According to Medical Life Sciences News, Snake venoms have been used in traditional medicine for many thousands of years. Thousands of years ago, animal venoms were the basis of preparations meant to treat smallpox and leprosy and heal wounds. In the first century AD, theriac was developed, a mixture containing snake venom, that continued to be used until the 18th century. When I was a kid, my cousin, Dale, had a rare illness. A medic from Florida, had success administering Cobra venom, for it. He came to Dale’s home and gave an injection, which saved Dale’s life. Snakes get a bad rap. Full disclosure: My favorite pet is NOT a snake. I do not go out looking for snakes. I avoid snakes. Nevertheless, snakes have been around since the beginning of time; and as I will confess, they have a significant role in our ecosystem.
My point; every living thing has a place in Creation. In 1848. Cecil Frances Alexander wrote All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Each little flow’r that opens, each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings. The purple-headed mountain, the river running by, the sunset and the morning that brightens up the sky. (Listen to the music)
Beginning with the Bible—everywhere from Genesis to Revelation—the snake is mentioned and is (often) reviled. Even in today’s vernacular, the term snake conjures up fear, if not disgust; as in “Watch out! a snake! You’ll get bitten!” or “He’s a snake,” or “crooked as a snake.” There is, however, a positive symbol of snakes—the Bible a snake is put on a pole as a symbol of healing—- for healing; which became the icon of medicine—the caduceus—a staff with two snakes coiled around it. The the caduceus is the official insignia of the United States Medical Corps, Navy Pharmacy Division, and the Public Health Service.
Georgia is fortunate to have among the highest biodiversity of snakes in the United States with 47 species. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources; All non-venomous snakes are protected by state law.) Among other things, snakes are valuable to our ecosystem at least because 1) they help maintain balance in the food web, and 2) they are a natural form of pest control. I find it intriguing that bee and wasp stings and dog attacks—not snake bites—account for a majority of deaths. Snakes only account for a mere 5-6 deaths each year according to the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), a division of the University of Georgia; and yet how many lives are saved by medical use of snake venom. Snakes have a place; a vital part of our ecosystem.
We do not exactly hang on on the horns of a dilemma; we are not choosing to have or not have, well, snakes. They are here. We are here. We need them in our ecosystem, and, ahem, I’m pretty sure they need us. I think there is a significant lesson here: to live in community, it takes respect, tolerance, and appreciation in the role each one—animal, herb, rodent, reptile, human,—-each of us makes up this wonderful creation. Choices we make go far to determine our outcome.
© Copyright Willis H. Moore 2024
My wife and I have a deal. When we are working in the yard, she protects me from snakes and I protect her from worms. So far I have protected her from numerous worms. She has not had to help me, I have not complained about unfairness at all.
Hahaha. You’re either lucky that snakes have avoided you, or you live in a snake-free zone—whatever that is.