Many people consider venomous snakes poisonous, but venom and poison are different.
Poisons are toxins that need to be ingested, absorbed, or inhaled.
It’s a bit unusual, but there are poisonous snakes out there.
To clarify, a snake’s venom toxicity makes it poisonous when ingested or absorbed into the body rather than injected via the fangs.
Since snakes store their venom in glands around the head or neck, eating the head of a highly venomous snake will poison you.
Some snakes secrete the venomous poison of other animals, making them poisonous.
Most poisonous snakes rely on venom being present to take their prey down, but not all snake venom is alike, making certain types of snakes significantly more poisonous.
It is believed that 25% of the snake species are considered to be poisonous, and this ranges across individual species found in each family of snakes.
Let’s look at the most poisonous snakes in the world today.
1. Bothrops Jararacussu
The Jararacussu is found in the viper family and is native to Paraguay, Eastern Brazil, South-eastern Bolivia, and North-eastern Argentina. It’s one of the most poisonous snakes.
Like many other snakes, the Jararacussu has an underbelly lighter in color than the rest of its body.
It feeds off of small rodents it finds in its habitat, which is land that is near rivers and lakes.
The reason this snake’s venom is considered to be poisonous is down to its ability to inject close to 800mg of its venom in just one bite, enough venom to kill close to 35 people.
2. Tiger Snake
This snake is part of the Elapidae family, a large group of snakes that are categorized as poisonous. This group includes snakes like the Egyptian cobra.
Tiger snakes are native to Australia’s temperate and subtropical areas.
Their bodies have orange, yellow, orange-brown, and black coloring with darker bands and a lighter-colored underbelly.
The Tiger snake’s venom is highly poisonous to humans, and it can inject up to 180mg in just a single bite.
It can also be highly dangerous if ingested or absorbed through the skin.
3. Common Krait
The common krait is part of the Elapidae family of snakes and is known as one of India’s 4 most poisonous.
It is native to Sri Lanka and South India and can inhabit many locations, such as jungles, fields, rat holes, termite mounds, and people’s homes.
The krait has dark blue/black or pale blue/grey coloring and white crossbands.
They are highly nocturnal and tend to feed on other snakes, frogs, lizards, and small mammals.
The Krait is considered poisonous due to the amount of venom it can inject and the toxicity, which gives it a high mortality rate and makes it highly poisonous should it be ingested.
4. Philippine Cobra
Also a member of the Elapidae family, the Philippine cobra is a snake that spits venom.
Young cobras have a dark coloring that turns into a mid-brown coloring once fully grown.
They are native to several Philippine islands, including Eastern Samar, Masbate, Samar, Luzon, Southern Leyte, Catanduanes, and Mindoro.
They tend to inhabit human settlements, open fields, and dense jungles.
It is the sheer potency of this snake’s venom that makes it highly poisonous and is very fast-acting, killing a human within minutes of coming into contact with this toxic poison. This cobra can spit its venom up to 10 feet.
5. King Cobra
Also part of the Elapidae family, the king cobra is native throughout East, South, and South-eastern Asia. Its habitat areas are close to bodies of water and dense forests.
Because it can grow up to 18 feet, weigh up to 13 pounds, and has the agility to launch itself at its victims, it is considered the most dangerous snake in Asiatic territories.
Its coloring can be black, olive-green, or tan with bands of light yellow, a hood on its head that can expand, and two occipital scales on its head.
It feeds on other venomous snakes, such as cobras, pythons, and kraits.
It can secrete venom from its victims, and its venom is highly toxic, with a high mortality rate, making it a very poisonous snake.
6. Chain (Russell’s) Viper
This viper species is native to Asia, Southern China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia and is one of the most poisonous snakes.
It prefers to live in open areas and is known as one of the 4 most poisonous snakes to be found in India, causing the most deaths worldwide.
It has a flat, raised nose with a triangular-shaped head, and its colorings tend to be brown, tan, or dark yellow, with spots of deep brown.
The chain viper is considered poisonous due to the sheer amount of venom it can inject in just one bite, with a toxicity level of 268mg.
It only takes 40 to 70 mg of this poison to kill an adult human.
7. Keelback
The keelback, also known as a freshwater snake, is native to coastal areas of Northern Australia. Its coloring is olive-brown with dark irregular crossbands.
The keeled scales along its body give it a ridged look. Its habitat is areas with a lot of water, such as swamps and creeks. But they can also be found in parks, pastures, and suburban gardens.
This is a non-venomous snake, meaning it doesn’t create its venom.
However, they have glands that can secrete a poison they have ingested and like to eat poisonous toads.
So, this makes eating or handling the keelback dangerous.
8. Garter
Garter snakes are another poisonous snake native to North America, and their coloring varies depending on their species.
They all share the same 3 stripes of color down their bodies, though.
They live near water and eat snails, tadpoles, leeches, and small rodents.
They were long believed to be non-venomous snakes; however, they do produce mild venom.
So, what makes this snake poisonous? Some garter snakes can be poisonous because they eat poisonous newts.
They can store this poison in the liver for weeks, which makes them poisonous should they be ingested.
In summary, what labels a snake as poisonous is the potency of its venom.
Milder venoms may not do much harm if ingested, but these particular venoms will.