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Brother Flathead was bitten by a venomous snake, is it enough to sleep? Scientist: May not wake up!

Flathead was bitten by a venomous snake

By dardani lennonPublished 2 years ago 8 min read

It is said that Brother Pingtou is the natural enemy of snakes, and Brother Pingtou eats snakes just like humans eat strips. No matter what kind of snake it is, he has to be soft in front of Brother Pingtou. It seems that he has never heard of Brother Pingtou's mistakes. Everything has a probability. If Brother Pingtou made a mistake and was bitten by a highly poisonous snake, what would happen? Recently, I also saw such a discussion on the Internet, saying that "Brother Flathead was bitten by a snake, just take a nap"! Is this true, Brother Flathead's ability to detoxify snake venom is so extraordinary? There are also many professional reviews online!

Where is the flat head brother holy?

Flat-headed brother is a legendary animal, the scientific name is honey badger, is the only animal under the mustelidae honey badger, the average body length of males is 98 cm, the average body length of females is 91 cm, the height of male shoulders is 39 cm, and the height of female shoulders is 98 cm. 35 cm, males weigh 9-14 kg, females 5-10 kg. The back is grey. Its fur is loose and very rough, its size is about the size of a badger, and its lifespan can reach 24 years. Of course, Brother Pingtou also has a name called Brother Africa, a kind of ruthless character who has been labeled in Africa!

It inhabits African tropical rainforests and open grasslands, living alone or in pairs, mostly active at dusk and at night, and resting in burrows during the day. Omnivorous, feeding on small mammals, birds, reptiles, ants, carrion, wild fruits, berries, nuts, etc., and can prey on highly poisonous snakes, especially bees. It has typical reciprocal behavior with the honey bee, often following the honey bee, which is good at finding the hive but cannot destroy the hive, destroying the hive with its sharp claws and sharing honey, and its thick and rough fur can resist the attack of the bee colony. Fierce sex, strong survivability; with cannibalism, the survival rate of cubs is only 50%.

The honey badger has been included in the Guinness Book of World Records for several years as "the most fearless animal in the world". Distributed in Africa, West Asia and South Asia. The honey badger is petite and has flexible tactics. When confronting large animals, it will choose to attack while walking, or quickly pass under the opponent and attack from the rear. From a small badger to a big lion, Flathead will be fearless! In addition, the honey badger's fur is smooth, thick, and resilient. Once bitten, it can be freed by twisting, or even turning its head to bite back. Even if it is controlled, because its fur and muscles are not tightly connected, the predator has no focus and no way to swallow.

Brother Flathead eats snakes like spicy strips?

Brother Pingtou was given such a nickname because of his appearance. Brother Pingtou's most powerful thing is actually catching snakes! Whether it is a Saharan horned viper, an Egyptian cobra, or even an African rock python that can hang an antelope, the flat-headed brother not only dares to provoke, but also does not consider the difference in size at all. This courage is unmatched!

Honey badgers love to eat bee larvae and pupae, and they rush into the hive without fear of their own safety - often resulting in their unfortunate death. The honey badger can kill juvenile Nile crocodiles, and it is a very effective snake killer. It only takes 15 minutes to eat a 1.7-meter snake. The ferocity of these animals is well known in nature, and even some cheetahs or lions will be killed by honey badgers in the fight against them.

Of course, Brother Flathead dares to provoke even a porcupine, and it seems that he has nothing to do with his own safety. This kind of courage, the second African brother and the anus brother, the spotted hyena, is afraid to see it. After all, the spotted hyena can fight even if it sees a lion. , but it will never be the unrestrained spirit of Brother Pingtou!

Brother Flathead was bitten by a snake, is it okay to sleep?

Honey badgers are highly resistant to snake venom and are one of the few animals in the world that are resistant to snake venom. Fierce and aggressive towards aliens. Character is brave, determined and tenacious. The hunting efficiency is very high. The difference from other predators is that the honey badger always preys continuously to meet the energy consumed by its continuous movement. Other predators often rest after preying once.

Honey badgers have about 60 species of prey, ranging from small insects to small rabbits. A male honey badger can easily run 9.6 kilometers per hour, and its range is more than 200 square miles or more. But it's a bit weird that Brother Flathead dares to use poisonous snakes as spicy strips. Some friends explained that it is because Brother Flathead is immune to the venom of poisonous snakes. Under normal circumstances, Brother Flathead doesn't care if he is bitten by a poisonous snake. There are also articles that introduce Brother Flathead after being bitten by a poisonous snake. It's like a drunk person, but after staggering to the ground and falling asleep, you can get up and go chatting again!

