Florida Snakes

by Owen Jones

Florida snakes, together with the many turtles, lizards, alligators and other reptiles are part of a complex wildlife structure that plays a marvelous role in the maintenance of Florida's ecosystem. There are numerous species of Florida snakes:  actually forty-four species live in incredibly varied habitats, from salt marshes to fresh water marshes and dry uplands or coastal mangrove swamps to residential areas.

Only six Florida snakes are venomous and they happily coexist with their non-poisonous cousins. They even go into towns and cities too. The best way to stay out of trouble with snakes is to learn their morphology and therefore be able to identify the various Florida snakes. The best approach to adopt in relation to all snakes is avoidance.

The Coral snake and pit vipers are the most dangerous Florida snakes. They can be identified by a wide range of characteristics. Pit vipers include the Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth and the Copperhead. They all have vertical eye pupils, a v-shaped head and facial pits: one between the eyes and nostrils and the others on each side of the head.

The venom of these types of Florida snakes is haemotoxic, which means that their poison works on the red blood cells, destroying the walls of the blood vessels and causing uncontrolled bleeding. Coral snakes however, use a neurotoxic venom, the toxins of which act on the body's nerves causing paralysis.

Most of the snake bites reported every year in the United States are attacks by Florida snakes or by rattlesnakes to be precise. Because their venom spreads quickly through the body, the victim will almost certainly die within thirty minutes without the immediate injection of anti-venom.

A major exception in this class of Florida snakes is the copperhead, because its venom very rarely, if ever, requires an antidote. Their poison is the least powerful and therefore they are regarded as the least dangerous of all the venomous Florida snakes.

It is because of the danger they present that poisonous snakes are the first kind to attract attention, however the most common of Florida snakes is the Black Racer, which is a non-toxic species that relies on very sharp fangs to capture its prey.

Although home owners usually try to remove snakes from their gardens, specialists stress the fact that, without them, rodents would soon multiply out of control giving us even more cause for concern.

So, unless you have special reasons for being worried, like snakes breeding in great numbers in your garden or shed for instance, there is no valid reason why you should interfere with the lives of these usually shy, helpful animals.