Posted on Thu, May. 08, 2008

-- The risk of being bitten by a venomous snake is less than being struck by lightning, with two to 12 U.S. bite deaths a year compared to 50 to 100 lightning deaths. Yet many humans live in fear of these reptiles so important to our environmental balance.

So they try to kill them, often getting bitten in the process.

"What should you do if you see a venomous snake? What every child in Mississippi should know: Take two steps back and walk away," said Terry Vandeventer, field associate at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science known as "The Snake Dude" by the many children he has met in his statewide snake outreach.

"In Mississippi we average 200 snake bites a year and only 15 of those are honest accidents where a person was not deliberately bothering the snake. Those 15 are pure bad luck, because they accidently touch or step on a snake.

"The other 185 are bitten while trying to kill the snake, or poking it or trying to take a picture of it or playing a joke on somebody. The percentages are the same nationwide. Studies show that alcohol-impaired judgment involved 51 percent of the bites."

Most Mississippi bites occur on the thumb and/or first finger, Vandeventer pointed out, because the bitees are messing with a venomous snake. This state has 55 different types of snakes, of which only six are venomous: Three types of rattlesnakes and cottonmouth, copperhead and coral snakes.

Just as you wisely would not tempt fate by remaining on the beach as lightning shoots down, you should not forage blindly into areas where venomous snakes hang out. Teach yourself which snakes to give a wide berth.

"Avoiding snake bite is simple common sense," Vandeventer said. "A snake is camouflaged, so why would it want to bite you when you walk by? They want to be left alone and are afraid of humans. Unlike you see in the movies, no snake in the world is aggressive - but some can be defensive. They will fight for their lives."

Snakes do not attack human beings, he said, but people attack snakes, especially in the Deep South where they are taught as tots that the only good snake is a dead snake. Vandeventer said he realizes the reverse message he takes to classrooms and adult groups statewide gets mixed receptions. The message from this professional herpetologist and others who understand the environmental role of snakes is two-pronged:

1: If you see a snake in the woods, a natural setting or crossing the road, there is no reason to kill it. It is where it belongs or is headed there. Once a snake is spotted in the wild and safely avoided, it will not hurt you unless you threaten it.

2: If a venomous snake is around the house where a person or pet might accidently encounter it, the snake should be killed in a humane and safe manner. Most people should not attempt to kill it themselves, or remove it to a natural habitat, because they can be bitten. Call an animal control officer if possible.

"The average person does not know how to safely remove a venomous snake, and in the home environment we must protect our pets and kids," said Vandeventer. "But in the wild there is no reason to kill a snake.

"I'm not trying to get people to love snakes, but to respect them."

Respect comes from understanding the snakes' environmental role. Snakes are the best rodent control, and rodents destroy one-third of the food grown on Earth; $5 billion annually just in U.S. crops. Rats also cause house fires by chewing wiring, and can carry disease. Scientists say snakes kill more rodents than other predators can kill, including humans.

"Yet we are still needlessly killing snakes," said Tom Mann, the museum's heritage program zoologist. "Everything has its place on Earth. When you eliminate something it is at your peril, because things connect.

"At the national and state levels there were panther and wolf eradication programs in the early 1900s. Now we know that was a mistake because there are too many deer and too many auto accidents caused by deer because of their lack of natural predators.

"We all belong. Imagine if we got rid of all the snakes. We'd be overrun by insects and rodents."

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