Abstract
Human behavior toward wild animals is defined by cultural influences and often is affected by lack of knowledge, mainly in situations of confrontation. The present study was conducted between 2008 and 2013, involving analysis of snakes that had suffered injuries belonging to the reptile collections of Centro Universitário de Lavras and Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora. The injuries were classified according to location on the body. Among the 449 specimens analyzed, 245 specimens showed injury to some part of the body. The nonvenomous snakes were the most representative and had a higher rate of injury (66.3%) than the venomous ones (18.2%). The body region where the greatest percentage of injuries was recorded was the anterior (39.6%), followed by the middle (36.5%) and posterior (8.4%). We believe this fact may have resulted due the lack of knowledge on how to differentiate species. Studies of the relationship between schooling level and contact with environmental education activities demonstrate reduction of attacks on these animals. This fact indicates that the preservation of many species is related to awareness and education of the population.
Highlights
Snakes have always been objects of both great curiosity and fear among humans
The data demonstrate that the injury rate of the nonvenomous snakes is much greater than that of the venomous ones
We believe this can be due to various specific characteristics of some species, such as mimetism and aposematic coloration, considered to be defense mechanisms, beyond consequences caused by fear, myths and popular beliefs
Summary
Because human behavior toward animals is influenced by cultural perceptions and since there is often a lack of knowledge about animals and their behavior and role in the food chain and ecosystem, as well as about how to act during confrontations, certain species face indiscriminate extermination. There is no consensus among herpetologists about this aspect in relation to snakes, some believe they are disappearing throughout the world (Mullin and Seigel, 2009) The reason for this lack of consensus is the dearth of studies about snake populations (Reading et al, 2010)
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