|
1-7 of 7 messages
|
Page 1 of 1
|
|
Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by keyz on March 5, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hey all, I have just been watching the Telly and am rather stunned by what I saw.
A medium sized male Honey Badger took on a Three foot Puff Adder and in the proces of trying to kill the snake took a "hit" in the side wall of its chest.
It suddenly Keeled over after say approximately 3-5 minuites, And it looked DEAD. Even the reaserch scientist was worried, so they kept an eye on the Badger for just over an hour, and to theres (and mine) amazement he woke up "shrugged it off" and continued to CASUALLY eat the Puff Adder it had killed in the struggle. I couldn't belive it. So does anyone have ANY ide on how such a relatively small mammal could survive such a bite,? There was no way it was a dry bite, Due to the reaction. so what can it be? can we learn from the Badger?
please post your thoughts!! many thanks
Keyz.
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by LongDucDong on March 5, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
This is an interesting topic. There are also some ground squirrels in California (dont know common or Latin names--sorry!) that are immune to Crotalid venom as well. There have been several photographed individuals who take full blown bites from good-sized atrox and run away! I have also seen certain bagder species stand up to bites from Ophiophagus hannah bites. Now were talking about the one snake that delivers the most amount of venom per bite than any other snake on earth. And the fact that a O. hannah has the capability to kill a smaller elephant, yet the small badger can withstand that amount of venom yield is astounding!! I dont know why or how they can survive, but they do. And IM also unaware of any research that has been done on this topic. If anyone knows could you share?
One more thing, these particular ground squirrels in California have also been seen rubbing snake sheds on their bodies, perhaps to mask their own scent when rattlers are around. Verrry interesting stuff!
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by 23bms on March 5, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
National Geographic Magazine ran an article on Honey Badgers in their Sept 04 issue. One of the photos - not available online unfortunately - shows an individual facing off with a Puff. The following excerpt is from text of that article:
"One night we saw a young male collapse. He'd been struck in the face by a puff adder just before he bit its head off. We expected that he would die. But after two hours he woke up, groggily finished his meal, and later trotted off into the sunrise."
The online version of the article includes a video clip of one attacking and eating a Cape Cobra. The article url is:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0409/feature6/?fs=www7.nationalgeographic.com
jrb
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by Snake18 on March 6, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hy guys,
I`ve seen this documentary about 2-3 years ago on NG and I HATE honey badgers since then. They showed how they killed puff adders and cape cobras.
:)
Take care !
Alex S.
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by keyz on March 6, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Alex can't say I Hate Honey Badgers as they kill snakes to feed-BUT I still can't stomach watching them kill a beautiful snake such as a Puffy or Cobra,
I am however fascinated by these "tolerences" to such a huge amount of venom,
It would have been helpful to know the Badgers body mass, Compared to a Squirrel they are huge, So the squirrels are on to something,
Perhaps some reaserch into thes mammals is called for as I am sure we can learn something.
I am sure Dr Brian G. Fry will be more than interested in this,
Lets hope he can enlighten us a bit?.
Honey Badgers are opportunist feeders but they must specialize in snakes to have such a Defense against envenomation.
Also I do like the Honey Badgers determination and behaviour as they have been seen "throwing a temper tantrum" when they can't get what they want, thats the reason I dont dislike them. As they have guts and determination a true hunters mentality!
cheerz guyz keyz
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by toddg on March 6, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
DR. Fry does have a website where you can ask him directly......venomdoc.com
|
| |
|
RE: Honey Badger immune to Puff Adder?
|
Reply
|
|
by keyz on March 6, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Oh Todd I forgot!
I hoped he would post here so we could all see what he thought.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
