Remember that line from Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones says, "Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?" Even as we saw with our Chewonki visit, snakes seem to really creep some people out! Considering most snakes are relatively harmless and are happiest to avoid human contact, why do you suppose snakes always seem to make that top five list of scariest animals? What is it about snakes that gives so many people the creeps?
Second, let's focus on a positive aspect of snakes- their venom. What?! Yes! Research surrounding venom is quite interesting, and more practical uses for venom are being found. Do a little research and report back on how venom is being used for the greater good. Would rather watch a video to gather some insight? Check out the NOVA film The Venom Cure http://video.pbs.org/video/1340260591/
They are quick moving, they slither around which I think is cool but scary. There are venomous ones. And they can rap around you and squeeze you and kill you. The venom Helps digest the meal and helps kill its prey. Copper head venom doesn't kill people it helps fight a disease that has been killing million of people. It could help treat breast cancer. Cotton mouth snakes venom can save your laundry, its the ultimate stain remover. Eastern Brown Snake venom helps treat anti snake bite victims. It can help people stop bleeding until they get to hospital after and accident.
ReplyDeleteSnakes are feared in many Western human societies for a variety of reasons. From ancient tribal of legends to superstitions to even the negative portrayal in the Bible. Snakes get the majority of their bad reputation from ignorant humans thousands of years ago, and their traditions that live on today.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason snakes are feared in Western Society is because of their exotic anatomy and coloration. Another reason would be their unique methods of capturing and killing prey, as well as digesting prey.
Snake venom is extremely important to the medical field. More so then ever. As natural substances that can take the place of many drugs with harmful side effects. Snake venom can be used as natural blood thinners and coagulation, as well as slowing or increasing the heart rate of the patient.
personally I think what mostly scares me about snakes is that they move so fast like in grass and stuff like i used to walk through the woods and the leaves would move really fast and i realized it was a snake and plus I'm always scared it will like slither up my pant leg or bite me.
ReplyDeleteI know that they now make some cosmetics with snake venom they help scientists and doctors. Snake venom is used in research and in making medicines. One medicine made from venom helps treat certain types of heart attacks. Another is antivenin (an tee VEHN uhn), a drug used to treat snakebites.
I don't think people are scared of snakes because they think they are going to bite them but I think it's just the long slithery aspect about them that they are just icky or something. They give the creeps because they are so sly and plain weird creatures!
ReplyDeleteVenom is being used for the greater good by it actually being the cure to some human diseases. There is venom used as a drug for strokes that clears the blood clot. It's also said to slow cancer growth.
I think snakes have so much bad rep because of the means they use to kill. I mean some one getting squeezed to death is the stuff of nightmare, and the fact that they hiss as they stick their tongues out just creeps people out. Combine that with the fact that they randomly turn up everywhere with no warning and that they aren't afraid to fight something so much bigger then them in some cases and the stage is set for tales to be told that would eventually get out of control and cause the snake to be feared greatly.
ReplyDeleteVenom is being used to cure many different diseases that didn't before have a cure, including cancer and crazy amounts of other diseases. I think that snakes could be the future of many medicines. I also think that people don't understand that nature has hidden amazing surprises in the most unlikely places.
Snakes are just creepy because of the way the can slither around, up things, into things, in the water...they can go anywhere and sometimes are hard to see. They may be harmless but they are just scary looking for some reason. Snakes have always been feared by people and in movies they are made out to be horrific nasty creatures so that's how people see them. I think it would be wonderful if snakes didn't exist except for that fact that yes, research on their venom may bring us closer to cures of the diseases we can't fix, such as slowing the progress of cancer. Their use of venom in a scientifically good way is about all they are good for.
ReplyDeleteI think snakes are just plain creepy. Even though there more afraid of people then we think, I just don't like them. When they make that hissing noise that doesn't really help either. Like everyone else has said, the venom is being tested to help breast cancer, and stop the tumors. If they figure out a way to stop cancer, that would be great!
