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How do snakes inject their poison?

A venomous snake is one who has saliva glands which produce a substance that is poisonous to its prey. This substance is called the snake's venom. Some snakes' venom is so powerful it could kill an elephant. About two hundred venomous snakes (out of 412 species) can be considered dangerous to people.

Two of these are African snakes called the boomslang and the bird snake. Their fangs are in the rear of their mouths and are greatly enlarged and have grooves running down one side. Just above these fangs is an opening that leads to the venom-producing gland. When a rear-fanged snake bites, venom drips down the grooves into the wound made by the fangs. In cobras, however, the fangs are at the front of the mouth, one on each side of the upper jaw. A muscle surrounds the venom gland so that when the snake bites the muscles press on the gland and force the venom down into the fang and out through the tip. The spitting cobra can spray venom from its fangs the way water is squirted from a toy gun.

Giant snakes have been reported in many parts of the world. The largest recorded snake is the anaconda which can reach a length of 9 meters.

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