African Green Mamba

[pelligrini]

I also just got an email about a gator attack in Florida:

Pack of Dogs Attacks Gator In Florida.

Not for the squeamish………

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty...

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator", can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality" bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.
Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Photo Link

[cabinetman]

I also just got an email about a gator attack in Florida:

Pack of Dogs Attacks Gator In Florida.

Not for the squeamish………

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty...

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator", can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and "survival of the pack mentality" bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.
Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Photo Link

Gruesome... just gruesome.
.

[billwmeyer]

Snake attack

Yes I have been attacked by a snake. We have a water snake here that we call a water moccasin, but it is not a cottonmouth. I was fishing in a strip pit after working ground (farming) waiting for my dad to finish the planting. I was catching about 2 oz. perch - that is a good day for me. I had my 22 semi auto rifle with me. A snake swam by and I took a shot and missed. I had about 3 other shots at him. I was sitting on the bank and I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. The snake was coming at me about 100 mph. I was never much of a shot with that 22, but I picked it up beside me, and shooting from the hip I hit the snake twice on the ground and 3 times in the air. I never fished there again.

My grampa was fishing with me once and the same kind of snake sprang at him from the pond dam just as he bent over and missed him landing in the water. This is as far as I know, a non poisonous snake, but it is a mean one.

Bill

[tommyt654]

Yes I forget about the Coral Snake, and they are indigenous to Fla though I had never seen 1 there but have seen and killed a few in N.C. around the Wilmington area. I have also been bitten on numerous occasions by Garter snakes and can assure you it has fangs and you will develop swelling in the area of the bite. I have also undergone a series of antivenom shots for being bitten by an Eastern Diamondback, That my friends was excruciatingly painfull as well (the shots not the bite). Left alone most species of snakes will not even bother with you ,however if disturbed by movement to close to their layer they will defend their territory as most animals will. I also worked for a summer (H.S. Vacation) at the Ross Allen reptile museum in Silver Springs, Fla where I had the oppertunity to learn and handle a great deal of reptiles from one of the worlds greatest authorities Ross Allen himself

[Uncle Cracker]

I also worked for a summer (H.S. Vacation) at the Ross Allen reptile museum in Silver Springs, Fla where I had the oppertunity to learn and handle a great deal of reptiles from one of the worlds greatest authorities Ross Allen himself

Yes, he was. I met him many times and have the utmost respect for Ross. My tutelage came at the hands of Owen Godwin at Gatorland, while I earned much of my college tuition catching snakes for him. I have walked a mile in your shoes, and certainly don't mean to be contradictory, but I personally have never swollen up from a garter bite. They do indeed have a mildly toxic saliva (more like a tranquilizer for very small prey), but it is not histamic, as far as I know. I suppose it might be that others are more sensitive to it than I, and it would certainly take a really long "chew" to get any discernible amount of toxin.

[tommyt654]

Well the one that got me actually hit me right in the knuckle joint of my index finger and I can assure you it was swollen and hurt. By the way recent studies have shown they have a mild nuerotoxin and rear-fanged as they are a chew may only last long enough to get them unwound from your hand or arm, plenty of time to squeak out a little venom., also. As to biting, garter and water snakes are a different story! How many of us have been chewed up one side and down the other by a water snake that we’ve picked up to examine or photograph? These little buzzsaws generally have no hesitation to bite. A number of the garter snakes will bite when initially caught, as well. Grenard cites a case from 1985 in which a 13-year-old received a “prolonged” bite from an eastern garter snake. The child had swelling, bruising of the skin, and coolness (temperature, not social status!) and was hospitalized. Lab values were normal and the child recovered without problems. Evidently this same child was subsequently bitten by garter snakes without symptoms, showing that the original symptoms were not the result of an allergic reaction but apparently the result of mild venom. (The fact that this child continued to be bitten by garter snakes also demonstrates that he must have been a dedicated garter-lover!) Reports of the bite of a separate species, the wandering garter snake, also suggest toxicity. Symptoms from the bite of this species (Thamnophis elegans) have included swelling, pain, and localized bleeding but not systemic symptoms.

[Uncle Cracker]

Yes, the case you have referred to is in the writings provided by Steve Grenard. The studies I have read indicate that many non-constrictive snakes (even the lowly hognose!) have displayed these mild salivary toxins, with secretion via the rudimentary development of Duvernoy's glands, and delivery not via hollow or grooved fangs, but simply by the presence of the salivary material in the folds between the lips and gums.

I guess it's a matter of semantics whether or not these critters are categorized as "venomous", as many would contend that a compound that is at best an irritant to humans should not be classified as a "venom". Perhaps it is time for a new classification, as it would certainly not be prudent to put these guys in the same group as the boomslangs, coral snakes, and others of their development.