Chapter VI 



RECOGNITION OF POISONOUS SNAKES 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 25 



General Procedures in Identification 25 



Distinguishing Features in Identification 26 



Venom Aj)j)aiatus 26 



Head Shields 27 



Eye Cliaracteristics 27 



Dorsal Scale Characteristics 28 



Ventral Scutes 28 



Tail Characteristics 28 



Sex 28 



Color and Pattern 29 



Key to Families of Snakes 30 



Disposition of Unidentified Snakes 32 



Mfthod of Pivsi'i-xation 32 



INTRODUCTION 



This chapter is desi{i;ned primarily for identifi- 

 cation of freshly killed snakes, not live snakes 

 seen in the field, nor long preserved and faded 

 museum specimens. Identification of live snakes 

 in the field requires i)ractice and experience, and 

 the <;uidelines do not lend themselves to brief 

 verbal descriptions, as a rule. It is to be hoped 

 that the snakes submitted for identification will 

 have their heads on and not be too badlv smashed. 

 Identification is considerably more complicated 

 if the head is badly nnitilated, and a decapitated 

 bodv mav be unidentifiable. 



GENERAL PROCEDURES 

 IN IDENTIFICATION 



It is assumed that the user of this manual will 

 have some knowledge of where the specimen he 

 is trying to identify came from. For example, 

 if a suspected coral snake is brought in for identi- 

 fication, there will be no reason to differentiate it 

 from the 4(1 or so species of coral snakes found 

 from Mexico southward if it is known that it was 

 collected in Xortli Carolina. Knowledge of the 

 area of habitat narrows the field considerably. 

 Identifying snakes from tropical areas often 

 l)oses a problem in that tropical snake faunas are 



25 



