A Poisonous Snake? Not Really…

From Rolling with Nolan, our friendly ranger.

Dark, and late at night, the guests needed to be escorted to their rooms. Being in an unfenced lodge on a game reserve, the dark usually gets people’s minds wandering…usually about lions lying on the pathway in wait for their new tender meals to come strolling from the lodge with full bellies, but on this occasion it wasn’t the lions that were on their mind. Instead, it was something smaller, harder to see, and probably a little less understood.
A voice from behind me mumbled the question, almost afraid of what the answer may be: “Are there any poisonous snakes out here?”

I smiled. I saw a gap. There are a number of dangerous snakes out here, some with very potent toxins.

“No,” I replied truthfully, “no poisonous snakes out here, so you’ll be fine.” This seemed to put her at ease, and I left it at that, knowing full well what she was asking, but using her choice of words to help her have a good sleep, instead of worrying about slithering serpents hunting her down for her foreign blood.

Had I lied to my guest? No, I had not. So let me explain.

I have heard many people use the term, including hardened bush goers, even some of the nature guides do it. Sometimes unwittingly, but nonetheless. There are no poisonous snakes out here in Southern Africa, and unless I am mistaken, there are no poisonous snakes anywhere in the world! There are many venomous snakes however. And there is a difference. But to explain the difference we need to understand what poison is, and what venom is. So without going into too much detail with the chemical differences between them, the biggest difference between them is really the method of delivery.

Poison vs Venom

Poison is a substance that causes disturbance in organisms, usually by chemical reaction. Venom is very similar, but is made up of larger chemicals, and as such, needs a different delivery system. When someone mentions a poisonous animal, one instantly thinks of spiders, snakes, scorpions and the like. When in fact poisonous animals are none of those, but rather things like certain frogs, butterflies, locusts, millipedes and (true) bugs. Poison is transmitted through touch, or ingestion. The African Monarch Butterfly for example, feeds off a toxic plant, and as a result all the toxins are stored in the body of the butterfly, and any bird who tries to eat it quickly gets a nasty mouthful of poisons and that bird quickly learns not to eat that kind of butterfly again. A high price for the butterfly to pay, but the bird will usually leave any other butterflies of the same look alone! The same goes for the Milkweed Locust, who can even secrete a toxic foam discouraging predators from eating it before it’s too late. Most of these toxic critters have bright colours to warn potential predators of the risks involved with trying to eat them, something called aposematic colouration, and a host of animals use it, from skunks, to frogs, to locusts.
The delivery of poison is usually a passive system too, waiting for another animal to touch the poisonous critter before it is in danger of being poisoned.

Venomous animals will have a different delivery of their toxins, such as fangs, a sting, or barbs. Think of snakes, spiders, scorpions, octopus, jelly fish, bees, wasps and mosquitoes. Some of those have stronger venom than others, but all still venomous. These animals will have glands which produce and store their venom, and as such need a way of delivering that venom to their prey/ threat. Snakes have fangs, bees have a sting, jellyfish have barbs. They will also have a muscular structure to force that venom out through the fangs/sting. This is a far more active delivery system, and as such seems far more aggressive than a poison dart frog for example, who may sit motionless, and only when touched will it poison the victim.

Is One More Dangerous?

While some animals seem more dangerous than others, there is really not much pointing to either poison or venom being more dangerous than the other. The damage done by either is usually the same- a chemical reaction affecting the heart, brain, nervous system, and other vital targets, some more effectively and quickly than others, but all doing the same thing- breaking down the ability of those to perform as they should. Again, the delivery of the venomous types of animals such as scorpions and snakes seems to push these animals to the top of everyone’s list of dangerous animals, and while there is plenty of justification for that, there are far more dangerous animals out there, such as the box jellyfish, who, as tiny as it is, is often considered to be the most dangerous of all toxic animals. And let’s not forget about the poison dart frog. Even a cute, tiny octopus (blue-ringed octopus) is higher on that list than our famed puff adder! Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about either of those in this part of the world.
But as potentially dangerous as many of these creatures could be, they have no intention of using their venom or poisons on us, unless they feel threatened, or would like to eat us. Luckily we aren’t on the menu for any of them, and if left alone, they pose very little threat to any of us.

Thank you Ranger Nolan.