Shake Off The Viper

Shake off the Viper

Pastor Joe Bachman

February 20, 2005

Tonight I want to give you a little medical knowledge and help you to learn how to apply that into your Spiritual lives

I want to talk about a touchy subject with some people

I want to talk about snakes

And now...the list of the Top Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World.

10) Death Adder Australia and New Guinea. Is closely related to the cobras. A dosage of 10mg of Death Adder venom is enough to kill a human. A good sized Death Adder can deliver up to 180mg in a single bite.

9) Boomslang Africa. The Boomslang is the most seriously venomous rear-fanged snake in the world. They have very long fangs and can open their mouths a full 180 degrees to bite. Snake handler Karl P. Schmidt died 28 hours after a Boomslang bite. The day after the bite, he called in to say he felt well and would be in to work...2 hours before he literally dropped dead from the bite.

8) Coral Snake North America. Coral Snakes have a very potent venom but many are too small to deliver enough venom to kill a human. This is a (relative of the cobras and mambas)

7) Saw Scaled Viper Middle East Asia. Saw Scaled Vipers kill more people in Africa that all the other venomous African snakes combined. Its venom is 5 times more toxic than that of the cobra and 16 more toxic than the Russell’s Viper.

6) Beaked Sea Snake The beaked sea snake is a highly poisonous snake that is widespread in shallow seas from the Persian Gulf to northern coastal Australia. Most of the victims of the beaked sea snake tend to be fishermen who accidentally tread on them in muddy estuaries or when trying to remove the snake from their fishing nets. This is a very dangerous snake and is responsible for more than half of all cases of sea snake bites, and 90% of all fatalities.

5) Tiger Snake Australia. The Tiger snake is a very aggressive snake that kills more people in Australia that any other snake on that continent.

4) Taipan Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.

3) Malayan Krait Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenin treatment.

2) Australian Brown Snake Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this venom is enough to kill a person.

1) Fierce Snake Australia. The most toxic venom of any snake. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would probably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are virtually unknown in collections outside of Australia.

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This is a picture of an eyelash viper

This is a picture of a eyelash viper striking

Let me tell you a little about venom

Venom is a prey-immobilizing substance in snakes

Venom is not composed of a single substance, but is a toxic saliva consisting of a complex mixture of chemicals called enzymes.

Almost all venoms are composed of approximately 90% proteins.

Two general types of toxins are known, neurotoxins and hemotoxins.

Neurotoxic

venom attacks the victim’s central nervous system and usually result in heart failure and/or breathing difficulties.

Hemotoxic

venom attacks the circulatory system and muscle tissue causing excessive scarring, gangrene, permanent disuse of motor skills, and sometimes leads to amputation of the affected area.

Some snake have both types of venom

There are approximately 20 types of toxic enzymes found in snake poisons throughout the world known to man.

These are only a few of the enzymes found in the chemistry of snake venom known today.

• cholinesterase; attacks the nervous system, relaxing muscles to the point where the victim has very little control.

• amino acid oxidase; plays a part in digestion and the triggering of other enzymes, (is responsible for venom’s characteristic light yellowish coloring.)

• hyaluronidase; causes other enzymes to be absorbed more rapidly by the victim.

• proteinase; plays a large part in the digestive process, breaking down tissues at an accelerated rate. (causes extensive tissue damage in human victims)

• adenosine triphosphatase; believed to be one of the central agents resulting in the shock of the victim and immobilizing smaller prey. (probably present in most snakes.)

• phosphodiesterase; accounts for the negative cardiac reactions in victims, most notably a rapid drop in blood pressure.

Now that we know about the venom let’s look at how the snake injects its venom

The snake lays in wait for its pray

Then at just the right moment the snake lunges forward sinking its fangs into its victim.

Then the snake constricts or tightens its mussels around the sack that contains the venom