by Joel La Rocque

Created on: January 07, 2009

South America has a vast animal wildlife population. Tourists find the wild primate population fascinating especially along food market strips. Monkey's beg for food and when food is withheld, stealing is an accepted alternative. Either way it is all quite entertaining. Iguanas lounge on park lawns and seem to have no fear of humans. Other reptiles are not so endearing to tourists or locals alike! Wild snakes tend to turn the bravest of arm chair animal experts into in door enthusiasts. There are far more non venomous species of snake in South America then venomous ones. The venomous species are mainly members of the pit viper family, snakes such as the Fer De Lance, the Neotropical rattlesnake and the Bushmaster are but three species of snake belonging to this advanced group of snakes. The most bites are delivered by the Fer De Lance who's venom is virulent to say the least. Many tourists and residents have found them selves on the business end of massive fangs. This species of pit viper like others are most active after night fall. They hunt for rodents and other small mammals which at times brings them a little to close to human dwellings for comfort. Residents and tourists alike forget about the possible dangers after dark and walk along wooded paths with out proper footwear and end up stepping on the Fer De Lance. The venom is strongly protein bound and the area around the bite quickly becomes a swollen, blistering wound that is extremely painful and the loss of the affected area is a distinct possibility if not treated by a physician within a short period of time post bite.

The anti venom used to treat a bite is useful if the venom used in making the anti venom was from snakes gathered in the same general area as the snake that delivered the bite. South American species of Rattlesnakes and a few others have seemed to develop their own venom composition's that differs from snakes of the same species whom are separated by geographical boundaries within South American countries. This could be caused by different prey animals available to them or different predators who prey upon them but what ever the reason it has been a real problem for those who treat the bites of humans. Some species of Rattlesnakes are born with a potent neurotoxic venom that changes as they mature into a protein based venom which affects the vascular system in mammals. This also poses a problem when treating a bite, was the snake an adult or a larger juvenile? Often multiple doses of

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>