New snake: 'Fierce, probably venomous'

Thx but don't need any new ones, got plenty of the old ones left...

The eyes are dull because this snake is ready to shed. That changes the color too.

Did they find this in Edmonton?

I read in a science journal some time ago that our plain variety garden snakes may be developing toxic bites. Not venom per se, but a combination of evolution and polution. Even without fangs, the small snakes had seragated ridges on the lips that can break skin and introduce toxic germs/bacteria into the victim.

Good time to discourage young boys from playing with garden snakes.

off the trail wrote:

I read in a science journal some time ago that our plain variety garden snakes may be developing toxic bites. Not venom per se, but a combination of evolution and polution. Even without fangs, the small snakes had seragated ridges on the lips that can break skin and introduce toxic germs/bacteria into the victim.
Good time to discourage young boys from playing with garden snakes.

Anytime an animal bites there is that possibility. What did it eat last? They don't have toothbrushes..

off the trail wrote:

I read in a science journal some time ago that our plain variety garden snakes may be developing toxic bites. Not venom per se, but a combination of evolution and polution. Even without fangs, the small snakes had seragated ridges on the lips that can break skin and introduce toxic germs/bacteria into the victim.
Good time to discourage young boys from playing with garden snakes.

Sounds like a coral snake - they have no fangs.

off the trail wrote:

I read in a science journal some time ago that our plain variety garden snakes may be developing toxic bites. Not venom per se, but a combination of evolution and polution. Even without fangs, the small snakes had seragated ridges on the lips that can break skin and introduce toxic germs/bacteria into the victim.
Good time to discourage young boys from playing with garden snakes.

Seems boys have been told not to play with the snake all their life...but it justy(tm) hasn't stopped...lol

Now that Bachmann, Trump, Cain, Perry, Newt and Ex Senator Frothy Lube have had their surges we have the next new candidate emerge....

dragoon70056 wrote:

<quoted text>
Sounds like a coral snake - they have no fangs.

Yes they do.. I'll find alink.

Fangs, yep...

http://digimorph.org/specimens/Micrurus_fulvi...

Oneluckygal wrote:

<quoted text>Yes they do.. I'll find alink.

Aw, I stand corrected. They DO have small, non-retractable fangs.

dragoon70056 wrote:

<quoted text>
Aw, I stand corrected. They DO have small, non-retractable fangs.

I knew they had to have, but admit to going to my resident expert for the link, lol.

Oneluckygal wrote:

<quoted text>I knew they had to have, but admit to going to my resident expert for the link, lol.

I do believe at one time it was believed that coral snakes do not have any fangs, because I remember one of my high school teachers telling us many, many moons ago that corals do not have fangs. I did find a couple of links that state that they do not have fangs; however, the sites are not as reputable as the UT link you posted.

dragoon70056 wrote:

<quoted text>
I do believe at one time it was believed that coral snakes do not have any fangs, because I remember one of my high school teachers telling us many, many moons ago that corals do not have fangs. I did find a couple of links that state that they do not have fangs; however, the sites are not as reputable as the UT link you posted.

If I remember my classes from survival school in the Marines.... Coral snakes,like Gila Monsters have their venomous teeth in the back of the mouth and have to kinda "gnaw" on you to get the venom flowing/going....

okimar wrote:

<quoted text>If I remember my classes from survival school in the Marines.... Coral snakes,like Gila Monsters have their venomous teeth in the back of the mouth and have to kinda "gnaw" on you to get the venom flowing/going....

That's what I thought too. However, her link seems to prove otherwise.

I hate all snakes and wished they never exist. Besides their capability to bite, I just loathe their scaly, slithery characteristics. That is one species I would want extinct. Again, nothing against those who love snakes and it's just my honest opinion.

