Traveling Treasures 2016 The Power of Poison Snake and Butterfly case Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) Light morph Like other snakes in the family Viperidae, timber rattlers are pit vipers. This means they have heat sensitive pit organs located between the nostrils and the eyes. They are sensitive to radiant energy and can distinguish very slight changes in temperature. Their main food source is small mammals but also eat birds. The prey is killed when bitten because the snake injects venom. They then swallow the prey whole. Range and Habitat: Timber and canebrake rattlesnakes have a wide distribution in the eastern United States but the species is absent from most of Florida. This snake occurs in a wide variety of terrestrial habitat including lowland cane thickets, high
areas around swamps and river floodplains, hardwood and pine forests, mountainous areas, and rural habitats in farming areas. They typically become reduced in numbers in highly urbanized or areas of housing development. The Orianne Society Timber Rattlesnake Fact Sheet http://www.oriannesociety.org/sites/default/files/factsheets/timber%20rattlesnake%20fact%20sheet.pdf First hand account of a Timber Rattlesnake bite: http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/345?venomsid=f065e3fa57ac4a0dabcd b000f3c3b09c Banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) Habitat: Lives in and around wet lands, open forests, agricultural lands having low vegetation and open water bodies etc. Strictly prefers wet surrounding for its activities. Usually found in plains of low to moderate elevations but in many parts of its range its found in elevation up to 5000ft.
Snake venoms contain a multitude of biologically active toxins that work together for the capture of prey (take a look at the Table listing the variety of toxins found in the venom of the many-banded krait). Their effects include pro- and anti-blood coagulation, neurotoxicity, mycotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity and necrotoxicity (local tissue damage). Amongst these, the neurotoxins play a key role in immobilising prey through paralysis, disorientation and depressed respiration. Venoms often contain different neurotoxins that work synergistically to cripple the nervous system. Neurotoxins can be classified according to their site of action: presynaptic neurotoxins block neurotransmission by affecting acetylcholine transmitter release; post-synaptic neurotoxins are antagonists of the acetylcholine receptor. Together these neurotoxins effectively block skeletal neuromuscular transmission by crippling receptors, while at the same time acting to destroy any neurotransmitter that might compete with the toxin for receptor binding. Venoms often contain several post-synaptic neurotoxins, each with a high affinity for a nicotinic receptor subtype - in this way the venom can cripple as many receptors as possible. The post-synaptic neurotoxins are found only in elapids and sea snakes (Hydrophiidae). In the many-banded krait pictured above, a pre-synaptic toxin is b- bungarotoxin, while post-synaptic toxins are a- and k-bungarotoxins. Central American coral snake (Micrurus nigrocintus) It ranges from southern Mexico through Central America (except Belize) to northwestern Colombia, and the westcaribbean. It is mainly found in lowland rain forest, lowland dry forest, thorn forest, lower montane wet (or moist) forest, and lower montane dry forest, usually at elevations up to 1,300m.[1] The Central American coral snake's venom contains a strong neurotoxin, causing neuromuscular dysfunction.[1] Coral snakes are small, vibrantly colored, highly venomous snakes. They have the second-strongest venom of any snake (the black mamba has the most deadly venom), but they are generally considered less dangerous than rattlesnakes because coral snakes have a less effective poison-delivery system.
Has mainly potent neurotoxic venom which can be injected through a pair of grooved, upper, fixed front fangs. Due to the small size of their mouths, coral snake bites to humans usually occur on a finger or toe, and usually during attempts to catch the snake. This species is abundant throughout most of its range, and is the main cause of coralsnake bites of humans within its range. Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Butterfly identification chart: Monarch butterflies are known for the incredible mass migration that brings millions of them to California and Mexico each winter. North American monarchs are the only butterflies that make such a massive journey up to 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers). The insects must begin this journey each fall ahead of cold weather, which will kill them if they tarry too long. Fattening larvae become juicy, colorful caterpillars, then create a hard protective case around themselves as they enter the pupa stage. They emerge as beautifully
colored, black-orange-and-white adults. The colorful pattern makes monarchs easy to identify and that's the idea. The distinctive pattern warns predators that the insects are foul tasting and poisonous. Butterflies that emerge from chrysalides (pupa state) in late summer and early fall are different from those that do so during the longer days and warmer weather of summer. These monarchs are born to fly, and know because of the changing weather that they must prepare for their lengthy journey. Only monarchs born in late summer or early fall make the migration, and they make only one round trip. By the time next year's winter migration begins, several summer generations will have lived and died and it will be last year's migrators' great grandchildren that make the trip. Yet somehow these new generations know the way, and follow the same routes their ancestors took sometimes even returning to the same tree. It s the dependency that Monarchs have on Milkweeds as the only food source for their caterpillars that makes this relationship so noteworthy. Monarchs, like many species of insects, have evolved to specialize in their larval (in this case caterpillar) food source in order to gain protection from predators through the chemicals they ingest from the plants they eat. Milkweeds contain cardiac glycosides, which are toxic to many species of birds and mammals. Plants have evolved these chemicals to protect themselves from being eaten, a strategy that has largely been successful for the plants. Plants are all about surviving and reproducing, to further the continued existence of their species. Such a plan for protection is never completely foolproof, however. Monarchs, along with some other insect species, have evolved to be able to digest these plants and sequester the toxins in their bodies, making the insect unpalatable at best and toxic at worst to anyone inexperienced enough to attempt to eat them. As a reminder to bird or mammal predators who sample such an insect and survive to eat another meal, insects with these toxins have also evolved to have bright warning colors, an easy to remember signal to predators to beware before attempting such a meal again. In exchange for this protection obtained from eating Milkweeds, Monarchs are gambling that this food source will continue to be available. Without it, Monarchs won t survive.