Image taken from http://www.home.iprimus.com.au/gunnado/snakes.html

Snakes belong to the class of reptilia the order of squamata and the sub-order of sperpentes. They are found on most continents except Antarctica. Snakes are often regarded as dangerous and something to be feared and this website looks at some of the things which people fear, for example their venom. However generally speaking snakes are not particularly aggressive animals and will generally only attack if they feel threatened, so perhaps their menacing reputation is undeserved. In fact it is the things these animals are feared for which makes them so interesting, for example much work is being conducted in to the applications of snake venom in modern medical science.

This website will look at how snakes are classified and where they might be found, it will also look at which snakes are venomous and what that venom consists of. The physical structure of venom plays an integral part to its pharmacological action within the body, later examples of this will be looked at. Much work is also being done into the medicinal applications of the proteins contained within snake venom, this is an exciting area as many of these proteins have potent physiological effects within the body which can often be potentially very useful

Hopefully these pages will show that is definitely good to have a healthy fear of snakes and what they are capable of, whilst also informing you of how useful they are to us in showing us how the nervous system works and how diseases can be treated. Although snakes do sometimes kill humans it is out of desperation not out of blood lust.

Taken from http://worldkids.net/critters/reptiles/rattle.htm