Rear-fanged Snake

Family Colubridae

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on animal fact files we're talking about rear-fanged snakes. We have other striking videos, don't forget to subscribe! When we think of snakes striking at a foe to inject a deadly stream of venom, many of us consider the hollow, needle-like front fangs of cottonmouths and mambas. This, however, is not the only means snakes are able to deliver a lethal bite. Rear-fanged snakes are classified in the family of “typical snakes” though they aren’t necessarily related to one another besides belonging to the same family.

Rear-fanged snakes have up to three longer teeth closer towards the rear of their mouths that are used in envenomation. Unlike the hollow fangs found in other snakes like rattlesnakes, the fangs in rear-fanged snakes are solid. Rear-fanged snake fangs may also come with grooves that can help with slicing into a prey item and delivering a toxic bite. It’s debated whether all rear-fanged snakes actually produce venom or just a toxic substance similar to venom, but for simplicity’s sake we will refer to the toxic substance produced by rear-fanged snakes as venom.

The venom in rear-fanged snakes is not an instantaneous release as it is with vipers. In fact, rear-fanged snakes don’t even really store venom. Instead of a quick one-and-done tactic, rear-fanged snakes latch on and chew their food. This chewing motion creates a wound in the prey which leaves more opportunity for toxic saliva to seep in and take effect. Often, rear-fanged snake venom has evolved to be more potent to specific targets. For example, Mexican vine snakes specialize in hunting lizards while tentacled snakes excel in hunting fish. This often means that while a rear-fanged snake’s venom might be deadly to its main food source, it’s wimpy when used against other animals. In humans, depending on the species of rear-fanged snake, a rear-fanged snake bite can be as bad as a bee sting or a deadly as a Deathclaw. Often it also depends on how long the snake has an opportunity to chew.

Some of the most well known and dangerous rear-fanged snakes are boomslangs. These snakes have actually caused fatalities in humans. There are also twig snakes and vine snakes all of whom should be granted a wide berth if ever encountered in the wild. Then, of course, there are rear-fanged snakes who are known to produce toxins but aren’t known to be super deadly to humans. Heck, many of them aren’t known to be deadly to humans at all. Some of these rear-fanged snakes are often kept by snake enthusiasts and pet owners.

Examples of rear-fanged snakes who are labeled as harmless include hognose snakes and false water cobras. Though these snakes are able to produce toxin filled saliva, and in turn may be labelled as venomous, this venom is often considered not potent enough to be dangerous to humans. Then there are the rear-fanged snakes who are truly labelled as non-venomous but may actually be able to produce a toxic bite under the right circumstances.

An example of one of these would be a snake most people, at least most people who love snakes, have encountered at some point in their lifetime: garter snakes. Sure there’s no evidence that a garter snake can produce a toxic bite strong enough to kill a human, but they may use that toxin to subdue their prey. And making the statement that garter snakes may produce toxin doesn’t mean we’re condemning garter snakes or any other rear-fanged snakes, either; we think snakes are awesome, including the not so deadly ones like garter snakes and hognoses as well as the deadly ones, like boomslangs and vine snakes!

There’s still a lot to be learned about rear-fanged snakes and how they produce and discharge their venom. If you would like to learn more, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.