Poisonous Snakes of (he World 



1>. Shoil r:iii;;;s on \i>\\>i iiiiixilliiiv Im)1ii' wliicli 



iMiiniil i'(>(:itf: iisiuilly Icclli on iii:i.\il 



larv liniu' Im'IuihI I'liiii,^: ioIu'ms mihI 



ivli'.livi-s KF,,\1MI).\I-, 4^ 



IS, A. A IoumI |iil, si>i' lifT. 4; (SE Eiiropo, Asia, 



ami Aincricans only) ; pil vipcrH ( IM )'!' A M I ) A 1% ^fi^ 



W. No lorcal |iii ( Muropf. Asia, and Africa . 



only); OKI World vipers VIPEIUDAE ^^ 



^^^ zz ramUifs iif ilahuiM'niisty imlsoiioiis spoclcs. 



PRESERVATION AND DISPOSITION 

 OF UNIDENTIFIED SNAKES 



Snakos llial cannot Ixi identified shonld bo pre- 

 served in the nuumer jiiven in the next panijiiapli 

 and submitted to the nearest T^.S. Xaviil Preven- 

 tive ifedicine Unit. Such units will p^«)vi(l(^ 

 identilication service. Tf delivery to such a unit 

 is not practicable, tlien contact tlie nearest natural 

 history nmseum or other institution which niijihl 

 have a statV herpetoloiiist and retjuest helj) in iden- 

 tification. 



The two best preservatives to prepare a speci- 

 men for shipment or delivery to a herpetologist 

 are : 



1. Connnercial foimaldehyde diluted with .j to 

 n parts of water; 



•2. (irain alcohol diluted to 75 percent. 



However, animals as large as most snakes will 

 decay if placed in a preservative without some 

 prior prei)aration. An ideal specimen and one 

 which will remain in a state of minimum decay 

 may be prepared by thoroughly injecting the body 

 cavity and base of the tail witli the preservative. 

 A large syringe is the best means to inject the 

 lluid, but if one is not a\'ailable, multiple slits 

 should be cut into the belly and the base of the tail 

 and this will enable the preservative to reach the 



deep tissues. Then put a wad of cotton or gauze 

 into its mouth to hold it oi)en. The specimen 

 shordd then be neatly coiled, belly side up, in a 

 container sulliciently large to coxcr the snake with 

 the pri"ser\at i\e. Do not ci'owd seveial speci- 

 mens in a single conlainei'. 



Tiarge snakes of ."> feet or more in length 

 should be eviscerated or skinned out leaving 

 only th(> head and tail intact before placing 

 tliem in a container of preser\-ative. An intact 

 head will be sufficient to ditlVrent ial(> bet w(>en 

 poisonous and nonpoisonous species. 



After the specimen has hardened (5 to 7 days 

 is usually required), it may be removed from the 

 liquid, wrapped in damp rags, put in a plastic 

 bag and shipped to the herpetologist for identifi- 

 cation. A tag should always be included which 

 gives the location where the specimen was col- 

 lected in enough detail so that it can be located 

 on a map in an oi-dinary atlas. If the name of a 

 small native village is used then the name of the 

 district, department, county or other political sub- 

 division nnist be added. Other information to 

 put on the tag which will greatly increase the scl- 

 ent itic value of a specimen includes date of col- 

 lect ion of specimen, a]ii)roximate altitude, habitat, 

 and the name and address of the collector. TTse 

 w aterproof iid< or a }>encil in filling out the tag. 



32 



