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NEWS ABOUT: snake

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The Most Common Phobias

Don't like spiders and snakes? Join the club!

(Newser) - In honor of Halloween, LiveScience reveals the most common phobias. If you still need a costume, you'll scare the most people by playing on their evolutionarily sensible fear of creatures with venomous fangs. The top terrors:
  1. Snakes
  2. Spiders and other "creepy crawlies"
  3. Places that are difficult to escape, such
... More »

Deadly Mamba May Save Heart Patients

Ingredient in venom helps heart without hurting kidneys

(Newser) - Scientists believe the deadly green mamba may hold the key to saving many heart failure patients. A hormone found in the African tree snake's venom helps widen blood vessels to deliver its poison faster, reducing high blood pressure in the process. The hormone also appears to boost kidney function, researchers... More »

Brit Gang Uses Snake to Attack Teen

(Newser) - A gang of young British toughs armed with snakes used a python to bite a teen they pinned to a wall, reports the Guardian. The 14-year-old boy is recovering with two puncture wounds in his hand. He suffered breathing difficulties, but paramedics say that was due to panic and not... More »

Fla. Python Hunt More Wild Goose Chase

(Newser) - The “Great Florida Python Hunt” is on, but the prey population is likely smaller—and less dangerous—than advertised, Paul Quinlan writes in the Palm Beach Post. Proponents have said there could be 100-150,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades, a figure the media has seized upon. But the... More »

Snakebites Surge in Texas, Calif.

(Newser) - Poison control centers have witnessed a steep rise in snakebites in parts of the country this summer, USA Today reports. Authorities in central Texas say bites are up 35%, and southern California has seen many more serious cases than usual. Some experts suspect more snakes are developing powerful toxins in... More »

Pet Python Strangles 2-Year-Old

(Newser) - A 2-year-old Florida girl was strangled to death yesterday by a pet python owned by her mother’s boyfriend, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Charles Darnell noticed that his 8-foot-long albino Burmese python had escaped from its aquarium when he awoke yesterday morning. He found it on top of the girl... More »

China Orders Chicken Killed By Snakes Off Menus

(Newser) - China is cracking down on restaurants that serve chicken killed by forced snake bite, Reuters reports. A recent Internet video of a chef urging a snake to repeatedly bite a bird inspired the move. “Snake-bite chicken” is popular in Guangdong and Chongqing provinces. “Not only is it cruel... More »

Fla. Eyes Loosing Bounty Hunters on Pythons

Some 150K snakes living in Everglades

(Newser) - With pythons slithering amok in the Everglades, Florida wildlife managers are toying with the notion of employing bounty hunters to cull the population, the Miami Herald reports. “If we don't get on top of this, they're going to eradicate the indigenous species of the Everglades,” said one. Officials... More »

Taiwanese Toilet Snake Nips Man Where It Hurts

'Snake's mouth not the cleanest,' says doc

(Newser) - A Taiwanese man had an unpleasant encounter with a snake that nipped him on his penis as he sat on his toilet, reports Reuters. He "reacted instinctively and jumped up" when he felt a sharp pain and spotted "the big snake," reports the China Times. He's in... More »

'Python Patrols' Hunt Down Snakes in Fla. Keys

(Newser) - So-called "python patrols" are scouring the Florida Keys for rogue snakes that gobble up endangered species, CNN reports. Conservation manager Alison Higgins started assembling the teams after pythons, some 20 feet long, were found eating birds, bobcats, and even alligators. The snakes are often released by pet owners... More »

Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake

(Newser) - A 45-foot, 1.25-ton snake stalked the jungles of South America in the period shortly after dinosaurs went extinct, the Times of London reports. Researchers have found 28 individual “Titanoboas” in Colombia’s Cerrejon Coal Mine; with every specimen at least 40 feet long, scientists say it’s likely... More »

Forget Eve: Naughty Serpent Takes Bite Out of Big Apple

Python escapes NYC apartment; owner arrested

(Newser) - New York City police arrested the owner of a 7-foot python after he reported the snake missing at a friend’s apartment, the Daily News reports. The Queens man said he was worried the python would escape the fifth-floor residence, and cops later found it curled up in a hallway,... More »

Cop Saves Woman in Python's Death Grip

12-foot snake attacks pet shop owner

(Newser) - A cop and several firemen struggled to rescue an Oregon pet shop owner after she stuck her hand in a python's cage, the Eugene Register-Guard reports. Teresa Rossiter was showing off 12-foot Darla to customers when the snake bit her, wrapped around her, and knocked her down. A policeman came... More »

Croc Hunter Jr. 'Proud' of First Snakebite

Mom gushes as 4-year-old Robert Irwin 'cops' nip by baby boa

(Newser) - It's going to take more than a snakebite to scare the Crocodile Hunter's son out of his dad's footsteps, the AP reports. Robert Irwin, 4, was "proud to have copped his first hit" after being bitten on the finger by a baby boa constrictor, said his mother, Terri. "... More »

Hot Mommas: Squirrels Use Heat to Scare off Snakes

Rattlers steer clear of hot pieces of tail

(Newser) - Squirrels aren't squirreling out of their ongoing battle with snakes, but they may be turning tail. California ground squirrels are able to intimidate rattlesnakes, researchers have found, by heating their tails 3 degrees; the rattlers perceive infrared waves, and back off. Even more surprising, the squirrels are savvy enough not... More »

Snake Venom Accusation Dogs Horse Trainer

Poison from cobra reported found in Ky. racetrack barn

(Newser) - Doping scandals in horse racing usually concern diuretics and other performance-enhancing drugs, but a controversy currently brewing in Kentucky and New York involves a substance with a far longer history: cobra venom. Authorities searched a barn at Keeneland last month and turned up evidence that has sparked an investigation of... More »

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