Ugh. That is an ongoing battle with me- trying to persuade people to leave the non-venomous snakes alone. Don't get me wrong- growing up in southeast Texas I have killed plenty of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and even one copperhead around the house (and once, one -in- the house). But it's pretty easy to tell venomous from non-venomous snakes in the U.S.: with one exception, all venomous snakes have elliptical pupils and a blunted tail, and all non-venomous snakes have round pupils and a distinctly tapered, whip-like tail. So if you can see one end or the other, you should be able to tell at a glance.
The exception is the coral snake, which has round pupils and a tapered tail. But they're easy enough to identify: red on yellow, kill a fellow and all that. But I guess in South America all bets are off- I know there's some nasty venomous critters down there!
Wow. I'd have moved far far away the same day I found a venomous snake inside my house.
I think the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes are the same pretty much worldwide, but people just kill everything on principle. It's really sad.
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The exception is the coral snake, which has round pupils and a tapered tail. But they're easy enough to identify: red on yellow, kill a fellow and all that. But I guess in South America all bets are off- I know there's some nasty venomous critters down there!
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I think the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes are the same pretty much worldwide, but people just kill everything on principle. It's really sad.
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