Poisonous Snake Bites Man, Man Releases Snake Into Wild, Then Goes to Hospital

Originally Posted by Tim Cole

I must have missed you at the last two VENOM CONFERENCES I attended.

Funny, that's NOT what the experts say.

I prefer to explain it this way.

A poison is a substance that is ingested.

Venom is injected.

Man, they must have been important VENOM CONFERENCES to warrant the caps lock cruise control.

I'd love to see a direct quote from an "expert" that defies the definitions I posted. Come to think of it, most the real hardcore biologists just don't waste their time dealing with that kind of concept as a discussion unless it's brought up by someone else, they're too busy investigating the method of action and mapping proteins... so I am having serious doubts that it was brought up by anyone, at any point, during a conference lecture.

Within the microscopic focus of herpetology the more specific terms venom and venomous are generally used to distinguish those organisms that have a delivery method involving injection (venomous snakes) from those which do not (amphibians) but a tendency towards a certain use doesn't automatically transfer over into a redefinition of the words in question.

Poisons are ingested, huh? Only ingested? They can never cause damage through surface contact (i.e.- poison ivy, dendrobates) or inhalation (i.e.- chlorine gas)? And venoms, they can never cause any damage of any kind if they aren't injected (here's venom in yer eye!).

Venoms are poisons, plain and simple. They are a substance which damages organic tissues through chemical action. Something which is venomous is poisonous. "Poison" simply has a broader definition which encompasses the definition of a venom.

4 rounds of antivenin for a copperhead bite? My mom got bit on the big toe by a copperhead a few years ago and the doctors didn't bother to give any antivenin. I was under the impression that copperheads weren't all that potent to adult humans. Weird.