The Six Common Venomous Snakes in Taiwan (Partial Replication)
1. Hundred Pacer (Deinagkistrodon acutus)
Features:
A venomous snake with a potent hemotoxin. This egg-laying mid-sized snake has a short, thick body, large triangular head, thin neck and upturned snout. The top of the head is brown in color while clear triangular patterns can be seen along the sides. The belly has black spots while the tail is a black-brown color.
Behavior:
Active during the day and night. Usually lives at the bottom level of deciduous forests with birds and rodents making up the majority of its diet. When disturbed, it raises its head while also making a warning hissing sound and constantly waggling its tail.
Distribution:
Found at medium to low altitudes in broad-leaf forests, bamboo groves and river valleys throughout Hualien, Taitung, Pingtung and Kaohsiung.
Bite Symptoms:
Within a few minutes of the bite, the surrounding flesh dies and turns black highlighting the puncture wounds. The wound is deep with widely spaced tooth marks and quickly becomes swollen. The skin and muscle turn black from necrosis, blisters form around the tooth marks and the wound begins bleeding. The victim feels a burning pain and the size of the necrotic region depends on the amount of snake venom injected and the depth of the bite.
Bite Treatment:
Hundred pacer anti-venom.
2. Pointed-scaled Pit Viper (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus)
Features:
A medium-sized venomous snake with a potent hemotoxin. The back is a brown or tan-brown color, with three rows of irregular dark-tan colored round patches.
Behavior:
Active at night. Inhabits abandoned houses and log piles. Feeds on birds, rodents, frogs and lizards. When disturbed, it raises its head and coils its body. The tail waggling restlessly is a sign that it is about to attack.
3. Chinese Green Tree Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)
![Name: BambooViper-5_303x203_c0b3c4b6548148ecba375dd07359d1a8.jpg
Views: 1446
Size: 22.2 KB](http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/attachment.php?s=3ab4e7f83b6340a5d71a3bc334dc4f07&attachmentid=10149&d=1478769269)
Features:
A small venomous snake with a potent hemotoxin. It has a thin neck, large triangular head, green body and red eyes. There is a white or two red-white lines running along either side of the body. Due to its brick red colored tail, it's also known as the Red Tail.
Behavior:
Ovoviviparous, mainly active at night and is found coiled around branches in brushwood. Diet consists mainly of birds, rodents and frogs. When disturbed, it raises its head and coils its body. The tails waggling restlessly is a sign that it is about to attack.
Distribution:
Found at medium and low altitudes in brushwood, bamboo groves, mountain gullies, river valleys and dry farmland throughout Taiwan.
Bite Symptoms:
When bitten, black puncture marks can be seen. The surrounding area quickly becomes swollen, with the skin and muscle turning necrotic and blisters forming in the surroundings. The wound bleeds and feels as if on fire.
Bite Treatment:
Pit Viper or Green Tree Viper anti-venom.
4. Russell's Viper (Vipera russellii formosensis)
Features:
A medium-sized venomous snake with a toxin that is both hemorrhagic and neurotoxic. There are three rows of a chain pattern along the back made up of round patches that have a grayish-white border and brown or dark brown inside. The belly is white and covered with small black spots.
Behavior:
Ovoviviparous, feeds on rodents. It moves slowly with a lateral motion. When disturbed, it coils into a circle, makes a hissing sound and makes sudden strikes.
..
5. Banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus multicinctus)
Features:
A snake with the most deadly neurotoxin among terrestrial venomous snakes. It is relatively placid and rarely attacks human unless wounded or threatened. The head is an oval shape while the back has a very distinctive black and white banded pattern.
.
6. Common Cobra (Naja naja atra)
Features:
A medium-to-large sized snake with neurotoxic venom. May be tan-brown, brown or dark brown in color. Those with a black belly tend to be larger in size and the head is usually oval in shape.
...