stone. She doesn’t even track prey, but waits, staying in one place. But such slowness and sluggishness are visible. The snake is slow when nothing and no one bothers it, but if necessary, it is capable of moving very quickly, including through trees. When danger appears, she quickly crawls to the nearest shelter. If its path is blocked, the viper emits a loud, threatening hiss and makes a sharp throw with its whole body towards the enemy.

Instructions

Already ordinary

This snake is the largest of the entire family of colubrids. Snakes are widespread in Russia. The length of this non-poisonous creature can sometimes reach 1.5 m. Average dimensions common snakes range from 80 cm to 1 m. Favorite places The habitats of these snakes are shores, lakes, rivers and ponds. Often these harmless snakes become guests in small populated areas located in a forested area. The common snake is easily recognized by its typical coloring: its back is dark gray or black. There are no drawings on it. The sides of the head are decorated with two oval orange or yellow spots. The abdomen of common grass snakes is dirty gray or light gray.

These snakes are also considered harmless. Widely distributed in the area Russian Federation. They can exceed 2 m in length, quite quickly. Snakes crawl not only on the ground, but also on stones and even trees. The bite of this snake does not pose any danger to humans. However, it is quite painful. It is curious that the bite has all the signs of a poisonous snake bite: the person experiences dizziness, pain and swelling. But don't be afraid. If it is a snake bite, then everything will go away in 3 days.

Common copperhead

This is another non-venomous snake that also lives in Russia. The copperhead is a smooth and small snake. The length of its body does not exceed 0.7 m. The copperhead is colored brown or grayish. Sometimes its color has a certain reddish tint. Unfortunately, copperheads are very often confused with poisonous vipers, for which they are destroyed. It is worth noting that the head of the copperhead is narrower than that of the copperhead, and the scutes on the head (compared to the viper) are larger. In addition, the transition from the body to the neck is less noticeable in the copperhead than in the viper. The copperhead's bite can be poisonous to some small animals, but it is completely harmless to humans.

Brittle spindle

These non-venomous snakes can be found under stones, in forest clearings or in the grass. They are absolutely harmless to humans. These harmless snakes are engaged in the destruction of insects. It is curious that these snakes generally belong to the lizard family. Some of them even have small and underdeveloped limbs. These sublizards are widespread in Western Asia, Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia.

Today we will talk about the most dangerous snakes in the World

Snakes are one of the most mysterious and complex creatures on earth; some consider them incredibly beautiful and dangerous, others consider them vile, scary, disgusting, useless animals. The serpent, according to biblical legends, was the wisest animal before the fall of man, after which it began to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Snakes perform mainly sanitary functions by eating rodents, but many of them are poisonous to humans.

“More than 2,500 species of snakes live on our planet. They can be found everywhere except Antarctica and a few islands such as New Zealand and Ireland, and there are also none on the small islands of the Atlantic and Pacific (its central part) oceans. However, among all the snake diversity, only 10% are poisonous."

Of the more than 2,500 species of snakes, 410 are venomous.“They differ from each other not only in structure and way of life, but also chemical composition poison, its effect on a living organism. Official statistics state that every year from snake bites up to 50,000 people die.”

The most actively populated by dangerous snakes are countries, regions, continents, where tropics, heat, mountains, and jungles abound. For example, in the vicinity of Brazil there is an island called “Snake”.

“Snake Island (located off the coast of Brazil)

The most dangerous poisonous snakes on the continent are found here. For example, spearheads - one bite from a snake of this species leads to instant tissue death and death.

According to statistics, the number of poisonous snakes ranges from 1 to 5 individuals per square meter area of ​​Zmeiny Island. Therefore, visiting the island is officially prohibited. But still, every year there are extreme sportsmen...”

There are only a few species of venomous snakes found in Russia, mainly in the North Caucasus. In the rest of Russia you can find vipers and copperheads. Their bites are usually non-fatal, but there are rare fatal cases. In general, death from a viper bite occurs about as often as from a hornet bite, and mostly not from poison, but from anaphylactic shock.

