Sense any discussion of snakes on the forum seems to get a good rise I thought I'd post this article from one of the science web sites. And truth be it does kind of fit in with hunting.....sort of......
Expert Names Most Dangerous Snake
By Ross Pomeroy
Which snake is the most dangerous? It's a question that everyone seems to love to ask. It's also a question that annoys St. Mary's University physiological ecologist Marshall McCue.
"This question is impossible to answer without further clarification," he recently argued in the Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases.
Do people want to know which snake has the most venom? Or maybe which kills the most humans each year? Or which has the most toxic and lethal venom?
Even if the question is made more specific, it's still difficult to answer, McCue says. For example, the amount of venom a snake has depends on its size, age, and health, as well as the researcher's method of extraction. Moreover, a venom's lethality varies depending upon the animal it acts on, as well as how and where the venom is administered.
If you ask, "which snake kills the most people each year?" the answer would be the cobra. According to McCue, it is "responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year in south-central Asia." But the cobra's "deadliest" title is more likely explained by high human population densities and poor healthcare services than its effectiveness as a man murderer.
With so many confounding variables surrounding such a seemingly simple question, when asked which snake is the most dangerous, McCue doesn't answer "the black mamba" or "the inland Taipain" or "the puff adder." No, he has a much more cheeky response.
"My position is that the most dangerous snake is the one that just bit you."
Read more: http://forums.floridasportsman.com/...ot-really-hunting-but-as-snakes#ixzz2dDAfgwzs
Expert Names Most Dangerous Snake
By Ross Pomeroy
Which snake is the most dangerous? It's a question that everyone seems to love to ask. It's also a question that annoys St. Mary's University physiological ecologist Marshall McCue.
"This question is impossible to answer without further clarification," he recently argued in the Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases.
Do people want to know which snake has the most venom? Or maybe which kills the most humans each year? Or which has the most toxic and lethal venom?
Even if the question is made more specific, it's still difficult to answer, McCue says. For example, the amount of venom a snake has depends on its size, age, and health, as well as the researcher's method of extraction. Moreover, a venom's lethality varies depending upon the animal it acts on, as well as how and where the venom is administered.
If you ask, "which snake kills the most people each year?" the answer would be the cobra. According to McCue, it is "responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year in south-central Asia." But the cobra's "deadliest" title is more likely explained by high human population densities and poor healthcare services than its effectiveness as a man murderer.
With so many confounding variables surrounding such a seemingly simple question, when asked which snake is the most dangerous, McCue doesn't answer "the black mamba" or "the inland Taipain" or "the puff adder." No, he has a much more cheeky response.
"My position is that the most dangerous snake is the one that just bit you."
Read more: http://forums.floridasportsman.com/...ot-really-hunting-but-as-snakes#ixzz2dDAfgwzs
