'Offensive' snakes: cultural beliefs and practices related to snakebites in a Brazilian rural settlement

Abstract

This paper records the meaning of the term 'offense' and the folk knowledge related to local beliefs and practices of folk medicine that prevent and treat snake bites, as well as the implications for the conservation of snakes in the county of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, Brazil. The data was recorded from September to November 2006 by means of open-ended interviews performed with 74 individuals of both genders, whose ages ranged from 4 to 89 years old. The results show that the local terms biting, stinging and pricking are synonymous and used as equivalent to offending. All these terms mean to attack. A total of 23 types of 'snakes' were recorded, based on their local names. Four of them are Viperidae, which were considered the most dangerous to humans, besides causing more aversion and fear in the population. In general, local people have strong negative behavior towards snakes, killing them whenever possible. Until the antivenom was present and available, the locals used only charms, prayers and homemade remedies to treat or protect themselves and others from snake bites. Nowadays, people do not pay attention to these things because, basically, the antivenom is now easily obtained at regional hospitals. It is understood that the ethnozoological knowledge, customs and popular practices of the Pedra Branca inhabitants result in a valuable cultural resource which should be considered in every discussion regarding public health, sanitation and practices of traditional medicine, as well as in faunistic studies and conservation strategies for local biological diversity.

Public perceptions of snakes and snakebite management: implications for conservation and human health in southern Nepal

“…Worldwide, people use about 165 reptilian species, including snakes, for traditional medicine [10] and several ethnoherpetological studies indicate that traditional knowledge is important to herpetological conservation and human health [10, 30–33]. But similar studies are rare worldwide [34, 35], including in Nepal [36]. This study also highlights the human exploitation of snakes in BZCNP.…”

Traditional use and perception of snakes by the Nahuas from Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico

“…Such fear seems to be equal for all species of snakes, poisonous or not; this way of thinking seems to be like that of some inhabitants of northern Mexico [11, 18], from Brazil, [12, 15, 16], Portugal [13], and Nepal [14, 56], where snakes are sacrificed for fear of being bitten, and especially if these animals are large.…”

Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Predicts Environmental Attitudes

“…Previous research showed links between myths and negativistic attitudes toward various animals (Prokop & Tunnicliffe 2008, Prokop et al 2009) and persecution of animals (Brito et al 2001, Fita et al 2010, Ceriaco 2012. We suggested that people more vulnerable to diseases would show stronger beliefs to myths, because these beliefs can protect them against potential threat.…”

“…Our second aim was investigation of possible associations between perceived vulnerability to diseases and belief to myths about controversial animals. The rationale of this aim is that beliefs to myths about animals often result in direct persecution and, as a consequence, negative impact of humans on the environment (Brito et al 2001, Fita et al 2010, Ceriaco et al 2011, Ceriaco 2012, Prokop & Fančovičová 2012. It is possible that disease-sensitive people are more prone to believe that some animals pose danger to humans, because over-perception of a danger is more beneficial from evolutionary perspective than the risk of being endangered (Miller & Maner 2012).…”