In the North Caucasus you can find such poisonous snakes as the copperhead (three species), the viper (six species), the viper, and the tiger snake.

Pictured: Cottonmouth

Viper in the photo

In the photo is Gyurza

“The viper is a representative of the genus of giant vipers and is capable of reaching a length of two meters, it is the largest representative of the genus of vipers. For humans, such a snake is the most dangerous.

In terms of its toxicity, the venom of the viper is perhaps second only to that of the cobra, while during defense, the snake is able to jump the length of its own body towards the enemy.

The bite of such a snake is accompanied by severe pain, vomiting and dizziness; just one such bite contains up to 50 milligrams of poison. If help is not provided on time, then within two to three hours the person will die.”

In addition to infecting the victim with venom, snakes are capable of killing and harming the victim in other ways.

For example, in tropical rivers South America, Brazil is home to the anaconda, we have seen it in horror films and in wildlife videos where a snake swallows animals alive by a crocodile.

This is the most large snake Of the known modern snakes, even the weight of females can reach 100 kg, length 5-6 meters.

In the photo there is an anaconda

Contrary to the horrors described and shown, the anaconda rarely attacks a person, however, cases of attack and murder of people have still been recorded.

Boas, for example, squeeze the victim, tying it with rings and squeezing the chest or throat.

There are a lot of snakes that infect the victim directly with poison; let’s look at the most dangerous of them.

The first places are shared by the fierce snake, taipan, tiger snake, and sand epha.

I’ll tell you right away about the most beautiful of them:

"Spectacled snake, or Indian cobra(lat. Naja naja) is a very beautiful motley snake, growing up to 1.5-2 meters in length. Lives in India Central Asia, South China(to the Philippines and the islands of the Malay Archipelago).

The photo shows a spectacled snake

The offspring of this cobra are poisonous from the very first minutes after birth. The venom of the spectacled cobra contains toxins that cause damage to the central nervous system. Just one gram of poison can kill 140 medium-sized dogs.”

Pictured is a Malayan krait

“The Malayan krait (lat. Bungarus candidus) is a very dangerous snake from the adder family. Extremely unfriendly. It lives in Australia, South Asia and the islands of the Malay Archipelago.

Its poison is fatal and primarily affects the human brain. Death can occur quickly and even without paralytic symptoms.”

I must say, in general, asps are all beautiful, from the outside... Asps are a large family of poisonous snakes, which includes 347 species, grouped into 61 genera, including mambas and cobras.

“In general, neurotoxins predominate in the venom of slate snakes, which gives a characteristic clinical picture when bitten. Local phenomena in the area of ​​the bite almost do not develop (there is no swelling or redness), but death quickly occurs due to depression of the nervous system, primarily paralysis of the respiratory center. The bite of large adders, such as cobras, represents mortal danger for a person."

In the photo there is a harlequin adder

“The harlequin, or eastern adder (lat. Micrurus fulvius) is a poisonous snake that lives in northeastern Mexico and the southeastern part of the United States. The owner of a bright color with characteristic red, black and narrow yellow rings.

The bite of this snake is very dangerous for human life. If help is not provided in time, a person can die within 20-24 hours.”

Adders also include the most poisonous land snake - the cruel snake (although a number of scientists, according to recent studies, call the tiger snake and others the taipan the most dangerous).

The photo shows a cruel snake

“On average, one snake receives 44 mg of venom - this dose is enough to kill 100 people or 250,000 mice. With a semi-lethal dose of 0.01 mg/kg, its venom is approximately 180 times stronger than that of a cobra. However, unlike the coastal taipan, the fierce snake is less aggressive; all documented cases of bites were the result of careless handling” (Wikipedia).

The taipan is perhaps not as beautiful as the harlequin adder, but more dangerous; it is one of the most dangerous and aggressive snakes in the world; every second person bitten dies, despite the use of the serum:

“The coastal taipan or simply Taipan (lat. Oxyuranus scutellatus) is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

Pictured is a taipan.

