Dinosaurs and snakes roamed the world together 67 million years ago. We as humans have said to have been around for about 160,000 years. That is an enormous difference.
Legless, armless, scaly and slithery are all reasons people tend to be afraid of snakes. There are close to 3000 different varieties of snakes in the world. Snakes belong in the reptile family along with lizards. The life expectancy of a snake is a range from 12 to 40 years. Snakes don’t see, smell, or hear. Snakes use heat sensors behind their eye sockets to sense heat or prey.
Costa Rica accounts for about 135 different varieties of snakes. 17 of which are venomous. The snakes of Costa Rica have 9 different families. Some include Coral snakes, Boas, Vipers and tropical snakes.
The snakes of Costa Rica tend to mind their own business. Snakes are nocturnal keeping them from being out hunting during the day. One may be relieved to hear that most tourists don’t see any snakes during their visit to Costa Rica.
The venomous snakes of Costa Rica include Coral Snakes, Vipers, rattlesnakes and the fer-de-lance. The average fatal accidents with snakes are about 2 per year in Costa Rica. 2000 people a year are hurt by snake bites in Costa Rica.
Vipers have triangular wedge shaped heads. They are easily identified by what looks like eyelids above their beady eyes. Vipers scale color can be neon yellow, orange and green. Other species of the viper can be tan, olive or brown.
Coral snakes have bands of colors easily identified by their bright colors. Coral snakes tend to be black with bands of orange, yellow and/or white. Typically coral snakes are found along river beds or streams of water.
The fer-de-lance (pictured) is the most poisonous snake in the world. The fer-de-lance varies in different colors.
Venomous snakebites are rare in Costa Rica. Symptoms include but are not limited to: dizziness, blurred vision, numbness, rapid pulse, fever and difficulty breathing.
In Costa Rica it is practical to kill the snake that bites you and bring it to the hospital to be verified which snake it is. The hospital will treat a venomous snake bite with anti-venom. It is said to be smart if you get bitten by a venomous snake to massage the bite trying to push the venom out. It would not be smart to try and suck and spit the venom out like in the movies.
If one would want to see some of the snakes that live in Costa Rica from behind glass, there are multiple snake farms around Costa Rica. In the Central Highlands in Grecian, World of snakes has 300 snakes. With the price of admission the non-venomous snakes can be handled.
Montverde, Costa Rica has a snake farm which admission is 9 dollars for students and 11 dollars for adults. Any hotel in Montverde will book the tour of the snake farm for you. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. all day every day.
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