A new Snake-the hump-nosed pitviper (Hypnale hypnale)

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A new Snake-the hump-nosed pitviper (Hypnale hypnale)

Postby Mikethehack » Mon May 30, 2005 5:22 pm

I suppose this is travel related....

Snakebite toll in India unacceptably high: Expert

Indo-Asian News Service

Panaji, May 29, 2005

At least 50,000 Indians die every year from snakebites and yet, it remains a "forgotten medical issue", says a British expert who has come to Panaji to specifically study the problem.

Ian D Simpson from London, who is based in Bangalore, said the number of Indian, who get attacked by snakes, was much more and that numerous cases, mainly in villages, never get reported. This, he said, was a matter of concern.

"The victims, who don't die, are often disabled by the tissue damage that Indian snakes can inflict. Limbs are lost or rendered useless. Many days of work are lost by agricultural workers," Simpson told the agency.

Recently, experts announced a new deadly snake find - the hump-nosed pitviper (Hypnale hypnale), along the Western Ghats region on India's west coast. This snake is thought to be the fifth deadly snake in India, apart from the Big Four: cobra, krait, Russel's viper and saw-scaled viper.

Simpson, a member of the WHO Snakebite Treatment Group, said: "My role is to identify the major causes of snakebite mortality in India and try to find ways to reduce the impact.

"As an expert on snakebite treatment, I am looking at carrying out a large number of research projects to answer some of the many unanswered questions in this area," he told the agency. "This is a major issue. Awareness is a key concern," he added.

Simpson travels across India talking to doctors, medical colleges, hospitals and schools to raise awareness and improve first aid and treatment.

"I took on the task because India was originally responsible for my interest in snakes.

"When I was a boy, my grandmother bought me 'Rikki Tikki Tavi' - a story of a mongoose protecting a family from two cobras. I loved snakes from that moment."

On his first visit to India some years ago, he said he became aware of the "level of suffering snakes can cause".

"I was surprised to see that this was largely a forgotten medical issue. Doctors were battling to deal with snakebite and yet, there was much work that needed to be done to develop technologies that would improve treatment."

In addition, vast costs of treatment are inflicted on those least able to afford that. A single vial of anti-snake venom (ASV) costs Rs 400. "The last victim I treated needed 30 vials. There is no way she could afford that cost."

Simpson argues that as humans encroach more into snake territories, the number of dangerous encounters will increase. "It is essential that we are ready and educated in how to interact with snakes.

"I have been to many villages where a significant number of deaths have occurred and yet none has been reported," says Simpson.

"Traditional remedies only delay the time in which the patient gets to hospital and therefore, put the patient at greater risk."

He argued that the situation in India could well have been "the same" for the past 100 years. In his view, India has an opportunity to export anti-snake venom. However, Indian anti-snake venom has a "mixed reputation" for quality, and there has been a high level of allergic reactions to it.

"If some of these quality questions could be resolved, there would be a major export opportunity," he adds.
I'm not really a proper reporter, due to the chronic lack of discipline, negligible attention span, and a certain juvenile difficulty taking serious things seriously.
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Postby Mikethehack » Mon May 30, 2005 6:38 pm

I couldn't resist adding this quote (before Coldharvest beats me to it)
"If it gets the hump with you, then you can safely take it that you are dead."
So beware.
Last edited by Mikethehack on Mon May 30, 2005 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Kurt » Mon May 30, 2005 6:48 pm

A deadly Asian Pit Viper? That's kinda cool.
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Postby Venturi » Mon May 30, 2005 7:09 pm

"When I was a boy, my grandmother bought me 'Rikki Tikki Tavi' - a story of a mongoose protecting a family from two cobras. I loved snakes from that moment."


I don't get it. The snakes are totally evil in that story. If anything, it should make you love mongooses; at least it did for me when I was a kid.

Sorry to hijack your snake thread, but I was just talking to a friend about Indian mongooses (or is it mongeese?). Anyhow, she told me this weird story that I never knew.

Apparently, when white folks landed on Hawaii they inadvertently brought some rats with them that became a quick nuisance to the islands' sugar plantations. The white folks got to thinking like only white folks can and got this really clever idea to import a crapload of mongooses from India to take care of the surging rat problem. Only thing is, nobody bothered to realize that rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal. So instead of eating any rats, the Indian mongooses just ate all the birds that made their nests on the ground. Poof, almost no more ground-laying birds on Hawaii, including the Nene, their state bird.

This happened in the 19th Century, which makes the boat ride to-and-from India pretty damn long......so seriously, no one thought about that along the way?

As per vipers and all. I've only seen them a couple times in my life, and every time they were definitely more afraid of me than I was of them. In fact, they are the most pussy snakes I've ever come across. Most snakes I've seen are kinda slow and just slither on their own time. Not the viper. It doesn't wait for the handshake. It just tear-asses outta there. Ironic, innit?
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Postby Kurt » Mon May 30, 2005 10:11 pm

When I was a kid and watched Rikki Tikki Tavi (Done by Chuck Jones..Sooooper Genius) I actually cried when the snakes died for some reason. I liked Rikki Tikki Tavi..But yah, I had a serious case of snake love for some reason and I did not like to see even cartoon ones get hurt.