The taipan is very aggressive and fast: when it sees danger, it raises its head, shaking it, then strikes the enemy several times in a row with lightning speed. A taipan bite can lead to death in 4-12 hours, while a person bitten by other most poisonous snakes lives for about a day.

In Queensland, where taipans are most common, despite the invention of the serum, every second bitten person still dies.

Because of its aggressive nature, large size and speed, the taipan is considered the most dangerous of all venomous snakes in the world, although the strength of its venom is somewhat weaker than that of the desert taipan, a fierce snake.”

Mulga in the photo

Mulga or brown king (lat. Pseudechis australis) is a dangerous snake from the adder family. In terms of toxicity, its venom is second only to that of the taipan and tiger snake, but this is successfully compensated for by its a large number: At one time, mulga is capable of releasing up to 150 mg of poison. Moreover, this snake is in no hurry to immediately release the victim, but holds it with its long teeth, injecting new portions of poison.

The black mamba (also asp) is common in Africa, one of the most fast snakes, reaches speeds of over 11 km per hour (yes, that's fast for a snake).

Pictured is a black mamba

“The snake has a sad reputation for being extremely dangerous, the bite of which, before the advent of antidotes, invariably led to death. However, it is not aggressive and avoids human contact whenever possible, only attacking when caught off guard or cornered.

The poison is highly toxic and contains neurotoxins, primarily dendrotoxins, which, in the absence of an antidote, lead to paralysis and respiratory arrest. There are known cases where death occurred within 45 minutes after the bite.”

“Adult specimens reach a length of 2.5 meters, although there are cases of sad encounters with mambas of 4 meters in length. The black mamba owes its name not to the color of its body (it varies), but to the inky color of its mouth.

This reptile is very fast, reaching speeds of up to 20 km/h. After the first “tip,” the mamba tries to sting several more times, and if the poisonous tooth gets into a vein, all is lost. Mambas often love garbage dumps in African villages, which makes ordinary garbage disposal a very extreme activity.”

This is one of the 20 most dangerous snakes on the planet. A dose of 15-29 mg is enough to kill an adult, but the black mamba injects 100-400 mg of poison at a time.

If a person is bitten on a limb, a person has a couple of hours; with timely assistance (injection of serum into the blood), there is a 99% chance of recovery; if the bite is in the face, there is only 20-30 minutes.

The photo shows a green mamba

The green mamba is an insidious snake, it is also nicknamed the “green devil”. The color of its color is very beautiful, from light green to bright green, the length of an adult is about 1.5 m. There are fewer cases of death from green mamba bites than from black mamba bites, but the green mamba attacks very unexpectedly, on its own, and for no apparent reason, there have been cases when she was waiting for people on tree branches while harvesting tea plantations and fell by the collar from above, inflicting a fatal blow. It happened that a person’s death occurred in a couple of minutes, not that they didn’t have time to administer the serum - they didn’t have time to understand what happened.

Death snakes are also a subspecies of adders.

The photo shows a deadly snake

« Deadly snakes (lat. Acanthophis) are a genus of Australian very poisonous snakes, consisting of 3-5 species. They are among the most poisonous snakes on the planet. The name is translated from Greek as “thorny snake.”

The venom of deadly snakes is extremely toxic - enough venom can be obtained from one snake to kill 2,285 mice. When bitten, a deadly snake injects 70-100 mg of venom (LD50 for mice 0.4-0.5 mg/kg). The venom is almost exclusively neurotoxic and is 1.5 times stronger than the venom of the cobra (Naja naja).

Unlike most Australian adder bites, symptoms of poisoning develop slowly, peaking 24-48 hours after the bite. However, before the development of a special serum, half of the recorded cases died from bites of these snakes. The deadly snake Acanthophis antarcticus is the 10th most venomous land snake in the world.”

There is a common misconception that the most poisonous and dangerous snake is the cobra, in particular the king cobra. This is wrong.

