How potent is the venom of the short-tailed mamushi?

The short-tailed mamushi is a small venomous snake with a relatively wide distribution in China, belonging to the genus Gloydius in the family Viperidae, also known as the "tu daizi", "tu qiuzi", "qi cunzi" and so on, with a short and stout body, a slightly triangular head that is clearly distinct from the neck, mostly inhabiting the plains and hilly areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as mainly inhabiting grave mounds and grassy thickets and their vicinity. Let us take a look below at just how potent the venom of the short-tailed mamushi is!

How potent is the venom of the short-tailed mamushi?

The short-tailed mamushi is a small venomous snake distributed throughout China, with venom comparable in potency to that of the cobra. A presynaptic neurotoxin has been isolated from its venom, and its lethal factor may be mainly neurotoxin, but there are also reports that bites can cause myocardial damage and hemoglobinuria, and in Wuhan there were said to be cases of death after a short-tailed mamushi bite.

What food does the short-tailed mamushi eat?

The short-tailed mamushi is distributed in the plains and hilly areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In spring and autumn it mostly gathers and moves around near hibernation sites in grave mounds and grassy thickets, while in summer and early autumn it mostly disperses to move about in rice fields, farmland, ditches, roadsides, village houses, gardens and other places, preying on rodents, lizards, frogs, fish, snakes and so on, and it is seen out and about both day and night. In Zhejiang, the hibernation period runs from November each year to early March of the following year, and during the active period there are two peaks of activity, in May and June and in October.

Is the short-tailed mamushi a protected animal?

In China, the short-tailed mamushi is distributed in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu, Guangdong (Nan'ao) and other places. It has been included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals under National Protection that Are Beneficial or of Important Economic or Scientific Research Value" issued by China's State Forestry Administration on August 1, 2000, listed in the "IUCN" (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species ver3.1 of 2013——Near Threatened (NT), and listed in the China Biodiversity Red List——Vertebrate Volume, with an assessment level of Vulnerable (VU).