Took a trip to the Asa Wright Nature Centre over the weekend. The Centre is renowned as a destination for birdwatchers and naturalists in general and it's a great place to experience local flora and fauna.

This particular species of fauna found by the grounds staff just happens to be the most dangerous snake in the Central/South America/Caribbean region. Locally it's called a mapepire (pronounced mah-pih-PEE) or bushmaster but the more common name is the fer-de-lance.

Wondering why such a tight grip is being kept on its head? On average a mapipire bite injects 105mg of venom into the unlucky victim. A 50mg dose of venom is considered fatal to humans! You probably don't want to get bitten by this guy.