No other creature strikes such gripping terror in man. It slithers silently like a shadowy phantom through our deepest fears and darkest nightmares. We have come to believe that anything that slinks, slithers, and slides is the embodiment of evil looking for a human harbor. Our natural disgust and reluctant fascination of snakes is influenced by myths from the beginning of time. They’re the stuff legends are made of. But, are they harbingers of evil or givers of life? This is the fascinating contradiction of the snake.

Everyone who has read the Bible knows who is blamed for man’s downfall from the Garden of Eden! The snake is identified as evil; a direct correlation with Satan. This label has followed it through time.

Some Pentecostals, mostly from an outlawed congregation of the Church of God in Appalachia, believe the snake is the devil. They pass poisonous snakes from one member to another during the course of their services. This phenomenon originated in 1908 and continues in rural congregations as members are challenged to test their faith according to the Bible. This practice has been outlawed since 1938 when one over-zealous convert was fatally bitten.

But many religions and cultures see snakes, not as messengers from Hell, rather as gods, wise and benevolent.

Ancient Egyptians worshiped snakes as symbols of the beginning and end of time. The serpent became worn as a golden emblem, a symbol of supreme rule and leadership. They were thought to embody or accompany the spirits of the dead.

The rattlesnake was held in almost affectionate veneration by the Aztec Indians because of their close connection with the earth.

To the American Hopi Indians, snakes are sacred. Today, the Hopis hold an annual celebration in honor of the snake in which rattlesnakes are captured, ceremonially washed, followed by the ritual Snake Dance. The snakes are then released to the four winds where it is believed they act as messengers to the gods, telling of the people’s need of rain over the Great Plains.

Snakes have long been regarded as a phallic symbol, a symbol of fertility. In India, cobras, sprinkled with ceremonial powder and sacred dye, hold the place of honor at a festival that pays homage to the “Giver of Life.” In Malaysia, the bamboo viper is worshiped as a living talisman of good fortune.

Where myth and religion ends and fact begins is often indistinguishable when referring to snakes. As one Bible passage declares, “God cursed the serpent: Upon your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life’ . . . ” Could this mean snakes at one time had legs? Boas and pythons still retain vestigial remnants of a pelvis, manifesting as claw-like appendages on either side of the anal vent.

Although execrated by the general populace, most snakes are not harmful to man. In fact, they fill an important niche in our ecosystem. They are the primary ecological exterminators, keeping down rodent populations that plague many farmers today. Many, if not most, eat animals that are proven pests to man and crops.

Farmers in the corn belt keep rat snakes in barns and corn cribs because they are better ratters than cats. The bull snake, in the dry wheat-belt areas is the only efficient, regular predator on the pocket gopher which burrows through fields feeding on crops and leaving holes that can cause farm animals to break their legs. Other areas welcome king snakes and indigos because of their appetite for other snakes, particularly, poisonous ones.

But, as cities spread, wild habitat dwindles. Poisonous snakes are forced into populated areas where they are brought into closer contact with people. This causes the greatest concern.

Out West, rattlesnake roundups are held to keep rattlers in check. Some 250,000 to 500,000 rattlesnakes are killed annually. The skins are used for leather products, heads and rattles become decorations, and the meat is canned and sold. Ironically, some of the profit goes to build playgrounds.

In some areas, these roundups have been so complete, rattlesnakes have disappeared altogether. As poisonous snake populations decrease, much to man’s detriment, so does a precious resource called venom.

Venom is a highly modified saliva containing toxic compounds. To snakes, venom is precious and best used for prey – not man. Venom enables snakes to immobilize and digest their prey. However, man, too, has learned to use venom effectively.

Early American Indians used rattlesnake venom on the tips of arrowheads to aid in their hunt for food. Cleopatra used the asp’s hemorrhagic venom as an adjunct to suicide. During the Vietnam War, enemy soldiers suspended deadly tree vipers by their tails in trees so unsuspecting soldiers would get bitten as they walked through the dense jungle. But, just as venom can kill, venom can cure.

The medical profession has long recognized the snake as a symbol of life and healing. Since the 16th century, the caduceus, or serpent staff, has been the universal symbol of medicine. Through medical research, doctors are finding healing, even life saving properties in snake venom that can save lives.

Fibrolase, an enzyme found in the venom of the copperhead dissolves clots responsible for heart attacks, phlebitis, strokes, and other disorders resulting from blocked or reduced blood flow.

Malaysian pit viper venom contains kistrin, another blood clotting preventive. A commonly used clotting agent, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) has been found to work faster if administered with kistrin. This finding could lead to a new generation of drugs used to treat heart disease. Currently, however, it is snake venom that is used for a form of Digitalis, a cardiovascular medication used for treatment of heart disease.

Venom from these vipers is also used in dissolving blood clots in a stroke victim’s brain, thus reducing disability resulting from the stroke.

According to Francis Markland, professor of biochemistry at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, “The use of the snake venom enzyme is still experimental, but the findings so far suggest it holds promise as a rapid, safe, and effective agent“. He further explains that one of the advantages of the venom enzyme is that it works differently than all other traditional agents currently used today because the enzyme degrades the blood clot directly, but why snake venom contains this clot dissolving enzyme is not known.

Venom itself is the most effective treatment for poisonous snake bites. Before 1955, a single bite from a Tai Pan viper would have meant instant death. Now there is anti-venom.

Horses are injected with small doses of purified venom over a three-month period. The horses’ blood is then withdrawn and processed into anti-venom.

In many parts of the world effective distribution of anti-venom saves numerous lives. Unfortunately, those at the highest risk have the least access to these drugs.

In India, for instance, home to the largest poisonous snake in the world, the king cobra, 5,000 people a year are bitten by cobras that are accidentally stepped on. Death comes within fifteen minutes. But, despite this staggering statistic, the cobra is considered a benign creature, as much a part of the land as the people.

In America, however, other statistics prove snakes are not the cold-blooded killers they have been labeled. Of the nearly 4,000 victims treated for snake bites in health care facilities within a single year, none died. More people are killed by bees and dogs than by rattlesnakes per year. Less than three percent of rattler bites prove fatal. You are more likely to die of a lightning strike than by this shy creature, who does all it can to warn you of its presence.

Earth is a big place. There is enough room on it for sharing. After all, mankind’s future may depend on contributions made by this lowly creature. So, man can continue walking tall in the sunshine, while the secretive serpent continues to inhabit the shadows. Both have vital roles to play on this great planet we call Home.