Africa is a magical place, with a wide variety of wildlife, one of the wildest continents on earth, and a paradise for explorers, even snakes are several times more than other places, and african snakes are currently found in more than 400 species, of which there are almost 100 species of poisonous snakes. African venomous snakes are not only diverse, but also famous for their toxicity, such as black mamba, Gabon sizzling viper, Egyptian cobra, poisonous cobra and golden cobra, any one of which makes the local people shudder, imagining that you are cooking at home, and suddenly a cobra crawls in the door looking for food, how terrifying the scene.
One of the most famous is the black mamba snake, because its toxicity is known as 100% fatality rate, not to mention famous in Africa, there is also a very high reputation in the world, and even many people think that it is the most poisonous snake in the world, in fact, it is not excellent on the list of venomous snakes in the world, the first few are occupied by Australia, China's most poisonous silver ring snake can only rank 8th, black mamba can barely squeeze into the top 15 or so. And the black mamba injuries are not many, not very dangerous, to say that Africa is really dangerous venomous snake, the following has something to say, Africa hurt the largest number of venomous snakes "drum belly viper".
Drum belly viper is also called drum belly viper, drum belly viper, etc., we may rarely hear its name, but it is thunderous in the local area, if the black mamba snake is famous like China's silver ring snake, then the drum belly viper is like a "five-step snake", but also a very legendary poisonous snake. Because of its wide range and high mortality rate, it is known as the "number one killer" by the locals. According to statistics, more humans have been killed by it than all the local poisonous snakes combined. This means that as long as someone is bitten by a snake, more than half of it is done by this cargo.
Although the number of injuries is huge, in fact, this guy's toxicity is not very strong, so why can it be so terrible? In fact, there are many reasons, it has a wide range of distribution, in the Sahara Desert, rainforest and coastal shores have its figure, body color is also different, desert areas are mostly earthy yellow and brown, other areas are more black and gray, there are different colors of crescent-shaped patterns. However, their heads are triangular, and the color is gradually evolved from the day after tomorrow, in order to be better at hiding themselves, because there are too many predators here, in order to survive, they can only integrate with the surrounding environment, on the other hand, they are also for better hunting, and they are a master of stealth, which is very similar to the five-step snake.
The drum-bellied viper is very similar in appearance to the Gabonese viper, but slightly thinner, generally 1-1.3 meters in length, weighing about 6 kg, although not as large and bloated as the Gabon viper, but also a fatter snake, this fat snake can be very popular here, like this snake is enough to feed the honey badger. The drum-bellied viper prefers to inhabit rock piles or under fallen leaves, often appears near houses, does not like to be active during the day, is always lazy in the sun, and at night it will be energetic and specifically look for food near the farmhouse, because the rats living here are its main rations.
And it is also particularly fertile, is the most fertile of poisonous snakes, so it has become the most widely distributed venomous snake in Africa, the drum-bellied viper in estrus can attract several male snakes at a time, and can complete the mating task at the same time, looking for the best genes. Drum-bellied viper is a rare oviparous snake, the belly is very large generally either full or pregnant, a pregnant female, can give birth to more than 80 small snakes at a time, and even more 156 small snakes at a time, is a female snake in the local zoo, but also the highest breeding record of this species. It is precisely because it is too capable of giving birth, so it has always been ahead of other poisonous snakes in numbers.
Drum belly viper is actually a relatively lazy poisonous snake, generally will fall leaves or rocks in the same place waiting for the arrival of prey, and then sneak attack on the enemy, don't look at its fat size, its attack speed is not slow, although it looks a little clumsy, in the attack can shrink the body into an S shape, and then the whole body is catapulted out, probably can jump forward a meter distance, bite the other party a surprise. Although the laziness is very large, it is not afraid of artificial fright, even if someone approaches, it will not give in, but will make an offensive posture, if you can't see where the snake is, so as to stray into its territory, it will be bitten. Especially at night, the drum-bellied viper likes to enter the farm yard, and if you don't see it and get close to it, you may be out of luck.
Although the drum-bellied viper is not particularly powerful, it is also very powerful, and it is rumored that the indigenous people of Africa specifically caught this snake to deal with the bison, tied it to the place where the bison was infested, and when the bison came, the snake would bite the bison, and the bison would soon be killed, and then humans would come to get the beef. A drum-bellied viper about 1 meter can poison 5 adults at a time, it is mainly a blood toxin, which will cause swelling, muscle and cell necrosis after biting people, and can cause death within 6 hours, and if the treatment is not timely, it will also leave serious sequelae.
It is precisely because of this that the locals talk about snake discoloration, which can be described as the most common poisonous snake in Africa, and the courage is particularly large, if you encounter it on the road, try to give way to it, because it will not take the initiative to give way first, and even jump up to attack you. When it encounters a threat, it will also make a loud noise, remind yourself that it is not easy to provoke, always curl up and keep vigilant, while looking for a way out or looking for opportunities to attack you, especially like to sneak attack, is a very dangerous snake, its poisonous fangs are still very large, can easily bite through clothing, and even without poison can directly bite the rat.