“King cobra venom is primarily neurotoxic. The venom toxin blocks muscle contractions, which causes paralysis of the respiratory muscles, respiratory arrest and death. Its strength and volume (up to 7 ml) are enough to cause the death of a person within 15 minutes after the first full bite. In such cases, the probability of death may exceed 75%.

But, taking into account all the behavioral features of the king cobra, in general, only 10% of bites become fatal to humans. In India, deaths from king cobra bites are rare, despite the fact that up to 50 thousand people die from poisonous snake bites in the country every year.

In the photo king cobra

The king cobra is a very patient snake. If a person finds himself at close range with this snake, he should stand (or sit) at the level of its eyes, do not make sudden movements, breathe evenly and look at it calmly. After a few minutes, the cobra will consider the person a harmless object and slip away.”

The sand epha, which usually has a body length of only 70-80 cm, is found in the foothills and valleys of Central Asia, throughout northern Africa to Algeria.

In the photo there is a sand faff

“If an efa bites, then the person is doomed, even if he survives, he will remain crippled forever. In Africa he dies from its poison more people than from all African snakes combined.

Lives in lumpy sands overgrown with saxaul, in clay deserts, thickets of bushes, on river cliffs and in ruins. In favorable conditions, efa can be very numerous. For example, in the valley of the Murghab River, over an area of ​​about 1.5 km, snake catchers produced more than 2 thousand eff in 5 years.”

“The mortality rate for poisoning with epha poisons is about 20%. The use of serum reduces it to 2.5%. According to David Worrell, efa is responsible for greatest number deaths among all the snakes. Death from an ephas bite occurs at a “record” rate late dates: within 3-41 days."

The most poisonous snake living in the sea (according to some sources, the most poisonous in general) is Belchera; a drop of venom from one snake can kill a thousand people (for comparison, the venom of a tiger snake can kill 400 people, a cruel one - 100). True, the Belchera is peaceful and attacks only in extreme cases; death occurs within 1 minute.

Belcher's photo

There is a lot of debate among biologists and specialists about which snake is the most poisonous - some call the Belchera the most potentially poisonous, some say the efu, some say the taipan, a cruel snake.

Result:

“It is definitely difficult to answer which poisonous snake out of all their diversity is the most dangerous to humans. Why? Because not only the toxicity of the poison matters, but also the aggressiveness of the snake, the method of attack, the amount of poison injected during the bite, and the location of the teeth.

Putting all the factors together, scientists have identified the most dangerous snake on the planet - the sand epha for the following reasons:

• it has killed more people than all other poisonous snakes combined;
• every 5th person bitten dies even today, in the age of high medical technologies;
• If a person does survive, he will have health problems for the rest of his life. Most often the consequences of a bite sand f-hole have a detrimental effect on the kidneys and liver.”

All snakes are cold-blooded, their body temperature is the same as environment, they are unable to maintain body heat. “Cold, sometimes warm, sticky, slippery” - this is how those who had contact with them characterize the reptiles.

But the main thing is that snakes are always predators, and if some of them are not dangerous to people, they are dangerous to rodents.

Not each of us can accurately determine where dangerous viper, where is the peaceful little snake? But we all go on vacation in the forest, love to pick flowers in the field, travel to hot countries... And sometimes we don’t think that there might be a threat to our lives lurking nearby - a dangerous snake.

There are more than 3 thousand species of snakes on Earth, of which a quarter are considered dangerous. They live all over the planet, except icy Antarctica. Snake venom is a complex composition, a mixture of protein substances. When it enters the body of an animal or a person, it instantly affects the respiratory tract, blindness may occur, the blood thickens, or tissue necrosis begins. The consequences of a bite depend on the type of snake.

Snakes never attack people first; in most cases they bite for defensive purposes. But still, it is very difficult to understand how to behave when meeting a snake, especially since there are “reptiles” of different nature- angry, peaceful, aggressive... And they differ in attack tactics - they strike with lightning speed, they do it in a way that is completely incomprehensible to you, without warning. With this behavior, snakes seem to establish themselves as the best predator.

