A Texas man thought he had bested a rattlesnake by decapitating it, but when he tried to pick up the slain serpent’s head, it bit him and released a potentially fatal dose of venom into his body.
Animals fatally maul, sting, trample, and chew about a million humans per year. Pretty nice of them, given the numbers on our side—the average of 750 million chickens we kill in the U.S. every month, for instance. In an ideal world, no one would ever get mauled by a bear, or contract rabies from a feral squirrel. But…
An elderly Australian man went to bed on Tuesday of last week with his slippers under his bed, but woke up Wednesday morning to find only one of the slippers waiting for him.
On YouTube, 28-year-old Brandon Joseph Boyles went by “VenomMan20.” Now, he goes by “defendant.” Maryland Natural Resources Police have charged the former zoo worker with multiple counts of illegal possession of venomous snakes and animal cruelty.
You probably have this image of the circle of life in your head where a zebra eats a plant, a lion eats the zebra, the lion dies and fertilizes the soil, and then new plants grow. I mean, that sort of happens, but have you considered where snakes fit into all of this?
It starts with a single lesion. And then another. Soon, the snake’s entire body is covered in the unsightly sores. If the snake is lucky, its skin will start molting, expunging the reptile of the infection. Less fortunate snakes will die. And in some cases, desperate snakes will spend more time in the sun to expedite…
The remnants of Hurricane Harvey continue to dump rain on the Houston area. Flooding is only expected to get worse this week, with National Weather Service flood warnings lasting until Wednesday evening. And humans aren’t the only ones being affected by the storm’s wrath.
Being bitten by an Australian tiger snake is a wholly unpleasant experience. Within minutes, you start to feel pain in your neck and lower extremities—symptoms that are soon followed by tingling sensations, numbness, and profuse sweating. Breathing starts to become difficult, paralysis sets in, and if left untreated,…
When we made that recent list of Zoo’s 19 craziest moments, we suspected that the show—currently careening through its the third season—would up the ante and get even more insane. And last week, it did. Like, mega-giant invisible snake insane.
A new subspecies of sea snake has been discovered off the coast of Costa Rica, and it’s got a unique hunting style that’s never been seen before in aquatic reptiles. Hanging from the surface like a coiled spring, it preys upon unsuspecting fish as they swim below.
It must be a fever dream, you think, your skin burning and everything going black as some strange force compresses your body. Am I being digested? But suddenly, a muffled human voice begins chatting. A rush of air and you’re free, your captor slithering away. Bewildered, you pose in shock for the camera.
Professional fighters have weight classes for a reason: no matter how adept the smaller fighter is, a much bigger one will probably have some sort of advantage. But size is rarely an issue in the snake world if a kingsnake is competing—and the little snake usually eats the bigger snake. So there’s that.
When a suspicious looking box labeled “two pair shoes” arrived in Australia from Northern Europe recently, the Australian Border Force sent it through an x-ray. They didn’t find shoes, of course. Instead, the box contained a terrifying assortment of venomous snakes, spiders, and scorpions—as if the country needed more…
Snakes are scary. Even small ones—the way they move, the prospect of venom, those little forked tongues—can send chills down your neck. But did you know that some snakes can eat human beings? A tragic incident in Indonesia recently reminded the world of this fact.
Cobras are renowned for their devastating flesh-eating venom, and the dramatic way they rear their heads upwards to flare their hoods. New research clarifies the purpose of these tactics and how they emerged among cobras—insights that could help scientists develop more powerful anti-venoms, and help you spot an…
Welcome back to Giz Asks, a series where we ask experts hard questions about science, technology, and humanity’s future. Today, we’re asking snake experts many questions about two-headed snakes and how they work.Â
An Emirates flight from Muscat to Dubai on Sunday was delayed after baggage handlers found a snake in the plane’s cargo. It’s just like that movie. (Can’t remember the name, though. Help me out?)
Imagine the most elegant of dinner parties. The meal: a ground snake. Your guest: a tarantula. No silverware necessary, as your dining partner has brought its digestive juices with it.
In many ways, Australia is great: Twisties, beautiful beaches, hot sports men. In other ways, however, it’s a nightmare hellscape dreamt up by a drunk Salvador Dali after a visit to Jurassic Park.