Comprehensive Guide on Snake Venom

Fairfax County snake

Venom is a toxic fluid that the venomous snakes store in their salivary gland. Over a hundred species of snake will rely upon their venom to incapacitate and restrain their prey. The toxin will be produced through the combination of molecule substance, enzymes, and protein. Different venoms will have varying effects; they may destroy cells in your body, poison your nervous system, or disrupt your blood coagulation. This article will tell you some of the interesting facts that you must know about venom.

How Does Venom Works?
While the snake's venom is composed of a complicated combination of non-toxic elements, enzymes, toxins, and proteins, the way they affect our body can be determined according to their type; hemotoxins, cytotoxins, and neurotoxins. Other kinds of snake venoms will only target specific cells like nephrotoxins, cardiotoxins, and mycotoxins.

· Hemotoxins- These are blood toxins that can cause a cytotoxic impact. It also disrupts the natural process of blood coagulation. The victim's red blood cell will burst, which prevents the blood from clotting. It can then lead to the death of the tissues and cause organ damage. Since your blood loses its capacity to clot, it can cause internal bleeding. Apart from this, the accumulation of dead blood cells can affect the function of your kidney. Some type of hemotoxins will have the opposite effect. It can cause the blood of the victim to clump together. The blood clot will block the blood vessels and prevent proper blood circulation that may result in heart failure.
· Cytotoxins- These are venoms that can destroy the cells in your body, which is medically known as necrosis. Some of the tissues may go through liquefactive necrosis, where the tissues can entirely or partially liquefy. It helps the snake partially digest the animals before they are ingested. As mentioned before, cytotoxins can impact specific kinds of cells; nephrotoxins target the kidney cells, mycotoxins damaged muscle cells, and cardiotoxins destroy our heart's cells.
· Neurotoxins- It contains substances that are toxic to our nervous system. It disrupts the brain signals since they will block the neurotransmitter. Therefore, they may result in paralysis that can lead to breathing difficulty and even death.

How Do Snakes Inject Venom?
Most of the snakes will inject their venom through their fangs. As the sharp fangs of the snake pierce the skin, the venom will flow through the wound. Other snakes will eject and spit venoms as their defense mechanism. The injection of the venom will involve the use of 4 components; fangs, ducts, muscles, and the venom glands.

Most of the venomous snake bite happens when someone is trying to get rid of them or kill them. You should never expose yourself to snakes' hazards; allow the experts to deal with them. They have the skills, equipment, and tools required to make the removal process safe and convenient. They can also handle the relocation process and provide you with preventive measures to guarantee that the snakes will never revisit your area. Go back to the home page: Snakes of Fairfax County