The jungler must stop when this creature slithers across the road: Death in 5 steps!

This is an organism distributed in Vietnam and China.

This creature moves quite slowly, but its danger is not to be underestimated, can you guess what this creature is?

It turned out that this was a snub-nosed viper (scientific name is Deinagkistrodon acutus). This snake is distributed in Vietnam as Lao Cai (Sapa), Lang Son (Mau Son), Vinh Phu (Tam Dao) and southern China (including Hainan island).

This snake can be thick, triangular head typical of viper species, the snout extends forward and upward like an upturned nose. The dorsal side is brown with black markings in an X or triangle to camouflage with dry leaves.

Picture 1 of The jungler must stop when this creature slithers across the road: Death in 5 steps!
Snub-nosed viper.

The snub-nosed viper has a body length of about 800-1,500 mm, sometimes up to 1,800 mm. Their habitat is in the high mountain forests next to streams, so they rarely encounter humans, except for those who go to the forest or work in the fields.

When meeting people, they also often find ways to evade with a rather slow movement speed, but hidden in it is a deadly venom. That's why they are also known as "five-step snakes", implying that the venom is so powerful that it can kill the victim after only 5 steps.

The snub-nosed snake's venom is a potent toxin that can rupture blood cells. The snub-nosed viper is usually active in the morning and at night.

According to the Vietnam Red Book on page 216, this snake species is very rare due to lack of suitable habitat. Threat level: level R. Proposed protection measures: hunting is prohibited, it is necessary to protect the habitat where this species is distributed and rearing.