Amazingly, the snake who steals 'poison'

Tiger keelback snakes (keelback snakes) are inherently a non-poisonous snake that is common in Japan but has the ability to absorb poison from toad meat to turn into an extremely dangerous snake.

In the animal world, there are many species that possess toxins as weapons to protect them from enemies as well as for them to easily destroy prey. But the poison is a very complex chemical and once it is released the animals will have to take a lot of energy.

Picture 1 of Amazingly, the snake who steals 'poison'
Tiger Keelback Snake has the ability to steal poisons from toads

However, the strange nature has very difficult stories to imagine. There are animals that do not spend any effort to invest themselves but can still capture the poison of others. One of the famous poachers in the world of snakes is Tiger Keelback (scientific name Rhabdophis tigrinis ).

Tiger keelback lives in Japan and uses its poison primarily for defense. When threatened, it will bulge up, where there are two routes filled with bufadienolides , a chemical that can cause breathing difficulties and a strong effect on the heart muscle.

But there are no organs producing toxins or cells that produce toxins.

Picture 2 of Amazingly, the snake who steals 'poison'
When hoarding the poison the Tiger keelback snakes will become more aggressive than usual

Search for the simple problem of this snake species of Tiger keelback, a group of scientists at Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA who collected snakes from islands in Japan.

After the study, the team discovered that the liquid filled with toxin bufadienolides at the nape of the snake Tiger keelback turned out to be derived from the diet of the snake itself.

Tiger keelback prefers to eat toad meat, an amphibian that has floating skin pimples filled with poison bufadienolides. When the snake eats these poisonous toads, it will load the poison on the body to fight the enemies when necessary.

Picture 3 of Amazingly, the snake who steals 'poison'

Even in the process of absorbing toxins, Tiger keelback snakes can be converted to make this toxin stronger than the original.

Not only that, after absorbing this kind of poison, the Tiger keelback snakes shyly becomes stubborn to face the enemy more than the snakes lacking poison can run away in the face of danger. .

The mother snakes that store a lot of toxins can also pass on a part of the reserve to the young. It is like a human being, when wealthy parents can pass the 'legacy' back to their children.