Fer-de-lance

The fer-de-lance is a common Central American snake. It belongs to viper family.

It is one of the largest and deadliest of the poisonous snakes. It is a common central American snake and is also found in the south America and West Indies.

It has velvet type of scales and rich brown and gray colour. Its body is marked with irregular, dark cross bands. It has characteristic sharply triangular head. It has a yellow throat. It lives in both wet and dry places. This snake may grow to 8 feet in length. It is the most dangerous and feared snake in Costa Rica.

A fer-de-lance snake strikes swiftly and is an aggressive snake. During the day the snake lies coiled, blending with its surroundings, but it is especially dangerous after sunset, when it wanders in search of prey.

They feed on lizards, frogs, birds and small mammals. There may be more than 70 young in one brood. The baby snakes have fully formed fangs and can give poisonous bite.




Distribution: Tropical forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and northern Argentina. Central America, the West Indies and possibly Mexico.
The fer-de-lance is the most dangerous snake of Central and South America, and causes more human deaths than any other American reptile. On average, a fer-de-lance injects 105mg of venom in one bite, although a venom yield of up to 310mg has been recorded while milking them. The fatal dose for a human is 50mg.


Habitat: Forest areas, along stream edges and ditches. Also plantations and areas of human habitation.

Size: Length: average 1.8m-2.4m+

Life-span: Over 20 years.


Pit vipers
Pit vipers are venomous snakes having a pair of heat-sensing pits in the front of the head, and hollow, erectile fangs used to transmit venom. These snakes characteristically have broad, lance-shaped heads and vertical pupils. Terrestrial species are typically stout-bodied and marked with patterns of brown, gray, yellow, pink, or black; tree-dwelling species are generally more slender in shape and often green in color, with markings of yellow, red, or black. The pit vipers are closely related to the true vipers and are usually classified as a subfamily, Crotalinae, of the viper family, Viperidae; many authorities, however, consider the pit organs--which are lacking in the true vipers--so significant that they regard the pit vipers as a distinct family, Crotalidae


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Good stuff! One thing I seem to remember about this snake also is that it's capable of striking over a greater length of it's body than most snakes can. Handle with caution.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
: One thing I seem to remember about this snake also is that it's capable of striking over a greater length of it's body than most snakes can. Handle with caution.

Peace

I'm sure your right, look at how much of it's body off of the branch, it could snag something a good two feet from the position.