SNAKES ISLAND
Ilha da Queimada Grande, also known as Snake Island, is an island off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic ocean. Located approximately 33 kilometers (21 mi) off the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the island is approximately 430,000 square meters (110 acres) in area. The island ranges in elevation from sea level to 206 meters (676 ft) above sea level.
“Between one and five snakes per square meter” might not be so terrible if the snakes were, say, two inches long and nonvenomous. The snakes on Queimada Grande, however, are a unique species of pit viper, the golden lancehead. The lancehead genus of snakes is responsible for 90 percent of Brazilian snakebite-related fatalities. The golden lanceheads that occupy Snake Island grow to well over half a meter long, and they possess a powerful fast-acting poison that melts the flesh around their bites.
A lighthouse was constructed in 1909 to steer ships away from the island. The last human inhabitants left the island when the lighthouse was converted to being automated.
In 2015 an estimate by a herpetologist on a Discovery Channel documentary stated that the population remains at 2,000 to 4,000 golden lanceheads.
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