Spring is almost over, it’s nice and warm and lots of animals have made an appearance. We often see the gray fox and groundhogs here at the museum. One animal that’s had a lot of sightings lately is the copperhead snake. I know a lot of people freak out when they hear about venomous snakes in the area. But they are here, they live in North Carolina and are abundant in our area. People’s first response it to kill a copperhead or even any otherRead more
Posts tagged: #venomous
No such thing as a Poisonous Snake… (Part 2)
And now, as promised and to confuse you further, here is the second half of my posting on venomous snakes. For a refresher on the first part, or just cause you can’t get enough of me, here’s a link to the first half. This posting will delve into the different types of venom that venomous species of snakes actually can possess. Oh, and by the way- a little further down is a picture of what can happen to someone’s armRead more
No such thing as a Poisonous Snake… (Part 1)
Hello out there in TV Land! Your friendly neighborhood Mikey checking in again with another fun blog about odd animal facts. This one concerns a subject that is near and dear to my heart, and one which I have been told is a staple of my reptile programs, wherever I have done them. A few months ago Jill wrote up a similar posting. Allow me to elaborate on it a little more. My topic is going to be the VenomousRead more
Poisonous vs. Venomous
Sometimes while walking through Carolina Wildlife, I see a lot of visitors point to our copperhead or rattlesnake and say “that’s a poisonous one.” Mistakenly, that is an untrue statement.A few blog posts ago, I stated that “all raptors are birds of prey, but not all birds of prey are raptors.” Well, I got another one for you, “all venom is a poison, but not all poisons are a venom.”An animal that injects a toxin into you is venomous whileRead more
More on venomous snakes
My last post on the tools we use to work with our venomous snakes led to some good questions… like what is the difference between venomous and poisonous? As keepers talking to visitors, we try really carefully to use the correct terminology, but most people use the words venomous and poisonous interchangeably. Technically speaking, they are different. For feeding or self defense, venomous animals produce and store venom and deliver it through a specific set of organs. Examples of venomousRead more
working with venomous snakes
Being a keeper employs a variety of tools; some of the most important ones are used in the husbandry of our two venomous snakes, the Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), and the Canebrake Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). We work entirely hands off with these two snakes, and have a very strict safety protocol. Two keepers always work together, and extra tools are near the door in case help is needed. The first of these tools is the radio (walkie-talkie) on our belt. BeforeRead more