Rat Snakes Are Venomous?

I think this has more to do with the irrational fear of snakes that seems to be rooted in the psyche of a majority of humans. I was watching Corwin today, and a guy working for a wildlife preservation organization in Uganda freaked out over a rock python. In that case you're talking about a guy who routinely deals with massive predators like lions without batting an eye, and yet acts like a little girl when confronted with a snake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicofera

Is a very interesting read about the toxicofera clade of reptiles (all snakes and many lizards). Veonomlike substances are present in the saliva of many lizards and almost all snakes (I've heard it said that the only exceptions are boids but I can't supply a reference). That doesn't make them dangerous to humans at all but it is fascinating and does make for a game of semantics over the word 'venomous'.

North American Rats, Kings, Milks and Bulls (all Pits) are also 100% with out any venom at least according to Dr. Fry along with all Boas, Pythons, etc. Most other snakes have some sort of "venom" indeed.

It is very interesting but it will not make snakes that have been kept safely for decades start killing or injuring their keepers over night :rolleyes:. When you read some of the commentary on the research and much of the forum discussions on it that is the message you get.

To put it in perspective the following animals are also venomous....

Ants
Deer Flies
All Spiders
Duck Billed Platypus
Gaftop Sail Catfish
Hard Head Catfish
Bees
Wasps

If you don't count Funnel Webs, Brown Recluses and Black Widows then the most dangerous thing listed above (unless you are allergic) is the flippin Platypus :D

Again I just think people want to look cool or seem adventurous and again Romanticize this part of herpetology. Think of how everyone with a rear fanged snake always talks about the "venom" when then discuss their snake. I know this is a balance, when I posted my Skaapstekers I mentioned it not to seem cool just so people who may consider buying them would know as they are often advertised as harmless when the picture below is what a bite by one looks like.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e1...4/DSC05579.jpg

Yet as dramatic as that reaction appears my wife was stung by a common wasp this summer in the finger while trimming a bush, her hand did not look much better and she is not allergic to bees and wasps. The guy who was bit in this picture never went to a hospital, took some oral antibiotics to be safe and just rocked on with life. He was given a good chew in the first place so how dangerous should we consider these snakes to really be? I have heard of far worse reactions from bites by commonly kept tarantulas.

I think we have to be responsible in our discussions about this side of herpetology there are already people that think all snakes are venomous enough to kill you. Don't get me wrong the discussion here has been fine but the original article is the type of yellow journalism that the internet has made far to easy to publish. It is totally irresponsible! I would really like to slap the ever loving snot out of someone over at "FreshScience" and if I were Dr. Fry I would sue the pricks for liable because the article is using Dr. Fry's credentials and creditability to present a very false view of his research and the reality behind it.