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Venomous Snakes
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Black Mamba kill an African Wild Cat.
From Latest Sightings - Kruger: Taken this afternoon near Sable Dam Tinged by Adriaan  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Lachesis, beautiful heavy bodied species of pitvipers from South America
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Ritesh Agrawal.
Indian cobra, Maharastra, India.  *This image is copyright of its original author
No idea on the credits, but...
Naja Nivea.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Breakthrough utilization of nano particles could counteract venom from any kind of snake — and save thousands of lives.
Up until recently, the development of antivenom was costly, time consuming, and only marginally effective in treating snake bites on a large scale. Due to the production of individual compounds of venom by different species of snakes, specific antivenoms must be developed in order to target each particular agent. Recent research using combinations of nanoparticles could broaden the range of antivenoms to provide a cheaper and superior synthetic alternative to conventional methods. Traditional anti-venom are created using the antibodies from an affected animal’s bloodstream, a process requiring live animals, expensive technology, and large quantities of time. While the majority of people bitten by snakes reside in rural areas, the added necessity of refrigeration makes the utilization of current therapies ineffective on a large scale. Research stemming from the success of nanoparticles used to remove a toxin called melittin from a bee’s bloodstream is being utilized in the development of a more inclusive venom-binding compound. Scientists are honing in on PLA2 proteins which are the most commonly found molecules in snake venom. The theory is to impart similar nanoparticles into an organism’s bloodstream in order to bind to these PLA2 proteins and render them ineffective. Extensive experimenting incorporating different types of polymers and chemical chains resulted in a promising group of nanoparticles that bound to a wide variety of proteins, and after final chemical tweaking, most tightly to PLA2 molecules. While the test tube results are promising, the animal trials are yet to begin, but scientists are thoroughly pleased with this breakthrough development. http://roaring.earth/nanoscience-used-to-create-universal-antivenom-for-snake-bites/
Red bellied black snake predation on Brown snake
 *This image is copyright of its original author "Australia is a nightmare land of crazy animals and legit nature-based horror movie plots. Honestly there's just too many snakes here and it's no wonder many people worldwide are actually too terrified to visit. Just in recent times we've had snakes in a bed, slow-motion snake trying to kill us, snake orgy in the pool, snakes in an ugg boot, snakes hanging off a roof while fighting/fornicating (we're still not sure which), snakes on a train, snakes in a fish, and the debunked video of a snake being hurled at a family by a hawk. That's all just since MAY. Now, as we approach Australian summer and the peak time for snake activity, we see snakes are no longer content with just terrifying unsuspecting citizens -- they're now turning on each other. The Bega District News reported the pictures of local resident Steve Young, who spotted a strange sight while out mowing his grass. The man was slashing his property at Kanoona, about six hours south of Sydney, when he came across a 1.6 metre snake midway through a nice snack -- another 1.6 metre snake. "I was standing over the top of it taking a photograph and my wife said 'you're crazy'," Young told the District News. "But I said 'it won't bite me because it's got its mouth full!'" Young reported it as a red-bellied black snake, one of Australia's most dangerous snakes, eating a brown snake, considered an even more deadly snake than the red belly. With a series of photos over some period of time, Young captured the black snake slowly swallowing its prey whole; he first came across the red belly with about a metre of the brown snake poking out of its mouth, but soon the brown was swallowed entirely. http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/11/03/wtf-look-at-this-six-foot-snake-eating-another-six-foot-snake/
Excerpt on parthenogenesis in the American copperhead(Agkistrodon contortrix)
An Independent Observation of Facultative Parthenogenesis in the Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) Abstract Among reptiles, reproduction in the absence of males is often assumed to result from long-term sperm storage. Through the application of molecular genetic tools, biologists are beginning to recognize that facultative parthenogenesis can also explain such reproductive events in snakes. We observed a Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) give birth to a stillborn neonate and four infertile ova after 9 yr in isolation from male snakes. To test the hypothesis that the neonate was produced asexually, we screened a panel of 10 microsatellite loci to genotype the mother and her offspring, as well as wild-caught individuals in the mother's population of origin, to assess the probability of paternity. Confirming prior research on Copperheads that suggests parthenogenesis by terminal fusion automixis, we found that four heterozygous maternal loci were homozygous in the neonate. We calculated the probability of a o the neonate to be 2.32 × 10−13 by using the population allele frequencies and the genotype of the neonate. These results further confirm that Copperheads are facultatively parthenogenetic and suggest that this reproductive mode may be general within the species. http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.1670/14-017
Old wisdom new world!: By Gerry Martin.