What can we do for our safety? Get to know the “enemy”, that is, get comprehensive information about snakes.

Which snakes are best not to encounter at all?

Dangerous snakes on earth

If you find yourself in Australia (exceptions include the northern regions), you should know that this continent is inhabited by tiger snake, which has the strongest poison in the heart of all snakes inhabiting the planet. The length of the snake is from 1.5 to 2 meters. The amount of poison contained in the snake's glands is enough to kill about 400 people! The effect of the poison spreads to the victim's nervous system. Paralysis of the nerve centers that control the functioning of the heart occurs, respiratory system and death comes.

Another deadly snake is this. It lives in huge quantities (up to 5 individuals per hectare) in such areas as: Tunisia, Dagestan, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Algeria, North-West India. Maximum length viper - 1.5 meters. The snake loves to lie in the sun and not move for a long time. Slow in appearance and clumsy, with one throw she can hit someone who seems suspicious to her or has caused trouble. A snake bite leads to blockage of blood vessels, destruction of red blood cells, rapid blood clotting and internal hemorrhages. The victim feels dizzy, severe pain, and vomits. If help is not provided in a timely manner, the person will die. Death occurs 2-3 hours after the bite.

You should also be careful in Australia, where you can find poisonous mulga. In the tropical forests mulga does not live, but lives in the desert, mountains, forests, meadows, abandoned holes, pastures. This snake is also called the brown king. The length of an adult is from 2.5 to 3 meters. The snake releases 150 mg of venom in one bite!

Known in the USA for its aggressiveness green rattlesnake . It is also found in northwestern Mexico and Canada. The rattlesnake not only climbs trees well, but also skillfully camouflages itself. For humans, its bite is fatal - it thins the blood.

Afghanistan, China (southern part), India, Siam, Burma, Turkmenistan - places where it occurs Indian cobra. Its length is from 140 to 181 cm. First, the Indian cobra will never attack a person. For it to do this, the snake must be too angry. But if the predator is pushed to the extreme, she makes a lightning-fast throw with her mouth open. Sometimes it turns out to be fake (with closed mouth), but if a bite follows, the action of the poison causes instant paralysis and death within a minute.

If the Indian cobra is calm in character - “don’t touch me and I will never bite you,” then asp distinguished by its unfriendliness. No matter who this poisonous snake meets on the way - a person, an animal - it will not let it pass, so as not to bite. The worst thing is that the effect of the poison is instantaneous. A person’s death occurs in 5-7 minutes and in excruciating pain! The asp lives in Brazil, Australia, Argentina, northern Africa and the West Indian Islands. There are several types of snake - Coral adder, Egyptian, Common, etc. The length of the reptile is from 60 cm to 2.5 meters.

Snakes that can attack for no reason include: , living on the territory South Africa. This dangerous snake, up to 150cm long, prefers to jump from tree branches without warning and strike its prey. fatal bite. It is almost impossible to escape from such a predator. The poison acts instantly.

Sandy efa- more people in Africa die from the bite of this small snake, only 70-80 cm long, than from all other poisonous snakes! Basically, the victims of the sand epha are small creatures - midges, spiders, centipedes. But if it so happens that a snake bites a person, there is a high probability that he will die. If he manages to survive, he will remain crippled for the rest of his life.

Dangerous snakes in the water

Well, they are not only found on earth dangerous snakes, but also in water. In the depths of the waters, starting from Indian Ocean and upon reaching Quiet, a person may be in danger in the form of sea ​​snake. This reptile is aggressive mating season and if they disturbed her peace. In terms of toxicity, the venom of a sea snake is stronger than any amphibian venom. The worst thing is that a snake bite is completely painless. A person can swim in the water and not notice anything. But after a few minutes, breathing problems, convulsions, paralysis and death begin.

A poisonous inhabitant of lakes, streams, and ponds in the eastern states of the United States is Cottonmouth fish-eater. Up to 180 cm long. Favorite prey is frogs, fish, other snakes and various small animals. A person can only be bitten if the reptile is in a hopeless situation. Her bite is fatal.

