Fer-de-lance - Highly Venomous Viper

Fer-de-lance means "Sperhead" in French. It is found in Central and South America. It can grow up to 7ft 6 in (2.4m). It's life span is up to 20 years. It hunts small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs. It has "pits" behind and above nostrils which can sense tempreature to the accuracy of 1/1000 degrees Celcius. It can attack with great accuracy even in the total darkness.

On Average, fer-de-lance injects about 105mg of venom in single bite. It requires 50mg to kill an human. The potent venom containing both anticoagulant and fresh-destroying-chemicals. It causes more deaths than anyother reprtile in South America.

A fer-de-lance gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs. It can give birth upto 70 babies at a time.

The deadliest fer-de-lance of all, the golden lancehead lives in only on the island of Quemade. Golden laceheads are said to have killed the last lighthouse keeper on Quemade Grande after gliding into his cottage one night. When the keeper and his family fled, they were killed by more snakes hanging on the trees. Their bodies found scattered across the island.





Reference: Snakes and Reptiles. The Scariest cold-blooded creatures on Earth. Published by Backack books.