Snake Identification
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As a first snake identification detail, length strikes the eye first. The danger often comes from well camouflaged species that are also very small. The body shape can be challenging to distinguish since the presence of prey in the snake’s digestive system changes the way the body looks; slender, medium sized and stout are the standard criteria and they are often judged in the combination with the color pattern. Then, the snake identification as poisonous or non-poisonous can be tricky when considering the head and neck shape; though the majority of venomous species have triangular head, there are some with round heads too, and vice versa. According to pattern and color, snakes could be striped, multicolored, blotched, banded, mono-colored or they may have only the head or the tail different from the rest of the body. It is common knowledge that snake identification usually considers the nature of the pattern in determining the poisonous or non-poisonous trait of a species; generally speaking, snakes with complex patterns or vivid colors are venomous, but exceptions do exist. Nature has its way of signaling danger to other creatures sharing the same habitat, but sometimes the bright colors could be just a smart way of blending in the background and not be spotted by predators. This is the case with bright green snakes living in tropical rain forests. For scientific purposes snake identification requires the analysis of the scales specificity; such a check cannot be performed individually, as special protection equipment and lots of professional training is necessary to stay unharmed and not harm the animal either. The scales could be smooth, shiny and rounded or diamond shaped; the latter have a duller look and are specific to snakes living on rough terrains and dusty arid areas. Last but not least, the eye pupil allows for a quick snake identification since the cat-like vertical pupil indicates a venomous predator. With the exception of the poisonous coral snake that has rounded pupils, most dangerous species show the elliptical pupil shape. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
