According to several specialists, the presence of the species is normal, and they alert this time about the large number of yararás that have appeared now, as they are looking for food to fatten up and survive the winter. There have been reports of attacks by these reptiles on pets and other animals.
In San Javier, Santa Fe, and in other areas, it is common for yararás (poisonous snakes) to be more visible in the fall due to several factors, the main one being the search for food to store reserves before winter. Also, as the cold season approaches, snakes become more active in search of a safe place to hibernate or brumate.
The appearance of a large number of yararás, these poisonous snakes on roads, vacant lots, and the route, raised alarms. What caused greater fear among the neighbors is that at least two human bites and attacks on animals were reported.
From Hospital Guillermo Rawson, they provided reassurance that there is antiophidic serum both at the institution and at the health centers in the area.
How to identify a yarará
There is a simple way to recognize them that people are not aware of. If you look at the snake’s head from the side, you see the eye and forward one of the nasal pits, like any animal of this type. But the yararás and rattlesnakes have another hole between the eye and the nasal pit.
This is the entrance to the loreal pit, a characteristic thermoreceptor organ of these two species. So if someone finds it dead or kills it after being bitten and sees that it has that hole between the eye and the nasal pit, it means that it is one of these two species and is venomous. There is no other snake that has that hole.
Martín Berro, a snake specialist and wildlife guard in the province, talked about what allows to differentiate poisonous snakes from boas or non-venomous snakes. He also provided more information about these reptiles that inhabit the area and gave some recommendations if, for example, one wants to go to the island or fishing. “The most important thing is not to disturb them and to keep away,” he stated.
Lately, there has been talk of a number of yararás and a concept that had not been heard for a long time, and moreover, some did not know. This is ofidism, the syndrome resulting from the inoculation of venomous substances by snakes into people.
These animals move according to the ambient temperature, so extreme cold and heat affect them. That’s why it may happen that a large number of yararás are seen these days: they are looking for shelter and moving to a cooler place.
