By Lucy Caulkett-
The Deadliest Place On Earth’ Is Island Filled With Thousands Of Snakes Where People Are banned From entering.
It’s been dubbed the ‘deadliest place on Earth’ and considering, and is an island infested with thousands of snakes, it’s really not hard to see why.
The island paradise of Ilha da Queimada Grande might be a prime tourist destination if not for one problem – the thousands of venomous snakes living there.
The island is not accessible to the general public as a safety measure to prevent any disasters.
The island’s name means ‘island of the big forest fire’, a reference to an attempt to clear away some of the rainforest to make way for a banana plantation, but it’s probably better known as ‘Snake Island’.
The isolated island is infested by thousands of golden lancehead vipers – some of the deadliest snakes in the world. These vipers’ venom can kill a person in under an hour, and many who have ventured there have met their untimely fate.
The vipers feed on birds that land on the island, biting them and injecting them with venom.
The Smithsonian alludes to a catalogue of local rumours about various victims who have fallen prey to the venomous vipers.
The island claimed the life of an unfortunate fisherman who landed there looking for bananas. His body was found days later covered in snake bites.
The deserted field has been officially bare since the 1920s when the lighthouse was automated, and the last lighthouse keeper’s family were killed when snakes slithered in through the windows.
The snakes are ‘critically endangered’, suffering from loss of habitat from people starting fires on the island to try and clear them out while also being targeted by people who take the rare snakes and sell them. Anyone officially stepping foot onto the island needs to take a doctor with them, as the venomous vipers could be lying in wait around any corner.
Kidney failure, intestinal bleeding, brain haemorrhaging are all potential short term consequences of an expedition to that prohibited venue.
It is a place to avoid like the plague, its devouring powers merciless in deadly action.
Well known for its folklore, it is a place only to talk about, not to visit.