This fear stems from painful experiences from insects bites early in life. The very word of venom generates fear and encourages ignorance about the importance of snakes in our ecosystem.
Poisonous snakes are venomous animal which use their venom for capturing prey.
Snakes and their venoms are important natural resources and play an important part in the ecological balance of our ecosystem. Snakes control the rodent population and prevent the spread of diseases found in the rodent population. Because of the importance of venom in medicine and their limited supply in nature, they are extremely expensive to purchase. Many snakes are killed each year in rattlesnake roundups without consideration to ecological impact or the value of venom biomedical research. Most poisous snakes in the United States belong to the family Viperidae, subfamily Crotalinae, and pit vipers.