The Venomous Snakes

This can only be a brief overview of an interesting subject. Even given their minority status within the suborder Serpentes as a whole, this still means that there are hundreds of venomous snakes species. If you find venomous snakes interesting, then hopefully this will give you some more details on the subject and point you in the direction of finding out more about them (at least at first through books rather than hands-on experience!). If you dislike snakes or have other reasons to view them with a steely eye, then the old dictum applies: "Know your enemy".

There are three primary families of venomous snakes: the Elapidae, the Viperidae and the Hydrophiidae. The Elapidae comprise cobras, kraits, mambas, coral snakes and others, including some Australian species which although commonly called vipers are not in fact true vipers. The Viperidae are the true vipers, including rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and bushmasters. The Hydrophiidae are the seasnakes, which are essentially elapid snakes modified for life in the oceans.

In addition some other families are either venomous or contain venomous species. The Atractaspididae, Mole Vipers or stiletto snakes, are all venomous but mostly non-dangerous to humans. These are sometimes included in the family Colubridae. Some of the latter family are rear-fanged venomous snakes, mostly not dangerous to humans with the noted exception of the Boomslang and the Twig Snake.

So where are the venomous snakes?

We cover the species of venomous snakes in more detail below, but the following should give you some idea of how likely you are to encounter venomous species:

• Europe - very few, mostly in SE Europe and the Aegean. The common adder, Vipera berus, is normally only about as dangerous as a beesting (unless you are unfortunate enough to have an allergy).
• North America - rattlesnakes, particularly in the SW USA although they can be found as far north as the Canadian border, and Coral Snakes from Texas and other southern states.
• South America - despite the lurid reputation of the Amazon jungle, the only really large dangerous species is the Bushmaster. However, the venom of the brightly-coloured Coral Snakes (Micrurus sp) is quite potent as is that of Bothrops atrox, which is also a dangerous species.
• Africa - Africa, particularly in the south, is home to a fair number of dangerously venomous snakes, although hospital facilities in the region are of course experienced in this area. Many of the world's cobra species are scattered across the entire continent, from the deserts of North Africa to the Cape. Apart from the cobras, the most dangerous species are the mambas, found across sub-Saharan Africa.
• Asia - mainly kraits, cobras and Old World coral snakes, plus a few seasnakes in the Indian Ocean. Most of these venomous species are concentrated in the Indian subcontinent, SE Asia and Indonesia and the Philippines, with few found in N Asia.
• Australasia - Australia, as home to 20 of the 22 most venomous snakes in the world, is the only continent where venomous snakes outnumber the non-venomous, although at least some of these actually dwell far from human civilisation in the remote outback. Again, medical facilities are experienced with coping with these emergencies. New Zealand, by contrast, has no indigenous snakes at all. The Pacific islands (Solomons, Fiji and neighbours) have a few venomous snakes among them.

The Venomous Snakes

This can only be a brief overview of an interesting subject. Even given their minority status within the suborder Serpentes as a whole, this still means that there are hundreds of venomous snakes species. The following links are to overviews of each family:

Family Elapidae: cobras, kraits, coral snakes and mambas.

Family Viperidae: vipers, pit vipers, rattlesnakes, fer-de-lance and bushmaster.

Family Hydrophiidae: sea snakes.

See the family pages above for bibliographic details.

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