What is the most deadly rattlesnake in the u.s. and where is it found.And where does your answer come from?

Question

Just testing Herpers knowladge of snakes.

The 2 Answers i got so far are wrong. IT is not the eastern are the western diamondback.And the eastern diamondback is not in the top 10 of the world.

Answer 1

If I remember the stats correctly, it is the Mojave Rock rattler.

However, I see by the chart at http://www.venomdoc.com/LD50/LD50men.html that it is the Southwest US's Tiger rattler (Crotalus tigris) with a subcutaneous LD-50* of .21mg/kg (smaller the number, the more venomous), followed by the Mojave Green rattler (C. scututatus) at .34mg/kg.

Just for comparison...
Timber rattler- 3.1
Eastern Diamondback- 14.6
Western Diamondback- 18.5

Now- this is very misleading! The LD-50 does not take into account either the venom yield OR the number of bites inflicted.

"Most deadly rattlesnake" is not clearly defined. Are we talking about....
- Toxicity of venom? Then the LD-50 WOULD be right.
- Dangerous bite? Which would have to combine the LD-50 and yield, bringing the Timber rattler score much higher- and really boosting the Diamondback scores.
- Most fatalities? Which would be the Diamondbacks- living near humans, aggressive, huge venom yields. 95% of US fatalities are from a Diamondback. Eastern Diamondbacks have a slight edge in this category**.

Do I win?


(*- LD-50 is a statistical measurement of relative toxicity of venoms. To determine it you basically line up 100 mice or rats of the same weight and find the dosage that kills 50 of them. You measure the dosage by how many milligrams it took per kilogram of victim weight.

(It is not perfect- humans and mice do not respond equally to many of the components in snake venom (after all, the stuff is designed to kill rodents), and there are some other glitches- but it is the best standardized method we have right now.)

(**- documentation at:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020401/1367.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebite_(bite)

Answer 2

It's the eastern diamondback rattler that's the deadliest in the US.

Where do I get that answer? Years of watching shows on animals... lol!

Additional: Then please, tell us what which it is! If you like I will run a search and post my findings.

Okay, here is what I found:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-rattlesn.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1169/is_1999_Feb-March/ai_53939201

This link here, says that the Green Mojave is just about the deadliest in the US.

http://www.openexistence.com/stays-snakes

So far what I have read states that it is the Eastern Diomandback, but other sites state that the green mojave is one of the deadliest in the US. Believe the info however you wish too.

Answer 3

Well I would have to say a diamondback. All rattlers have poisonest venom. I wouldn't want to get bit by any of them. I lived in Arizona for 23 years. For the most part people don't die for getting bit. The anti venom can be as potential dangerous as the snake venom. I wouldn't want to meet up with a side winder either.

Answer 4

The diamond back rattle snake is the 9th deadliest snake in the world. The rest of the top ten are all in Australia. Fortunately rattlers rarely strike people without provocation. It is also fortunate that I live where they don't, in New England.