Washington, Jan 31: Believe it or not, there are snakes that snack on venom.
According to a study carried out by the Virginia-based Old Dominion University and reported in The Nature, Asian snakes like the Rhabdophis tigrinus eat poisonous toads and keeps their venom for themselves.
These snakes eat a wide range of prey, often including toads that secrete defensive poisons called bufadienolides through their skin. When fed a diet featuring these toads, the snakes' venom glands fill up with almost chemically identical venom, said Deborah Hutchinson of the University.
The snakes store the poison in structures called nuchal glands on the back of their neck. When confronted by a hawk, their main predators, they mount a defensive display, arching their neck to display the glands. If the bird bites or scratches the snake, the venom is released.
Snakes with no toads, and therefore no toxin, in their diets do not make these displays, Hutchinson and her colleagues found.
Hutchinson and her team still don't know exactly how the snakes squirrel away the poison and transfer it to their venom glands without digesting it. It is also unclear how the toxin is chemically modified - or which version is the more potent.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 00:00