Snakes - Venomous A venomous snake (poisonous) is a snake that uses modified saliva, venom, delivered through fangs in its mouth, to immobilize or kill its prey. (In contrast, most non-venomous species are constrictors which suffocate their prey.) Venomous snakes include several families of snakes and do not constitute a formal classification group used in taxonomy.
Venomous snakes are generally classified in four taxonomic families:
Elapids - cobras, king cobras, kraits, mambas, copperheads, and coral snakes.
Viperids - vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, adders and bushmasters.
Colubrids - boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, mangrove snakes, and many others, though not all colubrids are venomous.
Hydrophiidae - sea snakes
While about a quarter of snakes are venomous, not all such species are lethal to humans
 By: C.M.Shorter The Boomslang Snake is a rather large, highly poisonous tree dwelling snake found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Boomslangs are greenish to brown or even black in color. These coloring variations are the greatest of any other snakes in their Afrotropic regional habitat. It is the adult females that are usually brown in color, with males a light green color often with black or blue highlights outlining the edges of their scales. This snake is a one deadly animal because of its preference for aerial positioning in tree top and shrub cover. Hard to see in the thick forested cover of the savanna, ...
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 By John Henkel They fascinate. They repel.
Some pose a danger. Most are harmless.
And whether they are seen as slimy creatures or colorful curiosities, snakes play important environmental roles in the fragile ecosystems of the nation's wildlife areas.
People who frequent these wilderness spots, as well as those who camp, hike, picnic, or live in snake-inhabited areas, should be aware of potential dangers posed by venomous snakes. A bite from one of these, in which the snake may inject varying degrees of toxic venom, should always be considered a medical emergency, says the American Red Cross.
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 Family: Elapidae Cobra is the common name for members of the family of venomous snakes, Elapidae, known for their intimidating looks and deadly bite. Cobras are recognized by the hoods that they flare when angry or disturbed; the hoods are created by the extension of the ribs behind the cobras' heads. These reptiles are found throughout the Philippines, southern Asia, and Africa. The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake. The king cobra, or hamadryad, holds the record length of 24 ft. for a venomous snake! The king cobra is unique among snakes in that it makes a nest for its eggs, scraping u...
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 Order: Squamata, Family: Colubridae The slender vine snake measures 5 to 6 1/2 inches in length and 1 to 2 inches in diameter.
Its head is the same width as its body.
It has sharp rear fangs.
The vine snake is green-brown in color.
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 Order: Squamata, Family: Viperidae The temple viper has a large head and stout body.
The viper's yellow-and-green body bears white, red, dark green or black spots or cross bands. The top of its head is black with green markings, its ventral shields are white with black edges, and its tail is black.
The temple viper is venomous and dangerous, but not aggressive.
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 Order: Squamata, Family: Viperidae Pit viper. Characterized by a tail rattle that produces a buzzing sound when vibrated.
Rattle is composed of horny, loosely connected segments added one at a time with each skin shedding, usually containing six to ten segments.
Triangular-shaped head that is broader than the neck.
Coloring varies by species, but usually blends in well with its surroundings, i.e., mottled or banded in shades of tan and brown, and also combinations of grayish green, orange, red, bright green, yellow, black or peach.
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 The krait is a highly venomous snake found in Southeast Asia. There are 13 species of krait, and two prominent types of krait in India. All kraits are nocturnal.
The banded krait is readily identified by its alternate black and yellow bands. Kraits also have a row of hexagonal scales along the ridge of their back.
The common krait is a slate-colored snake with thin white bands that are absent in the anterior part of its body.
Since their fangs are not very long, kraits inject their venom by chewing. The poison affects mainly the nervous system.
The common krait can reach a maximu...
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 Order: Squamata, Family: Viperidae The common lancehead is usually brown, reddish-brown, olive, green or grayish-brown in color with large, dark, pale triangles on the sides of its body.
Its head is triangular and pointed.
The lancehead measures 4 to 7 feet long.
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 The coral snake's body is orange to coral-red, with 20 to 47 black bands that decrease in width toward the tail.
Its belly is yellow, with the black bands completely encircling the body in young snakes, but fading in adults, leaving only the first two or three intact.
The coral snake has a broad rostral shield that it uses to burrow.
Its head is indistinct from its neck.
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 Order: Squamata, Family: Elapidae Despite its name, the black mamba is rarely black, but uniformly dark olive to brown or steel gray above and grayish-white below. It often has black speckling along the back half of its body.
Although the black mamba's scales are deep olive or gray, the skin between the scales and the inside of the mamba's mouth are black.
The black mamba averages 8 to 9 feet long, although 10- to 12-foot specimens are not uncommon. Some mambas grow to as long at 14 feet.
It has a long, slender coffin-shaped head.
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 Steve Irwin Join Steve Irwin as he treks through Australia on a mission to find the world's ten most venomous snakes and to educate us on how we can peacefully cohabit with them
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 The green tree pit viper is uniform bright or dull green with light yellow on its lips.
It grows to 18 to 30 inches in length.
The green tree pit viper's range includes India, Myanmar, Malaya, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Formosa.
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