It’s a good rule of thumb to avoid getting bit by a snake whenever possible. There are roughly 3,000 kinds of snakes worldwide, and up 10 to 15% of them are venomous. That may not seem like much, but these are venomous snakes, so it’s enough. Plus, those snakes account for about 138,000 fatalities every year. More specific numbers suggest that there are about 725 species of snake that are venomous and, of those, 250 are venomous enough to kill a person.
Because venomous snakes live on every continent humans live on, there’s always a chance you could run afoul of one. But not all venomous snakes are created equally. Different types of venom can cause very different reactions inside the human body.
To fully understand what happens when you get bit by a snake, you need to understand how the different kinds of snake venom work, and how different species of snake go about biting humans.
What Is The Most Dangerous Snake?
If you don’t want to get bit by a snake, then the safest thing to do is avoid snakes that bite. That seems easy enough, except obviously, it’s not. Snakes are very adept at hiding in plain sight. In many countries, you aren’t even safe in your own home because they can sneak in through the smallest of cracks.
Figuring out what the most dangerous snake is may not be as easy as you think. The world’s deadliest snake is actually a kind of vague title. By deadly do you mean it has the most potent venom? or do you mean the snake that has killed the most people? And if we’re talking dangerous as opposed to deadly, is that another snake entirely?
The saw-scaled viper is the world’s deadliest snake in terms of most humans killed. Found in parts of the Middle East, India, Africa, and Central Asia, the saw-scaled viper is responsible for about 5,000 deaths per year. A single bite can inject 70 milligrams of venom, but 5 milligrams is a lethal dose.
The venom of the saw-scaled viper Is both hemotoxic and cytotoxic. That means, even if you live, the tissue damage could be so severe you’ll need to have whatever was bit amputated. But not every snake works like that.
The inland taipan is often considered the deadliest snake because it has the most potent venom. Unlike the viper, the taipan’s venom is a neurotoxin. One bite from an inland taipan contains enough venom to kill 100 men. It can kill within about 45 minutes. Unlike the saw-scaled viper, bites from these snakes are rare.
What Happens When You Get Bit?
Trying to prepare someone for what happens when they get bit by a snake is not an easy task. It’s kind of like preparing for what happens if you get food poisoning. That’s a general term you can understand, but did you get salmonella or E coli or Giardia or listeria? The same thing applies to snake venom. What kind of venom did you get exposed to?
The odds are that if you are out and about and you get bit by a snake; you didn’t take the time to find out what kind of venom you were injected with. So some general rules apply in most cases to a snake bite.
To start, you can expect some immediate pain at the wound site. The fangs of venomous snakes are large enough to leave puncture wounds that will bleed freely. There’s going to be redness, and tenderness, and they may even start to blister. You can pretty much guarantee that the wound site and surrounding tissue is going to swell.
As the venom works its way through your bloodstream and into your body, you may start feeling extremely sick and nauseated. You can get dizzy, lose your balance, and you may suffer from vomiting and diarrhea.
It may become hard to breathe shortly after a bite occurs. Some snake bites can cause a reaction so extreme that your lungs actually fail. Paralysis is also a potential with certain kinds of very serious bites. Your blood pressure is going to drop but your heart rate will probably increase.
Other symptoms can range from a fever to seizures, blurred vision, necrosis of the flesh, muscle weakness, and of course, death.
What is Hemotoxic Venom?
As we mentioned before, the saw-scaled viper has hemotoxic venom. Hemotoxins affect your blood. The venom from these kinds of snakes can prevent your blood from clotting, and they can also destroy red blood cells. On the other hand, some may cause numerous small clots in your bloodstream, which can be just as deadly.
They may destroy blood vessel walls or prevent proper blood flow. When this happens, you begin to bleed internally through your tissue and your organs begin to fail. So while a small snake bite looks like it shouldn’t be that dangerous in terms of blood loss, the venom could potentially make you bleed to death on the inside.
Because snake venom is a very complex substance, the way a hemotoxin works from one snake to another can vary greatly. And, again as we saw with the saw-scaled viper, it can be mixed with other kinds of toxins that work in different ways.
Venom is made of mostly proteins and enzymes. There can be as many as 25 enzymes in snake venom, most of which are very good at breaking down different tissues in your body, causing the venom to spread further, or destroying lipid cells.
Vipers and rattlesnakes have hemotoxic venom, but they may also be cytotoxic as well.
What is Cytotoxic Venom?
While hemotoxic venom works on your blood, cytotoxic venom works on cells. The snakes that combine the two can cause damage to both and be that much deadlier. As we said before, rattlesnakes can be hemotoxic and cytotoxic. A snake like a cobra is also cytotoxic.
Cytotoxic venom is arguably the most painful. It destroys the cells and will eventually lead to cell death. Bites from snakes with cytotoxic venom can lead to severe edema and swelling as well as necrosis of the tissue and may require amputation.
