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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Lancehead Viper North America

The lancehead viper North America is considered a part of the pit-viper family that lives in the Northern part of South America, Central America and also the Southern part of the United States. It is also called the “ultimate viper”, as it is commonly known as one of the aggressive species of poisonous snakes. Moreover, their habitats are placed near human agglomeration, making the people vulnerable to their attacks. Because they are hunted merciless, the species is about to disappear from North America.

You can’t differentiate the lancehead viper North America male from the female in the first months of their lives. The female starts growing faster after the seventh month of her life, reaching an average length of 2.5 meters. The males will have a maximum length of 2 meters. The biggest lancehead viper North America weights over 7 kilograms, but legends speak about bigger and longer lancehead vipers.

The colors resemble with the ones of the common vipers, with combinations of stripes and diamonds on the back and with a white to yellow belly.

The lancehead viper is clearly a snake with origins in South America, but it expanded with the development of transportation and industrialization. The lancehead viper North America has a great adaptability, and the vipers brought accidentally with trains and goods transporters were able to adjust quickly to the new environment. However, the lancehead viper from North America developed some unique characteristics during the last 200 years.


The lancehead viper North America has an aggressive behavior, a large habitat and the ability to travel a lot searching for new hunting grounds. They like the semi-populated areas, and the deserts. This snake is also one of the fewest that is able to attack from an uncoiled position. Its strike is deadly and smart: it tends to go past you and to slide quickly to bite from behind.

The lancehead viper stops eating after a few days of pregnancy, and it has several mating seasons over a year. The female will start hunting immediately after giving birth, and the male guards the babies during this period.

The lancehead viper is one of the deadliest snakes in North America, and only the Crotalus is considered more dangerous. The lancehead is responsible for 50 % of snakebites registered in the South side of United States, with a fatality factor of 10 % in 1950. However, with the antivenin solutions of the modern hospitals, the fatality percentage is close to 0.

The lancehead viper North America is easily irritated by any threatening presence in its range. It is one of the fewest snakes in North America that prefers to fight instead of running, as it considers its habitat important. It is also unpredictable, as it lacks the commonly known attack patterns of other poisonous species.

The symptoms of a bite are nausea, pains, swelling and vomits for 36 hours if the wound is untreated. In the majority of deaths caused by the lancehead viper, septicemia was to diagnostic. The lancehead viper can also be mistaken with other species of non-poisonous snakes, making it even more dangerous.

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