Are snakes really that bad?

Yes, you do get venomous snakes which can cause a great deal of harm if bitten by them but when you look at the bigger picture, snakes really aren’t such evil creatures.

According Fitzsimoms Snakes of South Africa there are 143 different spieces of snakes found in South Africa (both venomous and harmless). Of these only about 40 of them actually carry venom and of these 40 only 12 are deadly - if bitten, you could die.

That means that only 8% of snakes found in South Africa could kill you if you are bitten. That is not to say that they will kill you. In fact snakes don’t have the desire to just bite anything that moves. Snakes only bite when they feel threatened, whether it is if you are trying to catch them or kill or you come across them in an open area.

Studies done by Wits University shows that snakes can detect movement from up to 40m away. Another study also shows that if a snake feels so well camouflaged you could almost stand on it without it biting you.

The average number of recorded deaths due to snake bite annually in Southern Africa is approximately 12 people. On a average, more people die everyday from car accidents then from snake bite in one year.

So when you see a snake again, just think that they are part of God’s beautiful creation. They cause minimal harm to those they try to or do harm them. I ask again, are snakes really such awful creatures?