Snake phobia is definitely common occurrence, but the ability to distinguish between poisonous or non-poisonous remains a rarity. Snake identification is considered necessary for people living in areas where all sorts of species have their habitat, particularly when their bite endangers our health. The snake identification elements worth mentioning include the color pattern, the scales texture, the body shape as well as the eye pupil specificity, all these features allowing classifications and scientific studies. Familiarity with these traits becomes a necessary safety measure and authorities insist that people learn how to differentiate between the snake varieties.
As a first snake identification detail, length strikes the eye first. The danger often turns higher with well camouflaged species that are also very small.Since snakes swallow prey without chewing it, once it gets in the digestive system it is only natural that it will modify the body shape: thus any slender snake could look a bit stout; consequently always judge the color pattern too before making any identification. Then, the snake identification as poisonous or non-poisonous can be tricky when considering the head and neck shape; even if the majority of venomous snake groups have a triangular head shape, there are some with round heads too, and vice versa.
According to pattern and color, snakes could be striped, multicolored, blotched, banded, mono-colored or the only color variations are visible in the head and tail area. It is common knowledge that snake identification usually considers the nature of the pattern in finding out the poisonous or non-poisonous feature of a species; in general words, snakes with intricate patterns or vivid colors are poisonous, but exceptions do exist. Nature has its way of signaling danger to other creatures sharing the same habitat, but sometimes the bright colors could be just a smart way of blending in the background and not be easily found as prey. This is the case with bright green snakes living in tropical rain forests.
For scientific purposes snake identification requires the analysis of the scales specificity; such a check cannot be performed individually, as special protection equipment and lots of professional training is necessary to stay unharmed and not harm the animal either. One snake skin feature is scale smoothness for shiny scales but they could also be diamond-shaped too; the latter have a duller look and are characteristic of snakes living on rocky desert-like terrain. Finally, the eye pupil allows for a quick snake identification since the cat-like vertical pupil is considered specific for a venomous predator. The exception to this general rule is the coral snake, that has round pupils though it is a poisonous species, otherwise, most dangerous species show the elliptical pupil shape.