A person cannot be indifferent to snakes - watching them from a safe place causes delight, and close contact often turns into horror and panic. Snakes can be found on all continents with the exception of icy Antarctica. Snakes have always been the most dangerous creatures for humans, but only about 8% of them are poisonous. However, snakes that do not use poison at all can easily kill a person (for example, an anaconda). Since humans cannot be prey for snakes due to their size, they rarely attack him. Huge number People are instinctively afraid of snakes, since their very sight causes horror and numbness. What are the TOP most poisonous snakes in the world?

1. Taipan

"Taipan", "coastal taipan" or "fierce snake" are all names of one species of Australian taipan, belonging to the family of adders. Its poisonous teeth reach 13 mm in length, and its venom is one of the most powerful in the world, many times more toxic than that of the king cobra. Taipan is the most dangerous snake in the world not only thanks to its incredible strong poison, but also due to its ferocious character, large size and its agility. Even towards humans, this snake behaves very aggressively - when there is danger, it raises its head and attacks the opponent several times in a row.
Reptile venom has both a neurotoxic effect and a blood clotting effect, the blood clots of which clog the lumens of blood vessels. It acts unusually quickly, leading to a sad outcome if help is not provided within 4-12 hours. This type of snake is most often found in Queensland, where half of the people bitten die from taipan bites.

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2. Viper-shaped death snake

This dangerous snake belongs to the genus of deadly snakes of the slate family. She lives on an island New Guinea and in Australia. This nocturnal predator, which prefers to hunt mammals, birds and other snakes. The viper-shaped deadly snake uses a neurotoxic venom, which it injects into the victim in an amount of 40-100 mg. The viper-like death snake has an incredibly fast lunge - in just 0.13 seconds it shoots out, bites and returns.
After its bite, paralysis of the muscles, respiratory organs and depression of the heart develops, as a result of which a person can die within 6 hours. Every second bite of this snake leads to death.

3. Black mamba

This is the most dangerous African snake from the asp family, although its venom is not record-breakingly strong, each snake has enough of it to kill 10 people. This is the second longest venomous snake after the cobra, growing up to more than three meters. What makes the black mamba especially dangerous is its sprinting qualities - it can accelerate to speeds of more than 11 km/h. In this case, the angry snake will attack the victim again and again (up to 12 times) and can replenish it with 400 mg of poison during this time. The snake itself can be colored differently - from olive to grayish, but in any case, the mucous membrane of its mouth is always frighteningly black, hence the name of the species. Its habitats are savannas and rocky mountains of Eastern and Southern Africa. She sleeps in open low spaces, rock cracks, tree hollows, and abandoned termite mounds.
If you do not provide immediate assistance to the person (within 20 minutes) after the bite black mamba, then he has practically no chance. Its poison causes uncontrollable vomiting, abdominal pain, convulsions, followed by paralysis and death. Terribly afraid Africans call this snake “the kiss of death.” But in fairness, it is worth noting that the black mamba is not aggressive and tries in every possible way to escape, and only becomes dangerous in a hopeless situation. But even with all this, about 20 thousand people die every year in Africa from the bite of a black mamba.

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4. Philippine cobra

The classic image of a cobra is known to everyone due to its expanding ribs, forming a kind of hood. Compared to other venomous snakes, they are not that dangerous, but not the Philippine variety. Its venom is strong in itself (stronger than that of other cobras), and a cobra can inject up to 250 mg of it in one bite, and this is enough to send several people to heaven. Death can occur within half an hour after the bite, so people often simply do not have time to use long-established antidotes, since the progressive paralysis of the muscles of the respiratory system is often impossible to stop. But the Philippine cobra is especially dangerous because it is capable of not only biting, but also spitting poison into the eye from a distance of up to 3 meters.