At the party I was at yesterday we were talking about the Hawaiian rats & mongooses for some reason...But at parties I go to that is the kinda stuff we talk about.
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Postby Expat » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:39 am

As to the thing about Hawaian mongoose (mongeese whateva) I also heard about Puerto Rico. They resulted in eliminating nearly all the local snake species on the island.

Iraq has given me a chance to see more venomous snakes than I ever wanted. We find on average one a week. The Saw Scales and Carpet Vipers seem to be the most common but did find a small Cobra last year when moving some debris.

I don't ever see myself becoming a herpedork but I have to admit that the cute little Sand Boas around here do make pretty good pets. I hear there's quite a market for them in the states too.
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Postby shivers » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:02 pm

Expat wrote:As to the thing about Hawaian mongoose (mongeese whateva) I also heard about Puerto Rico. They resulted in eliminating nearly all the local snake species on the island.


Yeah, and now the mongeese are a health hazard because they carry rabies.
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Postby yorick » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:35 pm

Alot of snake venom is neural toxin, causing the respiratory system and internal organs to litterally shut down.

That guy Kurt Gowdy from Mutal of Omaha's Wild Kingdom early 70's TV show got bit by Gaboon Viper in South America. He might be the only known survivor of gaboon viper bite.

Venom froze his larynx and caused him to speak with shrill voice for the rest of his life. You can hear it when he hosts the program. Took several weeks before he could even speak at all.

For coolness factor the southeast asian spitting cobra that blind's its prey is tough to beat. Imagine a snake that hawks loogies at birds and animals, deadly accurate hittin em in the eye..... then gobbling them up when they drop to the ground.


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Postby Stiv » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:47 pm

That guy Kurt Gowdy from Mutal of Omaha's Wild Kingdom early 70's TV show got bit by Gaboon Viper in South America. He might be the only known survivor of gaboon viper bite


Kurt Gowdy was with American sportsman which was an off shoot of Wide world of sports. Wild Kingdom was Marlin Perkins. It was sponsored by Mutual of Omaha.

Don't remember him getting bitten but that show was a total setup. Fence off an area and put a few deer and a mountain lion together and get your footage for the show from the inevitable encounters. I thin Mr Perkins assistant still does the talk show circuit showing zoo animals.

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Postby Stiv » Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:06 pm

Mr Perkins
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And the Gaboon viper is from Africa not S. America
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Curt Gowdy from A Sportsman
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Postby yorick » Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:50 pm

Yeah, that's the guy - Marlin Perkins..... got the frozen larynx respiratory paralysis story from herpetologist Jim Arden back in '77 when i had snakes and turtles for pets as a kid.

This herp expert kept 'hot cages' that included rattlers. It amazed me he could walk up to the rattler cage without creating disturbance. But the same snakes made rattling racket just from me entering the room...... like they can 'sense' one human being different from another even more than 10 feet away.

Makes sense when we understand rattlers can 'taste' the air with their tongues and pick up heat signatures too, as can all pit vipers.


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Postby Stiv » Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:10 pm

The two most common type of toxins from snakes (And mushrooms, spiders, jellyfish, frogs, toads, at least the type that kill you) are either Neuro (CNS) or Hemo (Blood) or a small combo of both.

Pit vipers are different than old world vipers as they don't have the pit.
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Actually a pretty funny thing happend to us in India years ago. We were boarding a plane to Mumbai from Dehli. At the security point..now mind you this was pre 9/11..my friends fanny pack gets searched. He has a small can of mace. Security asks what it is. He says "Snake repellent" they wave us through after he gives him a mini Bic lighter.

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Postby yorick » Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:58 pm

Yet searching "Marlin Perkins snakebite" produces interesting results:

Apparently Dr. Perkins (1905-1986) had shit for an education but was given numerous 'honorary' degrees founded upon his work at St. Louis Zoo where he advanced from being a mere sweeper to Herpetology Curator.

But somebody liked him well enough to put him on tv!!!

Now I've got no doubt in the world the show was faked - with zoo keepers mixing up the critter population to raise hell.

Perkins himself may have never left Missouri in his lifetime but hid behind corners while his 'assistants' wrastled Aligators and tustled with drugged Hyenas at St. Louis Zoo compounds.

The entire scenario probably documents exactly what the media circus is now trying to accomplish through forged and plagiarized information outlets - making Marlin Perkins a pioneer among intel. circles today.

Nevertheless, documents apparently exist that cover Perkins getting snake bit circa 1928 - possibly by Gaboon Viper kept at St. Louis Zoo, i dunno.

Meanwhile, y'all snake fans gotta check out this site:

"Antivenin manufacturers and research labs pay up to $6,000 for a gram of freeze-dried venom from an African tree snake......."

http://outside.away.com/outside/magazin ... 7bite.html

- from article called "Bite Me"


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Postby yorick » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:13 pm

Seems its always tree snakes are the most agressive...... and venemous critters are the best designed and most interesting of all.

I wonder if we secretly envy their abilities that are entirely bereft of the human moral dilemma.


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Postby svizzerams » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:35 pm

Its snake bite season here in eastern Washington - tourons descend on our arid hills and get chomped. A vial of Cro-Fab is about $1500 and how much you get depends on how much venom can be estimated was injected by our reptilian resident. Can easily get up to 10-15 vials. We've already had to reorder a couple of times......


I kinda like snakes actually -
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