Handbook Of Snakes

For years Albert Hazen Wright and Anna Allen Wright traveled extensively, attempting to observe every species of snake in its natural surroundings and collecting data and live specimens. Their exhaustive research resulted in a famous two-volume source book, first published in 1957. Abundantly and painstakingly illustrated by the authors, this personalized natural history organizes for ready reference a wealth of information on American and Canadian snakes. Jonathan A. Campbell, a leading expert on snakes, supplies an informative new foreword. Accounts of more than three hundred species and subspecies - accompanied by photographs, drawings, distribution maps, and keys - form the main part of the work. In the introductory section the Wrights cover names of snakes, range, size, longevity, distinctive characteristics, color, habitat, period of activity, breeding, ecdysis, food, venom and bite, enemies, and authorities. Generous excerpts from the authors' field journals give the reader a vivid feeling of some of the satisfactions and conclusions of their search. Albert Hazen Wright was Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at Cornell University. Anna Allen Wright was a recognized authority on the ecology and natural history of amphibians and reptiles.

Rattlesnake? Copperhead? Cottonmouth? When to stay and when to run from nature s coolest...

Across the two volumes of Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada are accounts of more than three hundred species and subspecies, accompanied by photographs, drawings, and distribution maps.

Updated to reflect the most recent species classifications, a second edition of the beautifully illustrated and beloved guide to 600 members of the suborder Serpentes. For millennia, humans have regarded snakes with an exceptional combination of fascination and revulsion. Some people recoil in fear at the very suggestion of these creatures, while others happily keep them as pets. Snakes can convey both beauty and menace in a single tongue flick, and so these creatures have held a special place in our cultures. Yet, for as many meanings as we attribute to snakes—from fertility and birth to sin and death—the real-life species represent an even wider array of wonders. Now in a new edition, reflecting the most recent species classifications, The Book of Snakes presents 600 species of snakes from around the world, covering roughly one in seven of all snake species. It will bring greater understanding of a group of reptiles that have existed for more than 160 million years and that now inhabit every continent except Antarctica, as well as two of the great oceans. This volume pairs spectacular photos with easy-to-digest text. It is the first book on these creatures that combines a broad, worldwide sample with full-color, life-size accounts. Entries include close-ups of the snake’s head and a section of the snake at actual size. The detailed images allow readers to examine the intricate scale patterns and rainbow of colors as well as special features like a cobra’s hood or a rattlesnake’s rattle. The text is written for laypeople and includes a glossary of frequently used terms. Herpetologists and herpetoculturists alike will delight in this collection, and even those with a more cautious stance on snakes will find themselves drawn in by the wild diversity of the suborder Serpentes.

This comprehensive reference guide explains how to recognize poisonous snakes around the world, what precautions to take to avoid being bitten and what first aid procedures and antivenoms are available in the event of a bite.