Is It Possible That Spiders Kill Snakes?
WouterSnakes are a huge prey item for spiders. They can eat up to thirty times their size, and some can ensnare a snake more than a meter long. It’s possible that spiders can kill snakes, but they usually do it the natural way.
Spiders use a venom to poison and paralyze their prey. Their fangs pierce the skin of a snake to deliver the toxin. Once the toxin has immobilized the snake’s nervous system, the spider sucks up nutrients from the snake’s body. Then the spider spins a web around the snake.
Spiders have been reported to eat snakes on all continents except Antarctica. These reports come from social media, journals, magazines, and YouTube. However, most snakes killed by spiders are juveniles.
There are more than 45,000 species of spiders on Earth. Some are considered to be venomous, while others do not pose a threat to humans. Most of these arachnids only eat insects. Others hunt small animals. Despite the fact that spiders are considered to be harmless, they can cause serious injury.
Scientists have found that more than 40 spider species have been known to kill snakes. In fact, more than one hundred instances of spiders eating snakes have been recorded. Among the most common snake-eaters are widow spiders and members of the tarantula family.
A recent study of snake killing incidents in the world found that these spiders were responsible for more than three-fifths of all deaths. These deaths were mostly in places that do not have antivenom.
