Pit viper, the word is not unfamiliar in our eyes, because it is the most notorious poisonous snake in our country, in our country mainly refers to the short-tailed viper, in fact, this statement is not accurate, pit viper does not refer to a certain snake, refers to a subfamily under the viper family, collectively known as pit viper. They have the same characteristic, that is, sinister and cunning, all pit vipers are best at the skill of hiding and sneaking, China's famous pit vipers include five-step snakes, short-tailed vipers, original spearhead pit vipers, Mangshan original spearhead vipers and black-browed pit vipers on Dalian Snake Island, of which the short-tailed viper is also the snake with the largest number of injuries in China.
The distribution range of short-tailed viper is extremely extensive, in China Beijing, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, Henan, Guangdong, Anhui, Hebei, Sichuan and other places are distributed, it can be said that they are found in the south of Liaoning Province. It is short and fat, usually only half a meter, because the tail is short and named, the color is mostly brown, brown, black, gray, etc., because of the wide range of distribution, regional differences caused by the body color changes are also very large, in addition to the body color, through the pattern and characteristics are also very good to distinguish.
The short-tailed viper and the round-tailed viper look similar, the former has a semicircular pattern on both sides of the back, the round-spotted viper in addition to the semi-circular pattern on both sides, there is a circular pattern in the middle of the back, and the short-tailed viper also has the biggest feature, that is, there are two white "eyebrows" above the eyes, which is also known as the white-browed viper. Some people also call it earth dog, ground snake, grass flying, soil cloth bag, etc., the head is triangular, mainly hidden in cemeteries, dry grass, dry caves, fallen leaves, is a more cunning snake.
It usually catches mice, toads, and fish for food, and has a strong nocturnal behavior, mainly at night, especially on hot nights. When encountering people, they will hide themselves, not to quickly escape but to stay still, if they do not pay attention to it, they will easily be injured by it, and when they are threatened, they will make an attack posture, shrink their heads into an S shape, and then quickly catapult out, the attack speed is very fast, it is difficult for people to react, so do not tease it.
Don't look at its small size to feel that the toxicity is not strong, the strength of the poisonous short-tailed pit viper alone is better than many pit vipers, can reach more than 5 times the five-step snake, its toxicity is extremely overbearing to the rodent damage, and can poison mice in 30 seconds. Toxicity test is: subcutaneous injection ld50 = 2.0mg / Kg, intraperitoneal injection ld50 = 0.52mg / Kg, in terms of toxicity alone, it is indeed stronger than the five-step snake, but the degree of harm to the human body is far less terrible than the five-step snake, the five-step snake because of the large amount of detoxification and the relationship between the type of venom, it can be said that it is the strongest poisonous snake in China's pit viper.
The five-step snake is called the barramundi viper, which is huge and can reach 2.5 meters, the average is about 1.5 meters, and the detoxification volume is second only to the king cobra, which can reach more than 200 mg, which also establishes its position in the pit viper. Because it is a well-known blood circulation toxin, the damage to human body functions is particularly large, after biting, the patient's wound is severely swollen, and it will also cause a systemic bleeding reaction, and the wound will ulcerate and blacken in severe cases, and even the muscle tissue will be necrotic, and the bones will also be damaged to varying degrees. Because of the serious damage to the flesh, patients need to spend a high fee to cure, and may also be disabled.
In contrast, the short-tailed viper is more toxic, but more gentle, because of its shorter body size, less detoxification, an average of only 27-44 mg, and the venom is a mixture of toxins, including weak neurotoxins and blood toxins. Short-tailed pit vipers will have edema, bleeding and pain reactions after biting people, because there are fewer neurotoxins, patients usually do not have symptoms of paralysis and dyspnea, more is the systemic reaction of blood toxins to the human body, including organ bleeding failure, wound ulceration, can also cause a certain degree of necrosis, but compared with the five-step snake, the degree of damage is still small.
However, it should not be underestimated because of its wide distribution, coupled with the sinister cunning and sneak attack, it has become the most injurious poisonous snake in China. In recent years, patients injured by short-tailed vipers can receive thousands of cases every year, and the cumulative number of injuries has exceeded 20,000 times, most of which are concentrated in the Jiangsu area, although its toxicity is strong, due to the low amount of detoxification, the fatality rate is not high, the average is only 8%. Such a high frequency of bites also makes the number of casualties as high as more than 2,000 people, which is more than 3 times that of the silver ring snake, which is the most terrible pit viper in people's mouths, because of its small size, it is not easy to be found, and it is often attacked by it, which will be more dangerous than the five-step snake.
In the face of poisonous snakes in the wild do not let down their vigilance, do not risk the past to take pictures, although the snake movement speed is slow, the attack speed is not slow, the reaction speed of people is far from enough, and they are moody, one second is still in the wilderness and fleeing, the next second may have been hidden, ready to launch a sneak attack on you, this is also the usual means of poisonous snakes to hurt people.