What Can a Puff Adder Snake Bite Do to a Rhino
Transcript
00:00 In the wild, animals create pathways through the bush
00:04 known as game trails.
00:07 For creatures like tiny rodents,
00:10 to the world's largest land mammals,
00:13 these trails provide easier movement
00:16 and often lead to waterholes or good feeding grounds.
00:20 And it's along paths like these
00:27 that puff adders will position themselves to wait for prey.
00:31 But when unsuspecting victims,
00:43 weighing thousands of pounds,
00:45 tread too close for comfort,
00:48 a little 13-pounder puff adder can defend itself in a mighty way.
00:56 It doesn't seem possible that a bite from a tiny snake
00:59 could pierce the skin of a rhino,
01:02 let alone do any serious damage.
01:05 But here's evidence to the contrary.
01:08 A bite caused such severe necrosis on the leg of this black rhino
01:14 that her entire foot rotted off,
01:17 leaving behind just bone fragments and flaps of decaying flesh.
01:25 Trauma like this would render most animals immobile,
01:29 ensuring a slow and painful death due to starvation and septicemia.
01:34 It's an extreme example of what happens when a puff adder bite is left untreated.
01:43 (music)