Is the venom of poisonous snakes really that easy to break down?

Snake venom is a kind of toxic protein and polypeptide substance containing a variety of enzymes secreted by poisonous snakes. Fresh snake venom is a slightly fishy, ​​egg white-like viscous liquid that is yellow, light yellow, green, or even colorless. When fresh, it is neutral or weakly acidic, and it can become alkaline after being placed for a while. The water content is 50%~75%, and the specific gravity is between 1.030~1.080. . In addition, it also contains some small molecular peptides, amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleosides, biogenic amines and metal ions. The composition of snake venom is very complex, and the toxicity, pharmacology and toxicological effects of different snake venoms have their own characteristics.

The highly toxic substances produced by poisonous snakes that are used to kill their prey are not produced by forcing them to survive, but are substances that are mysteriously modulated by nature on them. They are divided into neurovenom and hemolytic venom. The most representative sexual venom is mainly secreted by an African tree cobra, and the most representative of the hemolytic toxins is mainly produced by vipers (pit vipers) and rattlesnakes. Hemolytic venom is more potent than neurovenom and acts almost immediately on prey such as rodents

Snake venom is also easy to be destroyed. For example, when it is opened in the air, it is easy to spoil and deteriorate, and its toxicity is weakened or lost. Its toxicity can also be destroyed by ultraviolet radiation. Enzymes are destroyed, so the snake venom will not be poisoned when it is digested by stomach acid after being swallowed!

Different types of venomous snakes have different amounts of detoxification. The venom excreted, compared with its dry venom rate, the average excretion of the king cobra is 101.9 mg, the sea snake is only 2.5~5.0 mg, and the silver ring snake is 4.6 mg. That is to say, the detoxification of the king cobra is 41~20 and 20 times that of the sea snake and the silver ring snake, respectively. Obviously, the amount of detoxification of the king cobra is so large that it is easy to obtain 1 gram of its dry poison, only about 10 are enough. However, to take 1 gram of dry poison from sea snakes and silver ring snakes, it would take 200 to 400 pieces.

Snake venom enters the blood circulatory system through capillaries or mucous membranes to cause poisoning. For example, the wound is contaminated with venom, or it is injected into the skin by the fangs of poisonous snakes. Pain, and some can even kill people directly!

The symptoms of various venom poisoning are as follows:

What kind of snake venom can Brother Flathead directly deal with?

Previous research has shown that different snake venoms attack different cells, such as muscle cells, blood cells or nerve cells. Given the high precision of this attack, some scientists have speculated that the snake's venom is formed by proteins in different organs in the body. Since the proteins have interacted with different types of cells, the venom formed is also targeted. . However, scientists have yet to find enough evidence.

First of all, the skin of the flat-headed brother is very thick, and it is difficult for poisonous snakes to bite through. Secondly, according to research from the University of Minnesota, the "nAChR receptor" of Pingtou Ge has evolved the ability not to bind to neurotoxins after long-term evolution, resulting in the failure of neurotoxins. Also, certain components of blood can inhibit circulating toxins (neutralize metalloproteinases). Therefore, after being bitten by a poisonous snake, Brother Pingtou can only sleep, and he is "a good man" if he can handle it.

According to research data, Brother Pingtou has strong immunity to blood circulating toxoids, but weak immunity to neurotoxins, cytotoxins and mixed toxins and even death from poisoning. Therefore, Brother Pingtou should not be afraid of Jiaokui poisonous snake. It doesn't have a big impact, but for cobras, the flat-headed brother still has to be careful, otherwise the venom of the cobra and the king cobra can poison several flat-headed brothers! In addition, the ability of animals to evolve resistance to poison is related to their living environment. One is to evolve the corresponding anti-venom ability to specifically hunt and kill poisonous snakes, and the other is to evolve corresponding equipment: fur and anti-venom mechanism in order not to be poisoned by poisonous snakes. The flat-headed brother obviously belongs to the latter, and African wild boars have similar resistance to poisoning.

However, whether Brother Flathead can carry it mainly depends on the amount of venom. Relevant experts have studied, and the study mentioned that 10mg of black mamba venom was injected into the artery of Pingtou, but Pingtou did not die, but his condition was obviously not very good. If the dose is bigger, Brother Pingtou is likely to die, so it can be speculated that the upper limit of Pingtou’s anti-drug is 100mg.

Therefore, Brother Flathead has a legend. Eating snakes is like eating strips, but if the dose of snake venom injected by the poisonous snake is large enough, you may not be able to wake up after a sleep!

Science

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dardani lennon

The question mark is the key to any science

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    dardani lennonWritten by dardani lennon

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