The ecosystems of Florida include a huge variety of reptile species from alligators and turtles to snakes and lizards. Florida snakes are classified in forty species with highly varied habitats, Florida snakes make their abode in salt and fresh water wetlands, coastal mangroves and dry lands but they are equally present in residential areas. Only six Florida snakes are poisonous, and they are coexisting with the non-poisonous, venturing in urban settings too. Knowledge about the morphology of the Florida snakes allows one to identify specimens and see which are dangerous and which harmless. A relaxed attitude of avoidance is the wisest thing a human being could show in relation to snakes.
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, facial pits between the nostrils and the eyes as well as on the lateral of the V-shaped head. These Florida snakes are haemotoxic as their venom attacks the red blood cells, destroying the wall of the blood vessel and causing uncontrolled hemorrhage. Coral snakes on the other hand are neurotoxic, with the toxins in the venom acting on the body nerves and inducing paralysis.
Rattlesnakes are the Florida snakes responsible for the majority of snakebites reported in the United States in a year. As their venom is very rapidly spreading in the body system, without immediate antivenin administration, the victim will die within less than half an hour. A major difference in the family of Florida snakes comes from copperheads, which have a weaker venom that doesn’t always require the use of antidotes. Their toxins are the least potent and they are therefore considered the most gentle poisonous Florida snakes.
Even if poisonous snakes are the first to attract attention by the risk they pose, the most widespread of Florida snakes is the black racer, a non-toxic species that relies on very sharp fangs to put down its prey. It is common practice for home owners to try and get rid of snakes from their properties, yet, specialists stress out the fact that without them, rodents would breed out of control causing other forms of damage. Therefore, unless there are any alarm bells ringing about snakes nesting in large numbers in people’s gardens, there is no reason to interfere with the life of these creatures.
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