I must have been around seven years old when I saw my first wild cobra. I was walking with my grandfather around our farm and we saw a cobra, a little over four feet, cross the path ahead of us. When it spotted us, it raised its hood briefly and then continued on its way. When I first saw the snake I wanted to turn and run. My grandfather put his arm on my shoulder and said, “If we stay still, it will go away.” Those words have stayed with me. I have lived on that very farm for almost thirty-four years now. Despite the large number of snakes on the farm we have never had a problem with them. Nobody has ever been bitten and we haven’t even lost a dog to snakebite. We do lose chicken and duck eggs and the occasional poultry that tries to defend her eggs. But I prefer having the snakes around. Over the years, I thought that ‘rescuing’ snakes from situations where people might kill them was the right and noble thing to do. Each time I’d release a snake into it’s ‘natural habitat’ I would feel a sense of accomplishment. I encouraged people to do the same and even trained a few to do this safely. This bubble was burst in the middle of the last decade when it was discovered that relocated snakes stand a very slim chance of survival. Almost all translocated snakes die! When I helped with the King Cobra Telemetry Project at Agumbe it was apparent that the trans-located king cobras were completely lost and lacked the ability and inclination to adapt to their new ‘natural habitat’. The bottom line is that most trans-located snakes die. I feel terrible about the number of snakes that I, with the truest of intent, must have sentenced to death. Unfortunately, the pace of development around cities is far greater than the rate at which mindsets are changing. Over the last three or four years the number of calls I receive about ‘nuisance’ snakes has risen exponentially! Most people ask for solutions and expect that they will be able to spend some money and remove the problem from their properties. Although it is counterintuitive, snakes that are removed from cities don’t do well in forests. Let’s get some facts straight. Research has proved that most relocated snakes die. By removing them from a conflict situation we are not rescuing them. On the contrary, we’re sentencing them to quite a frenzied death. Further, our approach to conflict resolution seems to be to remove the less influential party from the conflict! This condescension is magnified in instances where harmless snakes are removed merely because of people’s discomfort with the animal being around. I’m writing this in the hope that we can come to a better platform for conservation which involves a realization that the only solution to the human-snake conflict is education and for us (intelligent) humans to start using our skills and learning to avoid conflict. Today, I find it well worth it to spend some time speaking with frantic home owners, factory supervisors and others who find themselves dealing with a ‘snake issue’, convincing them that it is better to simply leave the snakes alone and allow their compounds to achieve an ecological balance. A surprisingly large number of people are willing to change their minds about snakes and accept having them around. In 1986, uncharacteristically heavy rains flooded the neighbouring lake and brought the water past our house. All kinds of animals scurried for high ground. Our tiled roof provided safe haven for a wide range of wildlife from centipedes and scorpions to various snakes and even a monitor lizard. Again, we deferred to my grandfather’s matter of fact solution. “We better tuck the mosquito nets in tightly!” And so we did. The morning was paradise for a young and ignorant aspiring naturalist! There were animals everywhere! In the adjoining village, I watched an old lady sweep a cobra out of her house with a long broom. Calmly! Aside from Russell’s vipers (Daboia russellii) snakes weren’t really bothered about. Vipers were not tolerated and were usually killed. As sad as that has always made me, at least, that response comes from a real danger. Cobras, rat snakes and many others were simply ignored. That’s changed! Today, a snake in the vicinity sends people into a tizzy! They call snake rescuers, police cells, fire brigades and anyone else involved in an emergency. The spotting of a snake sends people out looking to stock anti-venom. There are frantic efforts to clear up anything that is perceived to house snakes. This will include water bodies, lawns, pots, termite mounds and trees! Strangely, this often doesn’t include waste and garbage dumps, building material and junk piles. It should be obvious that our reactions are based on perceptions, conditioned notions and myths. The good news is that we have science on our side. Let’s base our decisions on it. Or better still, we can revert to my grandfather’s eternally relevant advice- ‘If we stay still, it will go away.’  *This image is copyright of its original author
Naja nigricincta
Photo and information credits: Lycaon Photography "The striking colour of a young, Western Barred Spitting Cobra demands respect with its typical spitting posture!"  *This image is copyright of its original author
Another red bellied black snake eating a brown snake, this one appears rather young.
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