5. Malayan Blue Krait

Living in Indonesia and Southeast Asia The Malayan blue krait's venom is 16 times stronger than that of the king cobra. Its venom contains a variety of toxins, so a universal antidote for it has never been created.
The bite of a blue krait first causes convulsions, then paralysis, and then 85% of those bitten die. We are only lucky that these snakes lead night look life, therefore they rarely intersect with a person. In addition, unlike the same taipan, the blue krait is not so aggressive and tends to dodge a fight and hide.

6. Tiger snake

The tiger snake lives in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. It belongs to the adder family and has wide transverse alternating yellow and gray rings - in the style of a tiger, hence the name of the species.
These snakes have very strong venom, causing muscle paralysis, suppression of pulmonary activity and death from suffocation. Bitten small animals often die right at the site of the bite, and when a person is bitten without using an antidote, up to 70% of those bitten die over the next 24 hours. The only relief that can be considered is the non-aggressiveness of tiger snakes, which try to retreat at every opportunity, and attack only in hopeless situations.

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7. Rattlesnake

This species of snake is so named because it has keratinized scaly plates on its tail, which when shaken in a moment of danger, the snake produces a rather loud, specific crackling sound. Actually, only two North American genera of pit vipers have such a device, which includes rattlesnakes, which are relatives of vipers. Pitheads live in both Americas.
A person will not have much of a chance to survive if an antidote is not quickly administered after being bitten by a rattlesnake. The eastern rattlesnake, which is native to North Carolina and the southern Florida Peninsula, is considered especially poisonous.

8. King Cobra

The largest of all venomous snakes is the king cobra or hamadryad. It belongs to the asp family. On average, its size is 3-4 meters, but rare specimens grow up to 5.6 m. The king cobra lives in the tropical forests of Pakistan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, and for a long time - over 30 years, without stopping its growth until its death. The hamadryad is characterized by the ability to raise its head vertically and move in this position. They often live near human habitation because they feed on other snakes, and they, in turn, feed on numerous rodents attracted by human crops.
This snake seems noble, because, as a rule, upon meeting, the first bite does not inject poison, but to scare away the enemy, and only when biting again does it resort to it. In fact, she's just saving her weapons. By the way, the king cobra does not have a very strong poison, but large quantities. Basically, its venom has a neurotoxic effect. If you really have to bite, then the cobra does not skimp and pours in a gigantic amount of poison (up to 7 ml), which is guaranteed to kill a person in 15 minutes. In such cases, 3 out of 4 people die. But such cases are rare, so only 10% of hamadryad bites are fatal.

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9. Sandy f-hole

In Asian countries (on Arabian Peninsula, in India, Sri Lanka and South-West Asia) and Africa in sandy deserts Ephs are found in dry savannahs. They become especially active after rain. These snakes have decent speed and a special way of moving along sand dunes.
The sand epha has a somewhat unusual venom that acts very slowly: from the moment of the bite it can take 2-4 weeks before the person dies. The bite site begins to hurt first, then the bitten limb swells, blood pressure drops and tissue necrosis begins. But with timely administration of serum, a fatal outcome can be avoided. Sandy Effs have a rather aggressive and irritable character. Moreover, their habitat is often in contact with the environment human activity. Ephs are active at night. They attack with lightning speed, injecting hemotoxin, which destroys red blood cells, and also muscle tissue and organ tissue. In general, mortality from ephas bites is at a very high level.

10. Belcher's sea snake

This is one of the most poisonous sea snakes, whose venom has an LD50 index of 0.1 mcg. She lives mainly in the waters of the warm Indian Ocean. But for humans, this snake, like most other sea snakes, is not too dangerous, since it does not show much aggression and is very tight-fisted in terms of using its poison. Therefore, most sea snake bites occur without tragic consequences for humans. To withdraw sea ​​snake out of yourself and make her bite, you still need to try. The snake goes to extreme measures only when there is a real danger to itself.
A person may not feel the bite itself, but after a few minutes he begins to have convulsions and becomes paralyzed nervous system and breathing, followed by death from suffocation.