Some Animals Don’t Run From Snakes; They’ve Evolved to Survive the Bite

Most animals generally avoid venomous snakes by keeping a lookout and maintaining a safe distance. Many species have recently evolved different methods of dealing with venom by escaping and surviving the attack. This has become important because their environment makes encounters with venomous snakes very common and hard to avoid. Changes that are similar to this have been seen across different mammalian species, which tells us that evolution has followed a similar route. A few of these changes have been observed in the neuromuscular receptors of animals such as honey badgers and hedgehogs, which have successfully been able to reduce the effects of neurotoxic venom, as reported in a study published in Toxicon, per a ScienceDirect (2015) report.

When we talk about reptiles, Australian goannas are able to tolerate venom that would normally threaten another animal’s life, which lets them prey directly on venomous snakes, according to research from the University of Queensland (2024). Resistance to the snake venom makes this particular food source accessible to them that many other predators are not able to exploit. Ground squirrels show a different kind of response, as they are able to produce serum proteins that can bind to and neutralize rattlesnake venom (ScienceDirect, 1978). These squirrels still remain careful, but their physiology gives them added protection.

The honey badger has thick skin that reduces the impact of bites (IERE) and helps it withstand several snake venoms, including cobras. It has a combination of physical and biochemical traits that make it stronger in environments where snakes are common, and encounters are not so easy to avoid.

But developing venom resistance can change the body in such a way that it could affect other systems, which are are maintained only when the benefits somehow outweigh these costs, especially in regions where snake density is high, National Science Foundation explains.

The above examples show that avoidance is not the only answer to the problem. There are other solutions that nature provides to deal with venomous substances, and resisting venom is a viable alternative in only some environments. Caecilians that live in similar environments to those of venomous snakes have become resistant to venemous substance by developing certain molecular mechanisms. This tells us that even amphibians show similar characteristics, according to a study published in Current Biology (ScienceDirect, 2023). This tells us how evolution adapts to certain environments and creates survival mechanisms that may not be obvious at first glance.