Viral Posts
“Poisonous versus Non-poisonous”
Another misleading viral post – “Poisonous vs non poisonous” (Snakes are considered venomous and not poisonous.)
The line illustration pointing out the differences between ‘poisonous’ and ‘non-poisonous’ snakes has been doing the rounds on FB and E-mail and may well work for parts of the USA but is not applicable to Africa. Please do not consider it good education. The top photograph is of a Brown House Snake, a common harmless snake in Southern Africa with vertical pupils, the bottom photograph is of a Black Mamba, which has rpund pupils and is an extremely venomous snake. Snakes that are largely active in the day have round pupils and those that are largely nocturnal have vertical pupils.
There is no easy way to distinguish between venomous and harmless snakes.