ReplyDeleteSnakes always seem to be highly dangerous might be because of rational fear. This is a fear that is inherited from our prehistoric relatives. Such as the fear of height was a fear to keep us from climbing too high or being to the edge so far that we wouldn't survive a drop down. So like heights snake are deadly. Then our ancestors would have a fear of them so that they would know not to poke at a highly poisonous snake.
ReplyDeleteAlthough something that is much more safe is using their venom to help people. Such as the clotting agent that is found in some snake's venom can be used to stop massive bleeding from accidents. Or the Gila monster's venom that can be used to help diabetes patients. These and even the venom that can stop cancer cells from growing are all some amazing things that we can make out of the deadly poison of snakes.
The venom of reptiles can be very lethal in certain species. But scientists have found great ways to use venom to our benefit. The copperhead snake has very dangerous venom. But scientists are collecting the venom, and then purifying and solidifying it. In its solid form the venom could fight breast cancer. It would attack the breast cancer cells and protect healthy cells, preventing the spread of cancer.
ReplyDeleteThe Eastern Brown Snake, found in Australia, has a few uses. Ironically, some use it as an anti-venom. So if a snake attacks a human and then venom spreads through the blood, doctors would use the anti-venom to stop and retract it. The venom of the Eastern Brown Snake has a tendency to clot blood. This could really be helpful if someone is in a serious accident and they’re losing a lot of blood. Sometimes EMTs will spay a purified venom on an open wound so the victim doesn’t lose too much blood. Other snakes have venom that don’t help injuries, but more everyday use. For instance, the cotton mouth removes stains in clothes.
There is a venomous lizard that can help diabetes. In Australia, the lizard’s venom reduces blood sugar when it’s high, but also becomes less effective when the sugar in blood is normal. This is very beneficial for people with diabetes.
The most interesting thing I learned was about how the venom in spiders can be used as an insecticide. Typically, using insecticides on plants is risky, because pests can become used to it and more dangerous. Scientists learned that in a particular spider, no animal is immune to its venom. This means it can be used as an insecticide because no percentage of the pest can survive.
I think that snakes always make the top 5 list of scariest animals because people focus on the huge ones or the very poisonous ones that can kill anything. We don’t realize that the smaller not harmful snakes are way more abundant than the huge or very poisonous ones. So when someone encounters a snake they automatically think it is going to bite then or that is poisonous. But the snakes want to avoid us just as much as we want to avoid them.
ReplyDeletePeople started to use extracted snake venom to put into their bodies, so they could gain immunity from snake bites. Different scientists were able to gain immunity from the easter Diamondback, Mamba, and the Cobra. They are trying to get a vaccine for snake poison so the 100,000 people that die of snake bites in the old world will be saved.
I think that snakes always seem to be so terrifying because we always hear about snakes and how they can kill or badly injure them. A lot of people aren't that educated about snakes so when they see one, they're not really sure what kind it is and if it's venomous or not. So they probably think the worst and assume they will hurt you. I'm not sure why so many people think snakes are so creepy. Maybe it's just that they are some creature that slithers around. No legs? Their beady eyes? I'm sure everyone has their own reason as to why they don't like snakes. Snake venom is a highly modified saliva. Snake venom is a combination of many different proteins and enzymes. Many of these proteins are harmless to humans, but some are toxins. Some studies show that snake venom may slow cancer growth. After some one is bitten by a venomous snake, they inject the anti-venom to stop it.
ReplyDeleteI think that some people think snakes are so scary because they are so alien looking. They can be shiny and appear to be slimy and they have no legs and that seems really strange to us when most animals we see have two or four. They move very differently than other creatures and they are low to the ground and can be startling if you run across one. It's pretty scary to watch a snake eat a deer whole without using arms, too. They can swallow prey that's many times larger than their own heads by detaching their jaws. You can see the lump of prey inside the snake as it is slowly digested. It's creepy.
