Snakes Memes

Remember that crucial distinction between poisonous (toxic when you eat it) and venomous (toxic when it injects you)? The Oklahoma Wildlife Department certainly does! The poor stranger learned this taxonomic technicality the hard way—through empirical testing with rather severe physiological consequences. Nothing teaches biological classification quite like anaphylactic shock. Next time, maybe consult a field guide instead of conducting a first-person experiment?

The meme presents a seemingly helpful herpetological identification guide, suggesting you examine a snake's anal plate scales to determine if it's venomous. Then comes the punchline from someone with actual survival instincts. Field biologists have this ongoing joke about the disconnect between academic knowledge and practical application. Sure, I could tell you about subcaudal scale patterns while being injected with hemotoxins, or I could use my highly evolved bipedal locomotion to exit the situation. The irony is that this identification method is somewhat legitimate, though I'd recommend binoculars rather than a close examination of reptilian posteriors. My dissertation didn't prepare me for snake butt analysis in the wild.

Behold the subtle but critical distinction between "poisonous" and "venomous" – a difference that apparently costs an arm, a leg, and possibly an ambulance ride. Poisonous means you die when you eat it; venomous means it injects toxins into you. The Oklahoma Wildlife Department's casual "nah fam" followed by the belated "it's venomous tho" is basically nature's version of "well, technically..." Right before someone needs antivenin. This is why biologists drink heavily at parties when someone says "I love science!"