Saw Scaled Viper snake
Saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus Description: Color is light buff with shades of brown, dull red, or gray. Its sides have a white or light-colored pattern. Its head usually has two dark stripes that start behind the eye and extend to the rear. Characteristics: A small but extremely dangerous viper. It…
Sand Viper snake
Sand viper Cerastes vipera Description: Usually uniformly very pallid, with three rows of darker brown spots. Characteristics: A very small desert dweller that can bury itself in the sand during the day's heat. It is nocturnal, coming out at night to feed on lizards and small desert rodents. It has…
Russell’s Viper snake
Russell's viper Vipera russellii Description: Light brown body with three rows of dark brown or black splotches bordered with white or yellow extending its entire length. Characteristics: This dangerous species is abundant over its entire range. It is responsible for more human fatalities than any other venomous snake. It is…
Rhinoceros Viper or River Jack Snake
Rhinoceros viper or river jack Bitis nasicornis Description: Brightly colored with purplish to reddish-brown markings and black and light olive markings along the back. On its head it has a triangular marking that starts at the tip of the nose. It has a pair of long horns (scales) on the…
Puff adder snake
Puff adder Bitis arietans Description: Yellowish, light brown, or orange with chevron-shaped dark brown or black #160; Characteristics: The puff adder is the second largest of the dangerous vipers. It is one of the most common snakes in Africa. It is largely nocturnal, hunting at night and seeking shelter during…
Dangerous animals – complete guide to deadly creatures in the wilderness
Introduction The threat from animals is less than from other parts of the environment. However, common sense tells you to avoid encounters with lions, bears, and other large or dangerous animals. You should also avoid large grazing animals with horns, hooves, and great weight. Move carefully through their environment. Caution…
Palestinian viper
Palestinian viper Vipera palaestinae Description: Olive to rusty brown with a dark V-shaped mark on the head and a brown, zigzag band along the back. Characteristics: The Palestinian viper is closely related to the Russell's viper of Asia. Like its cousin, it is extremely dangerous. It is active and aggressive…
Mole viper or burrowing viper
Mole viper or burrowing viper Atracaspis microlepidota Description: Uniformly black or dark brown with a small, narrow head. Characteristics: A viper that does not look like one. It is small in size, and its small head does not indicate the presence of venom glands. It has a rather inoffensive disposition;…
McMahon’s viper
McMahon's viper Eristicophis macmahonii Description: Sandy buff color dominates the body, with darker brown spots on the side of the body. The nose shield is broad, aiding in burrowing. Characteristics: Very little is known about this species. It apparently is rare or seldom seen. This viper is very irritable; it…
Malayan pit viper
Malayan pit viper Callaselasma rhodostoma Description: Reddish running into pink tinge toward the belly with triangular-shaped, brown markings bordered with light-colored scales. The base of the triangular-shaped markings end at the midline. It has dark brown, arrow-shaped markings on the top and each side of its head. Characteristics: This snake…
Levant viper
Levant viper Vipera lebetina Description: Gray to pale brown with large dark brown spots on the top of the black and a characteristic mark on top of the head. Characteristics: This viper belongs to a large group of true vipers. Like its cousins, it is large and dangerous. Its venom…
Krait
Krait Bungarus caeruleus Description: Black or bluish-black with white narrow crossbands and a narrow head. Characteristics: Kraits are found only in Asia. This snake is of special concern to man. It is deadly—about 15 times more deadly than the common cobra. It is active at night and relatively passive during…
King cobra
King cobra Ophiophagus hannah Description: Uniformly olive, brown, or green with ring-like cross-bands of black. Characteristics: Although it is the largest venomous snake in the world and it has a disposition to go with this honor, it causes relatively few bites on humans. It appears to have a degree of…
Horned desert viper
Horned desert viper Cerastes cerastes Description: Pale buff color with obscure markings and a sharp spine (scale) over each eye. Characteristics: As with all true vipers that live in the desert, it finds refuge by burrowing in the heat of the day, coming out at night to feed. It is…
Habu pit viper
Habu pit viper Trimeresurus flavoviridis Description: Light brown or olive-yellow with black markings and a yellow or greenish-white belly. Characteristics: This snake is responsible for biting many humans, and its bite could be fatal. It is an irritable species ready to defend itself. Its venom is hemotoxic, causing pain and…
Green tree pit viper
Green tree pit viper Trimeresurus gramineus Description: Uniform bright or dull green with light yellow on the facial lips. Characteristics: A small arboreal snake of some importance, though not considered a deadly species. It is a dangerous species because most of its bites occur in the head, shoulder, and neck…
Green mamba
Green mamba Dendraspis angusticeps Description: Most mambas are uniformly bright green over their entire body. The black mamba, the largest of the species, is uniformly olive to black. Characteristics: The mamba is the most dreaded snake species of Africa. Treat it with great respect. It is considered one of the…
Gaboon viper
Gaboon viper Bitis gabonica Description: Pink to brown with a vertebral series of elongated yellowish or light brown spots connected by hourglass-shaped markings on each side. It has a dark brown stripe behind each eye. This dangerous viper is almost invisible on the forest floor. A (6-foot-long) Gaboon viper could…
Habu Pit Viper
Habu Pit Viper Naja haje Description: Yellowish, dark brown, or black uniform top with brown cross-bands. Its head is sometimes black. Characteristics: It is extremely dangerous. It is responsible for many human deaths. Once aroused or threatened, it will attack and continue the attack until it feels an escape is…
Cobra
Common cobra or Asiatic cobra Naja naja Description: Usually slate gray to brown overall. The back of the hood may or may not have a pattern. Characteristics: A very common species responsible for many deaths each year. When aroused or threatened, the cobra will lift its head off the ground…
Bush viper
Bush viper Atheris squamiger Description: Often called leaf viper, its color varies from ground colors of pale green to olive, brown, or rusty brown. The viper uses its prehensile tail to secure itself to branches. Characteristics: An arboreal species that often comes down to the ground to feed on small…
Boomslang
Boomslang Dispholidus typus Description: Coloration varies but is generally green or brown, which makes it very hard to see in its habitat. Characteristics: Will strike if molested. Its venom is hemotoxic; even small amounts cause severe hemorrhaging, making it dangerous to man. Habitat: Found in forested areas. It will spend…
Ursini’s viper
Ursini's viper Vipera ursinii Description: The common adder, long-nosed adder, and Ursini's viper basically have the same coloration and dorsal zigzag pattern. The exception among these adders is that the common adder and Ursini's viper lack the projection of tiny scales on the tip of the nose. Characteristics: These little…
Pallas’ viper
Pallas' viper Agkistrodon halys Description: Coloration is gray, tan, or yellow, with markings similar to those of the American copperhead. Characteristics: This snake is timid and rarely strikes. Its venom is hemotoxic but rarely fatal. Habitat: Found in open fields, hillsides, and farming regions. Length: Average 45 centimeters (18 inches),…
Long-nosed adder
Long-nosed adder Vipera ammodytes Description: Coloration is gray, brown, or reddish with a dark brown or black zigzag pattern running the length of its back. A dark stripe is usually found behind each eye. Characteristics: A small snake commonly found in much of its range. The term "long-nosed" comes from…
