Korean wildlife

While hiking in Seorak Park last year I saw two snakes. I chased them off the trail with a stick before any other hikers came by as I expected other would kill the snakes. I wrote about my hike here. Anyway, in that post, I wondered if the snakes were poisonous.

Well, I don't have to wonder any more. No, I'm not dying, nor have I been bitten. 'Always in Transit' found a useful thread on Dave's eslcafe that discusses the subject. A gentleman (or gentlewoman) named 'Rapier' is intent on cataloging the wildlife of Korea and has posted photos and descriptions of Korean mammals, amphibians and reptiles.

I think the snake I saw was poisonous. It looks like the first one on the list.

This kind of wildlife census is important and I think it has not been properly done here, even in Korean. Koreans don't seem aware of much of their penninsula's natural history.

I have to admit noticing the same problems with snakes in my small town in Canada as I see here. Many of my friends have claimed to see cottonmouth snakes and copperhead snakes in Muskoka (a district in Ontario, Canada). It sure was hard to convince them that no such snake has even been caught in Ontario and they would have to go to Florida or possibly the Carolinas before finding those snakes.