![]() ![]() The boa constrictor is a member of the family Boidae, found in tropical South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. ![]() If you think you’ve been bitten by a snake – even if you don’t reckon it’s a venomous one – the official advice is to call 999 or go to A&E immediately. Boa constrictor, also called the red-tailed boa or the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. In short, snake bites are on the rise, but the likelihood of it happening to your average joe is extremely low. Of the 321 snake bite cases registered over the last decade or so, 13 of the victims were under five years of age and one person – a reptile conservationist bitten by a king cobra – actually died. This is the part that is actually worrying – so worrisome, in fact, that the British Medical Journal has called for the law to be tightened on owning dangerous pets. In 2020 there were 508 venomous snakes registered in the country. Yep, so long as you’ve a licence, it’s actually perfectly legal in the UK to keep exotic venomous snakes like king cobras, rattlesnakes and pit vipers. So where has this recent rise in snake bites come from? Well, that’d be pets. In other words, wild snakes in the UK aren’t a big problem. While you should always get an adder bite checked out by a doctor, serious illness is exceedingly rare and no one in the UK has died since 1975. ![]() It’s estimated that there are around 50 adder bites in the UK every year, with very few of those requiring any medical treatment. When it comes to wild snakes, only three species are native to the UK – the adder, the grass snake and the smooth snake – and only one of those, the adder, is venomous and likely to bite anyone. So should you be worried? Well, it depends. According to The Guardian, snake bites in the UK are on the rise, with medics having treated 321 snake bites over the past 11 years. If you’d always thought that living in the UK would keep you safe from snake bites, well, think again. From being strangled by a boa constrictor to being paralysed by the fangs of a diamondback rattlesnake, death by snake is a very, very rough way to go. And, to be honest, that’s perfectly understandable. They're not endangered, but could soon become vulnerable because of the relentless animal pet trade, Boback said.Thanks to their freaky, slithery appearance, snakes are one of the most feared animals in the UK. While many boa constrictors have found their way into terrariums, the snakes are originally from the region spanning from Mexico to Argentina. If the snake can't breathe, it will release the prey and surface for air, he said.īoback added that it's best to avoid handling snakes when they're digesting meals or molting, as they're more likely to strike at those times, because they're feeling irritable or vulnerable. "You can push a credit card from the snout to the back of its mouth to help dislodge the teeth," he said.Īnother strategy involves submerging the snake's head in water, though this works only if the snake has bitten a part of the body that can also be submerged, such as a hand or foot, Boback said. Sliding a credit card under the snakes' teeth can help detach it, Boback said. That means "to remove that from her nose, you actually have to move the head of the snake forward," Boback said. "It's designed not to fall off of the prey, "Boback said. Snakes' teeth are curved and backward-pointing. He noted that there are ways to remove a snake other than decapitating it. So, it's likely the snake bit the woman's face first and then coiled around her neck, Boback said. īoa strike and coil application from Scott Boback on Vimeo. As a snake lunges forward to bite, it generates momentum that helps it glide into a constriction loop, bending its chin downward and going into a sort of somersault as it curls around the prey's body. However, snakes must bite first and coil second, he noted. For instance, if a person has a snake wound around his or her shoulders - a feat of braggadocio usually done to get pictures of the daring act - the snake can easily strike the person's face or the face of a nearby person, Boback said. It's unclear what the woman was doing when the snake bit her, but snakes can bite people in the face if they're close enough, Boback said. A reporter from the Chronicle-Telegram who later visited the house found an empty glass cage on the sidewalk and a small puddle of blood on the driveway. The woman was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Chronicle-Telegram. "They had to cut its head off with a knife to get it to let go of her face." Boa constrictors are not venomous, but "it was wrapped around her neck and biting her nose and wouldn't let go," Sheffield Lake Fire Chief Tim Card told the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Firefighters found the woman lying on her driveway. ![]()
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