View Single Post
  #56  
Old June 2nd, 2010, 09:34 PM
MyBirdIsEvil's Avatar
MyBirdIsEvil MyBirdIsEvil is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,720
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinTails View Post
I know this is an older post, but I wanted to point out that Eastern Hog Nose Snakes are venomous - they are rear-fanged snakes, and while their venom is not considered toxic/harmful to humans, they still can bite and release their venom (one guy I knew did a trial to find out what would happen if the venom was allowed to swell in his blood, he simply had a horrible engorged thumb [where the HN had clamped down on for over 20 mins], but that was about it).
I think I addressed this in an earlier post.

They are thought to POSSIBLY carry a mild venom, but researchers aren't in agreement about it. Their saliva is somewhat toxic to small prey, but this doesn't necessarily make them venomous. There is disagreement as to whether the rear fangs actually deliver any venom, and I haven't been able to find anything on what TYPE of venom it may be.
It's scientific semantics of sorts. But science is a very technical thing and definitions must be kept accurate, so that's not surprising.

The reaction you described doesn't prove the presence of venom, since most snakes, if you allowed them to clamp on you for 20 mins, would cause the reaction described. And actually some people will have that reaction to almost any snake saliva when bitten.

I'm not saying they are or are not venomous, but I don't think you can accurately proclaim that they are definitely venomous since there's quite a bit of disagreement between researchers as to whether they actually are.
Reply With Quote