{{{SIGH}}} I hate this fecking place so I'll try to be brief. Yes coral snakes have fangs in the FRONT of the mouth, though they are short. The American coral snakes from Florida to Texas are small enough that the average adult can only bite a person in between the fingers, the nostrils the lips or the ear; larger individuals can bite a finger.There are about 70 members of the coral snake family in the new world, some of which approach 6 feet and can bite you anywhere they damn well need to to protect themselves. None of them attack- people who are bitten are generally morons who see the pretty colors so think they're nice and hold them up to their face to talk to the (deaf) snakes and get bitten in the nose, lips, or ears (70% of bites). No, the rhyme is not true (red to yellow, kill a fellow). A little tip- if you don't know what it is, leave it the hell alone. Most people bitten by venomous snakes are catching them or killing them. Do neither and you are 99% safe from snakebite.

Gila monsters (and beaded lizards) have their venom glands in the lower jaw in the front, and grooved teeth both upper and lower jaw. No, their venom is not made from their waste because they have no anus...they crap like everything else does. A quick nip or bite may kill a mouse. In self defense or with larger prey they may hang on, chew and even roll over to help the flow of venom. Coral snakes may hang on and chew when biting in self defense to inject a lot of venom, but actually, a quick nip usually delivers enough to kill a human. There hasn't been a coral snake related death in a quarter century in the US, and they wiped out one subspecies collecting enough coral snakes to make antiserum. They are not common. No matter what your friend in the retirement trailer park in Ocala or Jax tells you.

No, garter snakes are not developing poison. They have saliva like any other animal consisting of protein enzymes that help immobilize and digest active prey like frogs, salamanders and toads, stronger in some species and locations than in others. SOME INDIVIDUAL people have reactions to these salivas and develope swelling, itching, etc.

A tip- an allergy is not the fault of the snake, it is a defect, a weakness, something wrong with you. If you are allergic to peanuts, we do not call them a poisonous tuber. If you are allergic to dog dander, that doesn't mean that dogs are venomous. Cats truly ARE venomous, having venom secreting glands in their forearms that are dangerous to small mammals that get scratched or bitten after the cat grooms itself, but not one person will admit that cats are venomous creatures.They are.

And before we start quoting that useless thank god he's dead worst thing to happen to wildlife education in history Steve Irwin, Komodo Dragons are not venomous. They too have enzymes in their saliva that may induce shock in mammals, but more than that, their mouths are filled with quick growing gram negative tropical bacteria that infect an animal's body in hours and cause death. This is not lizard poison, it's an infection from teeth that spend a lot of time eating sunbloated rotting carcasses in 95 degree heat...

The snake in the article has been known for years, it is a tree viper called Atheris matildae, and a friend of ours in PA has had them and been breeding them since about 2007. It is a long fanged snake that looks nothing like a coral snake. Google image Atheris squamigera or Atheris hispida to get an idea of what it looks like. Probably a painful, swollen bite, maybe an amputation if you get infected, but not a deadly snake.A sore paw.

I think that covers it...

Having kept, bred and been bitten by coral snakes, I assure you, first hand, that they have fangs. They are elapids- cobra family snakes. One of the characteristics of elapidae is short fixed fangs in the front of the mouth. A small dose of coral snake venom has about the same effect as heroin. My most memorable Xmas shopping experience was a one-fanged bite from a coral snake I was force feeding a lizard to. Thank goodness he expended a lot of venom on the lizard. It is VERY hard to hold onto a snake as thin as a pencil with a head the size of your pinky fingernail with fingers as big as sausages and just as dextrous, while shoving food down it's throat it doesn't feel well enough to eat on it's own and trying NOT to hurt it at the same time. After an hour, with no effects of envenomation, I took the wife Xmas shopping. In the middle of a store full of flashing lights, dancing santas and elves, tinsel and screaming brats the venom kicked in, lol...wooooo hoooo!

JasonStorm wrote:

I hate all snakes and wished they never exist. Besides their capability to bite, I just loathe their scaly, slithery characteristics. That is one species I would want extinct. Again, nothing against those who love snakes and it's just my honest opinion.

Your thinking is dangerous and ignorant. I can understand your caution because of their powerful bites, venoms, and not to mention the ability to constrict their prey to death, but you wish extinction on them just because of apearance which serves them a purpose? All animals on this planet contribute to something in nature to keep the ecosystem balanced, and your insignificant opinions and pathetic fears to justify extinction will not interfere with that. For the sake of all snakes, none should cross your path.

I thought it was snake, so I hit it with a rake!