Snakes are not actually found in the wild in Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, or Antarctica. So If you have a phobia of snakes we might suggest you move to one of these locations. Arkansas, unfortunately is loaded with snakes!

Southern Copperhead Snake

Also here’s a little more info about the Southern Copperhead,
Toxic Cures: How Snake Venom Can Heal Your Disease

Some drugs are actually derived from the venom of poisonous animals such as snakes. Snake venom possesses many different proteins that when modified can actually be trained to attack harmful blood clots or cancerous cells. Two drugs already on the market that treat people with coronary heart disease are Eptifibitide (Integrilin), derived from a protein in rattlesnake venom, and Tirofiban from the saw-scaled viper’s venom. The venom’s protein, which when delivered by the snake prevents blood clots and causes uncontrollable bleeding to the victim, can be modified and refined to specifically target blocked heart arteries in heart attack patients.

Snake venom is so promising to human medicine that it has even become an interest to scientists looking for a cure for breast cancer.

Dr. Francis Markland at the University of California in Los Angeles is testing the effect of venom of the Southern Copperhead Snake on cancer.

The protein from the venom is called Contortrostatin and it has proved to stop cancerous cells from binding to healthy cells and spreading. When tested in mice, the protein was shown to stop the spread of a tumor to the lungs by 90%. In the very near future, breast cancer may no longer exist in our lives.