The boomslang is a large, highly venomous snake in the family Colubridae [Colubridae is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica.]
The boomslang is able to open its jaws up to 170° when biting. The venom of the boomslang is primarily a hemotoxin; it disables the coagulation process and the victim may die as a result of internal and external bleeding. The venom has been observed to cause hemorrhage into tissues such as muscle and brain.
The boomslang (Dispholidus typus) is a venomous tree snake native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Blunt-faced and pretty, with relatively enormous eyes and a bright, light green colour in males and brown in females, the boomslang spends its days up in the trees, hunting for lizards, frogs, chameleons, mice and birds.
“If you want to mess with me, you’d rather be ready for the consequences,” well, this is one such phrase this snake has given life to! This cute-faced beast, Boomslang snake, is one of the rarest and most feared reptiles present who can trick and fool you with their puppy dog eye look!
“If you want to mess with me, you’d rather be ready for the consequences,” well, this is one such phrase this snake has given life to! This cute-faced beast, Boomslang snake, is one of the rarest and most feared reptiles present who can trick and fool you with their puppy dog eye look!
For many years, it was believed that this species was harmless, but world-renowned herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt learned the hard way that this snake is, in fact, the master of venom!
Back in 1957, whilst examining a young boomslang, Schmidt was bitten on the thumb. Given that nobody knew these snakes were deadly, Schmidt thought nothing of it and carried on as normal. In just one day, he died of respiratory arrest and cerebral hemorrhage; an event that quickly spurred researchers to examine this snake’s venom, which unsurprisingly turned out to be highly toxic.
What this snake’s venom does to you would not be out of place in a horror movie. It’s hemotoxic, meaning that it destroys red blood cells, disrupts the clotting process and causes tissue and organ degeneration.
What this unfortunately means is that massive hemorrhage ensues, causing the victim to bleed from the gums, nose and other cracks and holes. Sometimes, the body of the victim will turn blue because of the widespread internal bleeding. Adding insult to injury, the process can be extremely slow, sometimes taking 5 days for the victim to die of internal bleeding.
Praise to the advancement in science and technology that anti-venom for the bite of this snake has been introduced.
