RSSFlorida Snakes
Mar 19
Florida advice, animals, Exotic, Florida, other, outdoors, pets, poison, reptiles, Snakes, Toxins, Tropical, USA, Venom No Comments
The Florida snakes, together with the turtles, lizards, alligators and other reptiles are all part of a complicated wildlife structure that plays an incredible role in the maintenance of Florida’s ecosystem. There are many species of Florida snakes. There are forty-four species living in an incredibly varied habitat, ranging from salt marshes and fresh water marshes to dry uplands and coastal mangrove swamps to residential areas.
Only six Florida snakes are poisonous, and they happily live with their non-poisonous cousins, even venturing into towns and cities too. The best way to stay out of trouble with snakes is to care enough to learn about their morphology and therefore become able to distinguish between these Florida snakes. Avoidance is the wisest approach a human being can adopt in relation to snakes.
The Coral snake and pit vipers are the most dangerous Florida snakes. They can be identified by a wide range of characteristics. Pit vipers include the Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth and the Copperhead. They all have vertical eye pupils, a v-shaped head and facial pits: one between the eyes and nostrils and the others on each side of the head.
The poison of this type of Florida snakes is haemotoxic, which means that their venom attacks the red blood cells, destroying the walls of the blood vessels and causing uncontrolled bleeding. Coral snakes however, use neurotoxic venom, with the toxins in the poison acting on the body’s nerves causing paralysis.
Most of the snake bites reported every year in the United States are attacks by Florida snakes or by rattlesnakes to be precise. Because their venom spreads quickly through the body, the victim will almost certainly die within thirty minutes without the immediate injection of anti-venom.
A big exception in this group of Florida snakes is the copperheads, the venom of which rarely requires an antidote. Their toxins are the least potent and so they are considered t be the least dangerous of the poisonous Florida snakes.
Because of the threat they pose. poisonous snakes are the first kind to attract attention, however the most widespread of Florida snakes is the black racer, a non-toxic species that relies on very sharp fangs to capture its prey.
Although the usual tendency of home owners is to remove snakes from their properties, specialists point out that, without them, rodents would breed out of control giving us even more cause for alarm.
So, unless there are any special causes for worrying, like snakes breeding in great numbers in your garden or outhouses, there is no real reason why you should interfere with the lives of these usually shy, useful animals.
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