Ironically, cytotoxic venom is not as deadly as either hemotoxic or neurotoxic. However, because of the damage, it can cause more severe and long-lasting injuries for those who survive. The venom disrupts cell membranes whenever it comes in contact with them and causes any cells be they blood, muscle, skin, whatever, to fall apart and die.
As horrifying as cytotoxic venom sounds, it’s worth noting that, because of its ability to destroy cells, it’s being looked at as a potential treatment for cancer.
What Is Neurotoxic Venom?
Neurotoxic venom is arguably the deadliest kind of venom. This is the one that can kill you in 30 to 45 minutes. Taipans, mambas, and kraits have neurotoxic venom, but so do some cobra species as well as a few rattlesnakes and coral snakes. Sometimes people bit by these snakes don’t even feel the bite which can contribute to The lethality of the venom. With so little time to react, if you didn’t notice you were bit, your odds dwindle significantly.
Neurotoxic venom disrupts your nervous system. When one of these snakes bites you, the venom interferes with nerve signals. The result of this is you can lose the ability to control your body as the venom paralyzes you.
Paralysis from neurotoxin usually starts from the head down. The nerve signals in your body are interrupted thus your muscles cannot respond the way that they are designed to. As this moves down your body it will eventually reach your heart, lungs, and diaphragm and prevent you from being able to breathe any longer.
An early sign of neurotoxic envenomation is something called ptosis. The loss of nerve signals prevents you from keeping your eyes open. It’s a good sign to look for if you suspect a neurotoxic envenomation and it’s also a sign that time is running short for medical help.
Myotoxic Venom
A far more rare type of venom is myotoxic venom. The last three we covered are the most well-known, but a handful of species will also inject myotoxic venom into their victims. This venom attacks your skeletal muscles and leads to necrosis. This venom is most often associated with sea snakes, so it’s obviously not as common as terrestrial snakes.
Myotoxic venom is made up of peptides, which are just amino acid chains. They interrupt the flow of molecules that our muscles use to perform basic muscle functions. The muscles lose the ability to contract and that is how you become paralyzed. You can see how this can be dangerous for muscles in your legs or arms, but deadly when it comes to the muscles that allow your lungs and heart to keep working.
Sea snakes often combine myotoxin and neurotoxin, the result of which is incredibly fast muscle paralysis that can happen in a matter of minutes followed by muscle necrosis.
What About Non-Venomous Snakes?
It’s entirely possible to get bit by a non-venomous snake as many of them have teeth as well and can be aggressive. The upside of a non-venomous snake bite is that it’s probably not going to kill you. You might want to make sure you have a tetanus shot and clean the wound so that it doesn’t get infected. That said, you probably don’t need any medical attention but you need to be sure it wasn’t venomous. If you haven’t had a tetanus booster in years, the ER may be a better bet.
One caveat to keep in mind here is that we are talking about small snakes out in the garden or forest. If you are a hobbyist who has snakes as pets or visit someone who has a pet snake, that could be a different story. Boa constrictors and pythons, which some people keep as pets, can inflict non-venomous bites that are still bad enough to draw blood and even require stitches.
What You Should Do If a Venomous Snake Bites You
Because a snake bite can kill you in under an hour, you’re going to need to act fast if you get bit. Don’t waste time trying to catch the snake. That’s a good way to get bit a second time. If you can identify it, and take a picture of it quickly, that’s great. It will help determine what kind of antivenom you need.
You don’t want to put a tourniquet on the wound, that’s bad news. If you restrict the blood flow, the venom concentrates in one area and you will allow the venom to work more rapidly by forcing it to focus on one spot. Likewise, don’t ever try to suck that I’m out of a snake bite. It won’t work, because it travels through your bloodstream too quickly. Instead, you’re just wasting time and potentially causing an infection with your dirty mouth.
Both ice and cold water are also bad ideas. If you apply those to a snake bite, you can shrink the blood vessels and create the same situation as with a tourniquet. You’re forcing the snake venom to concentrate in one area and cause more severe, rapid damage.
You might think there’s some first aid that you can apply, and if there are other people around, they might suggest all kinds of ridiculous things. Some people use tasers on wounds believing the charge may cook the venom and render it inert, while others cut them open. You can even buy commercial snake bite kits meant to suck them out. Don’t do any of those things.
If you were bit on the hand or arms, make sure to remove your watch or any rings you have on. The swelling could cause those to cut off circulation and cause severe damage.
You want to get yourself medical attention as soon as possible. Remember, you’re on a clock that could be as little as 45 minutes or less. Call 911 or get someone to drive you to a hospital. Don’t drive yourself, because you might get dizzy and pass out on the way.
If possible, Mark the time that you were bit and keep track of how much it swells over time. Some people recommend using a Sharpie and literally just circling the wound and writing this information on your skin. Beyond that, there’s nothing you really can do except get yourself medical attention as quickly as possible.