Deadliest Snakes of the World....

Deadliest Snakes of the World....

I had seen a Russels Viper in my last bird watching trip (Airoli, Nov 25, 2007) that is considered to be one of the most deadliest snake of india. Thinking of which is the most deadliest, a programme was aired on Nat Geo on the same topic. Snakes were given points on the basis of criteria like Size, Volume (of venom), Toxicity (impact of venom), Personality (affecting human population) and Death (reported human deaths). Maximum point for a category was 5

Name	Size	Volume	Toxicity	Personality	Death	Total
King Cobra	5	5	3	3	2	18
Spitting Cobra	2	4	2	2	2	12
Inland Taipan	4	4	5	1	0	14
Russels Viper	4	4	4	4	5	21
Python	5	0	0	4	1	10
Black Mamba	5	4	5	5	3	22

As per the table , Black mamba(South Africa) was observed to be the deadliest of snakes. One important thing, black mamba is not black but more white. The name is due to its black mouth, ie the inner lining of its mouth is black in color thats visible when it opens its mouth before attacking. Mambas generally roost or rest in trees.

Russels vipers(India) by far the deadliest in India along with King cobra(India). However, when it comes to number of human deaths, nobody can beat a viper not even in asia but in america too. Inland taipan is the most toxic of all but there have been no reported deaths related to the bite of this snake. Reason being its nowhere near human population. Python(India, South Africa) lead the rest if size is concerned say more then fifteen feets at times. Spitting cobra(South Africa) is as the name suggests spits its venom ie you shoud wear gogs to save your eyes :-).

Parag Bakshi