IF YOU SAY SO

The popular suggestion that Australia is home to the world’s deadliest snakes is largely a myth, with the risk of bites and death far greater across Asia, Africa and South America, the nation’s science agency has said.

(Thanks to Ralph)

Comments

[Jeff Meyerson]

Riiiiight.

[Clankie]

And I suppose dingos don't eat babies.

[Rod Nunley]

If encounters are so rare, how come there seems to be an Australian snake story every other day?

But the story actually is correct. Snakes nail more people in India than anywhere.

[Jeff Meyerson]

That's because there are more people in India than anywhere, Rod. I bet Australia has more incidents per capita.

[Loudmouth]

That's just the snakes.

[LeDud]

All snakes in Austrailia are cobras. No vipers. I believe all except one are fast. They avoid loud tromping people...usually. I think the majority of bad snake bites are caused by vipers...not cobras. Vipers are gernerally sit and wait preditors. The kind you step on especially in farming areas. Of course I'm not a herpatolgist or whatever so don't take this as gospel.....

[man tom]

Canada has even more goosebumps just thinking about it.

[spindrift]

Yeah, but what about the snake-eating spiders?

[Death Row Doc]

LeDud is right. Virtually all Australian snakes belong to the cobra family. In college I met a guy who was a herpetologist. His business was extracting snake venom for use in the medical industry (not just for antivenom either. One of the most popular medicines for high blood pressure is an extract of snake venom). This guy once told me he'd ten times prefer to be bitten by a cobra than a rattlesnake, and ten times prefer to be bitten by a rattlesnake than get caught by a python. Cobra venom depresses heart rate and respiration, and you have a half hour before it really starts working to get to a hospital and onto a respirator while the antivenom is working. Rattlesnake venom is basically digestive juice, it starts breaking down the blood vessels, muscle and tissue as soon as you're bitten. It takes a half hour to an hour to kill you if you don't get antivenom, but you're much more likely to lose a body part even if you get to the hospital on time. A python that wraps itself around you can basically raise your blood pressure so you die of a stroke in about 5 minutes.
The guy was an expert, so I took his word for it--no need for any further research on my part.

[Le Petomane]

I thought ANY snakebite could cause a stroke.

[Homer]

Australia does nor exist. It is a hoax, just like Santa Clause and Eskimos.

[Ralph]

Australian snakebite deaths — slightly more than 2 per year, about the same as the US.

[Cheesewiz]

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