close menu

Reptilian Nightmare: Australian Mulga Snake Will Bite You In Your Sleep

Traditionally, avoiding snake bites has been about as simple as leaving snakes alone. If you have refrain from poking, kicking, or involving the snakes in religious rituals, there’s a good chance you’ll go unharmed. Unfortunately, however, there is one snake out there that will mess you up for doing next to nothing. A new study has shown that in a surprisingly high number of cases, the venomous mulga snake of Australia has actually bitten people in their sleep.

The study examined 27 instances of people getting bit by the mulga snake. In ten of those instances, the victims were not provoking the snake at all, and in 7 of those 10 cases, the victim was fast asleep. “[It] is noteworthy since it represents 70 percent of identified cases involving bites without intentional contact, and suggests that bites sustained during sleep may be more common than previously reported,” researchers said. Knowing that snakes really only bite when they are threatened or hunting animals way smaller than humans, researchers remain confused as to why these sleep bitings are happening.

 

The mulga snake’s range in Australia. (Wikipedia)

Luckily the mulga snake’s bite is not usually fatal to humans, making all this only slightly less scary. The venom, however, can still cause vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, none of which would be fun to wake up with. So you all you Australian Nerdist readers out there – good luck getting to sleep tonight!

HT: LiveScience

The Mysterious Medical Condition That Gives People Dragon Faces

The Mysterious Medical Condition That Gives People Dragon Faces

article
Hundreds of Real Doctors Have Famous Fictional Doctor Names

Hundreds of Real Doctors Have Famous Fictional Doctor Names

article
What is Wrong with MAD MAX’s War Boys?

What is Wrong with MAD MAX’s War Boys?

article

Comments

  1. FreshMetal says:

    Like most snakes, I’m sure this one prefers to hide in dark places (like under a pillow or in sheets) and if those Australians are like me, they tend to move around a lot while sleeping. Maybe the snakes are simply making their way into the beds at night and then reacting to violent kick from a sleeping human? Just my theory.

  2. Jimmy jam jam jimbo says:

    I’m Australian and like 80% of us live in the green area of that map! plus those symptoms sound no worse than a tummy bug, man up!

  3. RynoZero says:

    pfft, the mulga doesn’t even make the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world. 5-8 of which(depending on the list) reside in Australia.

    let the scared weird little guys explain more, in SONG!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNEeq5qGh8I

  4. Django says:

    Reason #154 why not to go Australia.

  5. Tiffany says:

    This confirms one of my biggest fears. I knew it wasn’t irrational. i told you all