Venomous snake vs. poisonous snake

A venomous snake and a poisonous snake have one thing in common, they are both toxic. They however differ in the manner in which these toxins are delivered into the body of the enemy.

Venomous snakes
These kinds of snakes inject toxins into their enemies by mechanical means. This means that the snake either bites or stings to inject the venom. Snakes contain their venom in the fangs. What happens is that the snake will strike with its fangs to release the venom into the system of its prey. This venom is either used as a defensive mechanism or for digestive purposes by paralyzing and eventually killing the victim.



Examples of venomous snakes;

• Belcher’s sea snakes These stripped snakes have only a few of their species carrying venom. However those that contain venom are very lethal as a single tiny drop of venom released when they bite can kill in a short period time. Nonetheless, they are mostly docile hence hesitant on confrontation.
• Rattlesnakes They rattle to warn their enemies of incoming danger, hence their name. They produce venom which can result in paralysis or death in humans if untreated, otherwise the bite is treatable.
• Death Adder This venomous snake is distinguishable by the fact that they prey on other snakes.
• The Black Mamba It is the fastest snake in the world. When it attacks its victims, it strikes more than once. These snakes mostly reside in Africa.
• Tiger snakes Indigenous to Australia, it is distinguishable by the yellow bands along its body length.
• Copperheads

Brightly coloured, their bodies are covered in coppery brown to bright orange, silver-pink and peach strips. However, don’t be fooled by their beauty, they are pretty dangerous and will always bite to defend themselves.

Poisonous snakes
Unlike the venomous ones, these snakes do not intoxicate by biting, rather by eating them or when one comes into contact with them or the chemicals they emit by touching or inhaling.

A very good example of a poisonous snake is the cobra. This snake is generally shy. It does not easily attack instead it will threaten by spreading its neck collar when provoked but prefer to back away. However, if it chooses to strike, it is very quick and will latch on spitting poison which cause blindness if it reaches the eye, skin itchiness or in severe cases, paralysis. Outstandingly, this poisonous spit can reach as far as 3 meters.

A very interesting fact is that all venomous snakes are poisonous but not all poisonous snakes are necessarily venomous. This implies that if a venomous snake is ingested and its venom released into the body system, then it is poisonous.

Read the How to get rid of snakes page for helpful information and to learn more about Venomous snake vs. poisonous snake

Venomous snake vs. poisonous snake

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