Table 2 Beliefs related directly or indirectly to the injuries (real and/or imaginary) caused by snake bites, according to the dwellers of the county of Pedra Branca, Santa Terezinha, Bahia State, Brazil.
Beliefs | Snake species involved | Number of interviewees who | |
|---|---|---|---|
Believe | Do not believe | ||
If you don't kill the snake that has bitten you, it stays spinning on the ground and this strengths the action of the injected poison.* | Snakes in general | 11 | 7 |
If the snake sees you (in the woods) but you don't see it, you fall ill (swollen ganglia, fever etc.). | Snakes in general | 4 | 9 |
Snakes cause swelling of the ganglia. | Snakes in general | 3 | |
Snakes do not like pregnant women. They are angry with them. They will go directly toward them to beat them with their tail. | Snakes in general | 15 | 3 |
If you strike a match on the wound, it draws the poison, increasing the flame. | Snakes in general | 3 | |
If the individual does not beat on the snake's head (to kill it), the devil will heal it.* | Rain frog snakes | 2 | |
If someone beats the snake without killing it, the snake goes to that person's house and stays on the roof. Then the person falls ill and dies. When the coffin leaves, the snakes go after it to check.* | Rain frog snakes | 3 | |
It is not poisonous, but if someone is bitten he will be drained [faded out] in the same way the snake is. | Rain frog snakes | 9 | |
It does not bite, but one weakens if once bitten by it. | Rain frog snakes | 6 | |
If someone beats the snake without killing it, the snake lies in ambush waiting for this (or another person) pass again to attack.* | Parrot snakes Tiger rat snakes | 15 | 4 |
After the snake has bitten someone, it goes to the roof to wait for the result of the bite. | Tiger rat snakes | 2 | 3 |
Because of its poison a venomous snake continues to move, even after being killed. | Snakes in general | 6 | |
The tail, once cut, moves because of the poison. | Snakes in general | 5 | |
The person who has been bitten by a snake and killed it with a shot gun, will also die. The snake is to be killed only with sticks.* | Snakes in general | 4 | |
You have to wait about six months before re-entering the woods, on the contrary the poison calls again that snake which has bitten before (or other snakes). | Snakes in general | 2 | |
If someone is urinating on a stone, the poison of the snake will go up through the urine. | Rattlesnakes | 3 | |
People carry some sticks searching for snakes at Christ's Passion. To save seven souls and their own from Hell, people have to kill seven snakes.* | Snakes in general | 4 | |
If someone kills the female, the male follows the trail to revenge its death and vice versa. | Snakes in general | 7 | |
After the snake is killed, you should examine its tail. If it is rounded in section, it means that this snake has already attacked a lot.* | Snakes in general | 2 | |
Typically ground-dwelling poisonous snakes that are found resting on branches possess the snakestone inside them. Those snakes that usually inhabit tress never have it. This little stone serves as an amulet to repel snakes and as homemade medicine against snakebites.* | Snakes in general | 14 | |
Black snakes feed from breastfeeding women by putting the tip of their tail in the baby's mouth so it does not cry and wake the mother. They are dangerous because the child dies from a lack of milk. | Black snakes | 10 | 25 |
They posses a sting in their tails from which the poison is injected, while they bite with their mouth. | Two-headed snakes | 10 | 2 |
Snake swallow their own offspring so they become more poisonous. Then they leave again from the mouth of the mother. | Snakes in general | 8 | 1 |
They leave the poison on a leaf before entering the water (to take a bath and to drink). When they get out the water they take the poison (by using smell to find it). | Water snakes | 4 | 9 |
They are more dangerous if one goes behind them (they attack from behind). | Rattlesnakes | 2 | |
They even bite themselves because they are so angry. | Rattlesnakes | 3 | |
They only have poison when they are reproducing (= laying eggs or taking care of the offspring) from June to August. | Indigo snakes Black snakes | 15 | |
They stand due to the scissor-like stings (= tail). Then they jump (fly) to attack. | Bushmaster snakes | 15 | |