ReplyDeleteSnake venom is not exactly meant to kill. It is meant to alter body functions, which usually results in death, but used in the right it can cure cancer, high blood pressure, and a number of other things. Venom can be used to prevent a cancerous tumor from developing a blood supply and cut off the “food supply” for the tumor, killing it. “The advantage of these venom-derived toxins is that they seem to act only on certain types of cells. Chemotherapy and many other drug treatments do not distinguish between tumor cells and other healthy cells, causing debilitating side effects.” (From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0601_040601_tvsnakes1.html)
Snakes have always been a source of fear for tons of people worldwide. I think that the snakes eating habitats are what really frighten people the most. Most snakes either kill their prey through venom, or strangle their prey by wrapping tighter and tighter. Unlike some of the ways other animals kill their prey, the snakes methods can be used on humans too. Just the thought of having poisonous snake venom running through my veins, or having a snake slither around me and tightening until my heart stops is absolutely terrifying. Although I do not cringe at the sight of snakes and I am more than willing to touch and even play with a snake, granted I know it is safe, I too am scared about the power of the snake and what it has the ability to do, whether it does or not.
ReplyDeleteSnake venom, something that has been feared for so long is today being used for so many amazing things. These can range from curing breast cancer, to a stain remover in laundry detergent. The diversity of the snake venom's uses is incredible in and of itself. One of the amazing new uses snake venom that I found particularly interesting was an blood clotting spray. Venom collector Neal Charles suffered an accident with a venomous Brown Snake that rushed him to the hospital. All procedures were conducted well and he made a quick recovery, but when looking at his blood samples something very interesting was found. The venom of the Australian brown snake completely shut down all of the anti-clotting agents in his blood. Blood loss is one the of the worst problems at the scene of an accident. Someone can bleed to death in under 4 minutes, but if a Brown snake clotting spray is used by paramedics at the scene of the accident, than it could literally save thousands of lives. It can also be used by surgeons to make the now risky procedures, far less risky.
I think a few of reasons many people are scared of snakes are the look of them, the fact that some are venomous and some aren't sure which ones really are, or maybe bad stories that they've heard about them. Snake venom is helpful in the medical field, and is used in medicine that can help with diabetes, cancer, and blood clotting.
ReplyDeletesome people dont like snakes cause of their venom and how they slither around. Some people dont like them because some people think snakes are a sign of the devil.
ReplyDeleteTheres lots of reasons why people are afraid of snakes. Their fangs, there scaly skin, their tongues, their little tiny eyes. Another reason why people might be afraid is because they have this amazing ability to hide and the pop out at you out or nowhere. Sometimes media gives them a bad reputation as well. Movies or youtube videos could show that they are SCARY and stuff but if u think about it most videos and stuff have humans in them, which is what usually causes them to act differently. Maybe its the way they slither on the ground. Its different from most animals we see and maybe that contributes to how we look at them.
ReplyDeleteResearch is being done and they are using venom to fight cancer cells and also make cheaper forms of chemotherapy. There are also doing studies or putting snake venom in treatments of seizure disorders and chronic pain. Japan has also research how the elements in the snake venom can help regulate irregular blood clotting, and help platelets do what they are suppose to do.
Yes i am scared of snakes i just don't like the look of them and don't like the face and eyes. I would honestly swim with great whites then be around snakes. The venom from the snakes are actually very useful its quite amazing to see all the different kinds of venom and all the uses it could have.
ReplyDeletePeople are afraid of snakes because they are quick moving, many are poisonous, and they have fangs with venom. Snakes will attack when frightened, they can be hard to see, therefore easily stepped on. Also, they can live in water, so they could possibly swim up your shorts. Some people are scared of the way they look.
ReplyDeleteI think that people are so scared of snakes because they are quick, some of them have venom and they are quick to reacting. The venom helps kill and digest the prey that they eat. It stuns the prey, and it slowly kills it so that the snake can eat it without having it squirm around the whole time the snake is trying to eat.
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