The Puff Adder's long fangs, potent venom, bad temper, reluctance to flee and willingness to bite make it a formidable danger to the populace of Africa.
The Puff Adder, bitis ariens, is considered Africa’s most dangerous snake. Its widespread habitat, large fangs, potent venom, mean disposition and willingness to bite are the reasons why this snake is responsible for more fatalities than any other snake in Africa. It can be mainly found throughout southern Africa, except in true deserts and dense forests. They thrive in rocky grasslands.
Adders are nocturnal and eat rodents, birds, amphibians, lizards and small mammals. Their enemies include man, badgers, warthogs, other snakes and some birds of prey.
You know you are in Africa when you find a Puff Adder at your house!!
Nathan... pretending to "crush it's head" like Jesus did to Satan...
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I am interested to know where you sourced your information for this article. Not only is it scientifically inaccurate but also irresponsible. It is articles like this that promote the senseless killing of snakes instead of striving to achieve a better understanding of these interesting creatures.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Puff Adders (Bitis Arietans) do not have a "mean disposition" and are not "willing to bite". My lengthly experience with these creatures has shown that they would much rather try to escape than strike and risk injury or wasting the venom they require for hunting. Unfortunately they are naturally sluggish creatures and often rely on camouflage to remain undetected by predators, this means that they are stood on by humans and thus strike in self defense. You will also notice the hissing sound they make when you get too close, they will never come up to you and attack you.
In addition, the Saw-scaled Viper of Northern Africa accounts for the most deaths per year, not the Puff Adder.
Please address issues like this from a more objective standpoint, as people are very impressionable.