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Article: FOUR OF STATE'S 32 SNAKES CAN INFLICT POISONOUS BITES.(SPORTS)
- Article from:
- The Kentucky Post (Covington, KY)
- Article date:
- July 27, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 The Kentucky Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Associated Press
MURRAY -- Kentucky is home to 32 different species of snakes, most of which are not venomous. The four that carry poison are all pit vipers: the copperhead, cottonmouth, pigmy rattlesnake and timber rattlesnake.
The chance of encountering one of these species is low. But for many people the fear of snakes, a reaction psychologists term ''ophidiophobia,'' remains very real.
Pit vipers have a few distinguishing characteristics that make them easily identifiable from Kentucky's non-poisonous snakes. Their eyes have vertically slit pupils (non-venomous snakes eyes have round pupils). Pit vipers also have a ''sensory pit'' ...