The Russells Viper.

The Russell's viper is named after Dr. Patrick Russell, who was a surgeon and naturalist who worked in India during the late 1700s. He spent time studying the snakes of India, looking for a way to identify venomous snakes so that they could be avoided and the number of snakebite fatalities could be reduced. He is the first person to make a written account and description of the Russell's Viper. There are nearly 275 odd species of snakes found in India out of which only four are viewed as a real threat to humans. The Russells Viper is a highly poisonous snake of the Viperidae family, it is scientifically known as Vipera russelli. Russell's viper is responsible for most of the snakebite deaths within its habitat. It is light brown in colour and is covered with three rows of dark brown or black splotches, bordered with white or yellow. Viper bites are known to be extremely painful. So, what make a Russells viper more deadly than other snakes is its speed, fang size, and extremely unpredictable nature.

Physical Characteristics
Russell's viper grows to a length of 1 to 1.5 m. Its head is long and triangular, with large, prominent nostrils on each side of the snout. The fangs of the snake are large, while its tail is quite small. The length of the snout-vent is 1025 to 1080 mm, while that of the tail is 212 to 225 mm. The colour of the Russells viper of India may be dark brown, brownish-yellow or brownish-gray, with black or brown oval spots edged with black/white. The young vipers are clear orange to brownish-orange in colour. There are rows of oval spots along both the sides of the body and the tail is striped.

The belly of Russells viper is pinkish-brown or whitish in colour with black spots, which start becoming darker towards the tail. The top portion of the head has three separate semi triangular spots, which form a triangle with the vertex between the eyes. There is also a dark band running diagonally from the eye to the corner of the mouth. The dorsum is light yellowish brown to sandy brown in colour and has chestnut blotches. At the base of the head is a pair of dark spots and the snout is adorned with a light V-shaped canthal mark.

Characteristics
Russell's viper is responsible for more deaths due to snakebite than any other venomous snake. It is highly irritable and when threatened, coils tightly, hisses, and strikes with a lightning speed. Its hemotoxic venom is a very potent coagulant, which damages tissue as well as blood cells.

Geographical Range
Russells viper can be found in India, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Borneo, Malaysian Peninsula, Java and Sumatra.

Natural Habitat
The habitat of the Russells viper stretches from Indian farmlands to dense rain forests. It is usually found near human settlements.

Biology:
This snake is primarily nocturnal that is active during night, especially during hot weather and sometimes lethargic during day, but can be quiet active at night. Usually keeps to the shade of bushes and grass growing along paths, where due to its characteristic body colour and pattern, it is difficult to be located. It shelters in rodents burrows, old termite mounds, rock crevices, piles of leaves, or other debris. Also found near human dwellings searching for prey. May be active during day in cool weather and can be very excitable. It will coil and will hiss when disturbed. When excited, its body will vibrate and emit a low rasping sound resulting from scales of one part of coiled body rubbing upon another. It generally strikes only at objects within its effective striking range, but may strike quickly without provocation. The venom of this snake can deliver 2 to 3 times the lethal venom dose and causes most of the snakebite fatalities in the areas where it occurs.

Breeding season extends from April to July; sometimes developing females are found up to September. Russells vipers are viviparous, that is they dont lay eggs but directly give birth to their young. Mostly 20-25 young are born. The highest number of babies delivered by a Russells viper in captivity was 55 babies. Its diet includes small mammals such as rats, mice and birds. Prey is stalked and bitten and released, than the viper follows the prey and eats it. Unlike many of the venomous snakes that are habitually shy and reclusive, the Russell's viper tends to be more aggressive and will become threatened easily whenever a human approaches. Instead of fleeing immediately, they may coil up, hiss and strike out very quickly.

The Attack:The defensive posture of a Russells vipers is a coiled up circle. The vipers head sits in the centre of the circle, inhaling and exhaling forcefully, producing two distinct tones of sound for air rushing into and out of its large nostrils. The hissing viper can be almost as loud as a pressure cooker. From this coiled position the snake can strike at a forty five degree angle upwards in any direction. The coiled-up viper gives no indication of either the direction or the distance it can strike.

Vipers are front fanged with a fang attached to either side of the upper jaw (approximately the same area our own canine teeth are located). The Russell's viper is considered by many to be the most dangerous snake in the world because its venom is highly lethal and it has a much more aggressive temperament than other venomous snakes. This leads to it causing more deaths

per population size per area than any other snake. When the Russell's viper bites a victim, it can deliver up to 112 mg of venom which can cause pain, swelling of the area around the bite, vomiting, kidney failure and an inability for the blood to coagulate. These symptoms or even death can occur very quickly, within two and a half to ten minutes from the time of first being bitten. Luckily there is a polyvalent antivenin serum that, if administered in time, can keep a Russell's viper bite from being fatal. Antivenins are made from the snakes poison itself. Some of the snake species used to make anti venom in India is Gaboon Viper, Puff Adder, Rhinoceros Viper, Jamesons Mamba, Black Mamba, Green Mamba, Saw Scaled Viper, Cape Cobra, Spitting Cobra, Forest Cobra, and Snouted Cobra.

To make antivenin, the venom of a snake id collected. This process of extraction is called milking. The venom is sent to a laboratory. At the lab, a horse or sheep is injected with 1/10th to 1/100th the lethal dose of venom. Over a period of several weeks, the animal is injected with increasingly potent doses of venom. By the end of about 3 months, the animal's body is producing antibodies, which are proteins made by the body to fight foreign substances (such as venom). Scientists at the lab withdraw blood from the animal. The blood samples are then centrifuged. The container of blood is spun around very fast in a machine. When the blood spins, the white blood cells separate from the red blood cells. The white blood cells, collectively called serum, actually contain the antibodies to the venom. This serum is then bottled up and sent off to hospitals.

Some of the symptoms from a Russells Viper bite include pain lasting for 2-4 weeks (this should be an indication of how venomous these snakes really are), drop in blood pressure and heart rate, bleeding of the gums, vomiting, swelling, and of course death may occur over two weeks after the bite.

Confusion:Russells Vipers are often confused for young pythons since both are stocky snakes with distinctive markings all over their body. The markings on a Russells vipers body however are relatively symmetrical (diamond or elliptical in shape) whereas those of a python are haphazard and asymmetrical. Another difference between the two snakes is in the shape of their heads. Russells Vipers have a triangular head whereas pythons have one that is more rectangular in shape. Russells Vipers are among the few Indian snakes that have a very rough sandpapery upper body. Pythons, like most other snakes, are smooth all over.

Bibliography.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Viper

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-snakes-withpictures.html

About the World's Most Dangerous Snake | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_4566097_worlds-dangeroussnake.html#ixzz0xeLYoZzm

http://www.ehow.com/about_4566097_worlds-dangerous-snake.html

http://wild-facts.com/2010/04/29/wild-fact-822-dont-mess-with-thisviper-russells-viper/

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RUSSELLS VIPER