7/5/2023 0 Comments Us island with lots of snakes![]() The final lighthouse keeper and his family chased and killed by the snakes as they fled through the forest. Since so few people are allowed on Snake Island, there are no officially recorded incidents of someone dying from a golden lancehead, but the urban legends are numerous. Still, it doesn’t stop the stories about their escapades from growing. “Because predation is not a constant issue for the species, their main focal points in survival as individuals and as a species are avoiding environmental extremes, acquiring food and reproduction,” Gibbons said.Īs dangerous as they might seem, golden lanceheads have far more to worry about than a few stray humans. “Many more ecological and behavioral oddities among snakes are still waiting to be discovered,” said Gibbons.Īs researchers study more of these islands, we learn more about the dangers these species face.Ī lack of biodiversity and the high prices of black market snake venom make these creatures vulnerable to threats beyond your everyday predators. Researchers are not optimistic about their survival. In Seahorse Key, part of the Gulf Coast Cedar Keys in Florida, a snake den had to quickly adapt when their primary food source of sea birds abandoned the island. Despite the eponymous name, Snake Island is not the only place this phenomenon occurs.Ībout 20,000 pit vipers can be found only on Shedao Island in China’s Bohai Sea. Are there other ‘snake islands’?Īn island full of serpentine predators that can see in the dark and immobilize their prey within minutes might seem like something out of a horror novel, but it’s more common than you might hope. Gibbons has been studying snakes for over 60 years. ![]() “Because of these organs, pit vipers can catch their prey dead-on in total darkness just by detecting its heat,” said Whit Gibbons, a renowned herpetologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia. When threatened, a cottonmouth will open its mouth and reveal the white lining but often will not strike at a person. ![]()
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