Arizona snakes
Why would you want to know about Arizona snakes? If you are an outdoor enthusiast or just get involved in a lot of outdoor activities and have ever thought about an Arizona vacation, there are some basic things you need to know before starting your trip.
First of all, Arizona is home to a host of native poisonous creatures. This is largely due to climatic conditions that are quite tropical and promote habitability and environmental conditions that attract these creatures and promote their survival.
It is worth noting that for almost all poisonous creatures, which also include spiders, lizards, bees, scorpions, in general, very few deaths have resulted from bites from any of these over the years. Today there are anti-poisons and anti-poisons that will treat all the bites you are likely to get in Arizona pretty well.
One point to note: “Antidote” generically refers to chemically produced antidotes against poisonous bites and “Antivenom” are biologically produced antidotes derived from animal sera.
Every year in Arizona there are thousands of visits to emergency departments as a result of snake bites and other bites from poisonous creatures. And only a handful result in deaths. For example, since 1964 only one bark scorpion bite death has been recorded. Although painful in most cases, Arizona snake bites are rarely fatal or cause permanent disfigurement.
However, you wouldn’t want to ignore a bite on the grounds that the odds were in your favor that it would be nothing more than a bee sting experience. ALWAYS seek urgent medical attention and then you will always make sure to leave in one piece.
Know your snakes:
Knowing what’s out there and understanding the precautions and risks should be your first step.
There are 17 species of non-venomous snakes and 22 species of venomous snakes to deal with in Arizona. Below is the list for reference.
Not poisonous
- Arizona long-nosed snake
- Arizona milk snake
- Arizona Mountain King Snake
- Arizona Patch-nosed Snake
- Banded Leaf-nosed Snake
- Black necked garter snake
- Blind snake
- Checkered garter snake
- Coachwhip Snake (Red Runner)
- Common kingsnake
- Desert King Snake
- Shiny snake
- Earth snake
- Desert Pink Boa Snake
- Saddled Leaf-nosed Snake
- Sonoran Gopher Snake
- Western hognose snake
Poisonous
- Arizona Coral Snake
- Banded Burrowing Snake
- Brown vine snake
- Mexican Vine Snake
- Tropical vine snake
- Sidewinder rattlesnake
- Grand Canyon Rattlesnake
- Arizona Black Rattlesnake
- Great Basin Rattlesnake
- Tiger rattlesnake
- Hopi rattlesnake
- Lyre snake
- Mojave rattlesnake
- Night serpent
- Northern black-tailed rattlesnake
- Prairie rattlesnake
- Arizona crested-nosed rattlesnake
- Southwestern Blackhead Snake
- Spotted rattlesnake
- Western coral snake
- Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
- Western shovel nosed snake
Understanding animals and their nature is always helpful. Most, if not all, of the snakes around the world are generally not aggressive and will back away from humans if given a fair chance and warning.
Lastly, a snake bite, venomous or otherwise, is generally used for one of only two reasons:
1. Hunt and kill their food,
2. In self defense if all else fails.
So keeping an eye out for these creatures and avoiding them is the best approach always, but if you come across one and it fascinates you enough to want to get close, always keep in mind that it will scare you and assume you are. a predator and nothing good. They will not understand your motives and any attempt to drive or corner one will result in an aggressive self defense response in most cases a bite.
That’s fine, assuming you can see them first. But as we know, the diversity of wildlife in Arizona is the highest on the continent of the US And, as we know, nature has given each creature the tools to make their way through life and camouflage in the animal world. it’s amazingly good. You may never see the snake that is about to bite you!
So, to sum up this short summary on Arizona snakes;
- Snakes will bite if they are threatened or handled.
- Almost half of them are not poisonous, but that does not mean that a bite does not hurt.
- They are more afraid of you than you are (probably)
- Very few can inflict a fatal bite on healthy and generally strong-willed humans, that is, they are potentially dangerous to the very young or very old, and to pets, dogs, etc.
- Always seek emergency medical treatment if you are bitten.
- Learn to identify the snakes you may encounter and what their habits are to avoid any encounters you may regret later.