Snakebite Culture Series: A glance at what we really think of snakes

The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. Credit: Smithsonian Institution

For many an ophidiophile (there is indeed a word for ‘snake lover’), original sin must surely lie within the distain and misunderstanding that Western culture has long held for the serpent. And yet, in spite of how spirituality and symbolism may have shaped common perceptions of the snake over time, the apprehension some of us feel about these reptiles may be empirically justified.

In the UK, there are only three types of wild snake - grass snake, smooth snake and adder - and only the latter is venomous'; mercifully, the verdict for those unfortunate enough to be bitten by a snake is ’not serious’. (NHS 2020).

However, ‘each year, approximately 5.4 million people are bitten by a snake, of whom 2.7 million are injected with venom. This leads to 400,000 people being permanently disabled and between 83,000-138,000 deaths annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ (IAVI).

Bothrops Asper. Credit: Global Snakebite Initiative

How do these risks translate into feelings for those whose daily reality is to gamble with a snakebite encounter? A recent study in Nepal concluded that ’43 % of respondents disliked snakes, 49 % would exterminate all venomous snakes, and 86 % feared snakes’ (Pandey et al. 2016). Perhaps unsurprisingly, farmers were the demographic group that exhibited the strongest negative perception of snakes.

Psychological research has striven to clarify whether we do indeed harbour a deeply embedded fear of snakes. Where six-month-old infants were presented with images of snakes, spiders, flowers and fish, both snakes and spiders induced dilation of their pupils commonly associated with stress, supporting ‘the notion of an evolved preparedness for developing fear of these ancestral threats’ (Hoehl et al. 2017).

In the Nepalese study, an insightful albeit intuitive supposition is made. Many of these negative attitudes drive the decimation of snake numbers by the human population. This in itself may lead to higher incidence of snakebite and disruption to many ecosystems. And what is the takeaway? The need to redouble ‘educational efforts focused on natural history and ecology of snakes and prevention of snakebite’.

Visit hamishogstonfoundation.org/snakebite for more information on our support of snakebite research as well as our Snakebite Awareness Day Competition 2020.