Poisonous Snakes Are Among The Most Feared Creatures In The Animal World
Poisonous snakes are among the most feared creatures in the animal world. The toxic secretion of poisonous snakes is so deadly that it can kill one in no more than thirty minutes, not to mention the risk of getting blind if any of the toxins are sprayed into the eyes. In spite of the risk of getting bitten in close encounters, poisonous snakes prove in fact harmless as they rely on their venom to survive: snakes only bite to hunt or defend themselves . The rest of the negative feelings towards snakes results from an incorrect perception triggered by ancient myths.
The arrangement of the venom secreted by poisonous snakes is very complex: there is mainly a combination of proteins and toxins that when spread in the prey's body paralyze and eventually kill it. The toxin attacks the heart, the lungs and the muscles first, and depending on this way of action scientists have identified poisonous snakes into species that destroy the walls of the blood vessels and start an unstoppable hemorrhage, venomous species that have a paralyzing effect on the heart and, last but not least, others that inflict terrible muscle pain. The poisonous snakes with the most scary of reputations are corals closely followed by cobras.
The complex structure of the snake venom still fascinates scientists, and lots of tests are still conducted on it. The only treatment for poisonous snakes bites consists of the immediate administration of antivenins. Certain elements do increase or decrease the victim's chances of survival: thus, an identification of the snake is essential as well as the proper location of the bite. If there is too much time between the moment of the bite and the administration of the antivenin, the victim will suffer extensive health damage or even die. Furthermore, there have been cases of patients who developed instant allergies to poisonous snake bites or to antidotes and died.
Rattlesnakes cause most of the bites in the United States, yet lethal outcomes of such incidents have become a rarity in our times since medical help is not a problem anymore. Other relatives of the rattlesnake include the water moccasin, the cottonmouth or the copperhead; they are highly poisonous snakes too that would surely mark the days of anyone who gets bitten. Stressful incidents involving snake attacks are often behind snake phobia or this excessive fear can be the result of sociological ancestral traditions that are present even with people who have never felt threatened by a snake.
The snake is also a symbol not just an animal people feel afraid of. The graphical stylizations of snakes in our arts and cultures go back to the ancient mythical beliefs. On the one hand, serpents are part of ecosystems, with a well-determined function in the evolution of certain species, and secondly they remain symbols of profound meanings. Their feeding on mice and rats limits the risk of pest and prevents rodents from over-breeding. Yet, in the very old traditions, types of snake worshiping were part of religious rites, with the serpent representing deities, or the immutable cycle of life and death or wisdom.
All types of snake-related myths have been discovered around the globe: for the old Greeks the snake represented the a sign of sexual potency; Mesopotamians and Semites attributed immortal features to this creature because it shed its skin and it rejuvenated its appearance periodically; Indians, Siamese and Burmese believe the snake to be a demon figure that is not entirely bad.
|
