A King Cobra at The Miami Serpentarium

King Cobras at Miami Serpentarium
Venom is extracted for the manufacture of serum as a highlight of each tour several times a day.

The sender writes:
Here we are enjoying beautiful Miami.  We don't meet many snakes like this one fortunately.  We are enjoying the shops and streets so much.  I hope to go to the new Seaquarium and see the tropical fish before coming home.
(The Miami Seaquarium was founded in 1955.)

This postcard is postmarked in 1956.

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Still in operation today, The Miami Serpentarium was established in 1946 as the first-of-it’s kind premier venom production laboratory in the world.

Shown on the postcard is founder Bill Haast.

A Sidewinder Snake in 3-D

Sidewinder Snake
Crotalus cerastes

The Sidewinder is a venomous pit viper rattlesnake species found in the arid regions of the Southwestern USA.  The name refers to the snake's unusual form of locomotion.
2016

A Handmade Postcard of Australia's Dangerous Animals

This is a handmade postcard with photos of Australia's most dangerous animals on the front and the back.  Shown are spiders, snakes, jellyfish, octopus and a shark.
2006

A Snake in the Movie: The Reaping - 3-D

The Reaping
This 3-D postcard was handed out by Warner Bros. Pictures in Austria as a promotion for seeing the movie.

When you tilt the card, the snakes moves and the tail flickers!

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The Reaping is an 2007 American horror film, starring AnnaSophia Robb and Hilary Swank.
A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.

A Snake in Atlantis, Bahamas - Play in Paradise

Play in Paradise

Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Get ready to tempt fate at the $25,000 Garden of Eden Blackjack Tournament

So much fun...it's sinful!
2009

The color of the snake and background is a metallic gold. 

A Snake Waggin' His Tail

Look, Dearie at the friendly little snake.
... He’s waggin’ his tail at me!
2012

A Rattlesnake from Texas

Texas
Photo: Texas State Department of Highway and Public Transportation
2013

Rattlesnake from the Central Florida Zoo

Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

North American Wildlife

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox).

The western diamondback rattlesnake, also known as "coon tail rattler", is capable of delivering a fatal bite.  It is active late in the day and at night in the hot summer months.  It is found in arid and semiarid areas and has a life span of nearly 26 years.

Photographers - Alan & Sandy Carey
2010

Santa Playing a Balalaika and Animals Listening

(actually reads: С Новым годом = Happy New Year)

Santa playing a Balalaika (guitar like instrument) with a young girl, a bear, rabbit, squirrel, hedgehog and a snake wearing a bonnet.

postmarked in 2013 from Russia

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The balalaika is a Russian folk stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.

Snake saying Ssssalutations

a snake saying
Sssssalutations

back reads:
http://www.9teen87sPostcards.blogspot.com

Milking a Rattlesnake in Florida

Milking a Rattlesnake,
Ross Allen's Reptile Institute,
Silver Springs, Florida

Photo by Sam Adnre

unused Curteich postcard

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Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes. There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central Argentina.

Rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal to humans, if treated promptly. Between 7,000 and 8,000 people are estimated to have been bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year, and about five of those die. The most important factor in determining survival following a severe envenomation is the amount of time elapsed between the bite and treatment. Most deaths occur between 6 and 48 hours after the bite. However, if antivenom treatment is given within 1–2 hours of the bite, the probability of recovery is greater than 99%.

The first step in the production of antivenom is collecting ("milking") the venom of a live rattlesnake. (As seen in the postcard above) The extracted venom is then diluted and injected into horses, goats, or sheep, whose immune systems produce antibodies that protect from the toxic effects of the venom. These antibodies accumulate in the blood, which is then extracted and centrifuged (spinning an object in rotation around a fixed axis)  to separate the red blood cells. The resulting serum is purified into a lyophilized powder, which is packaged for distribution and later use by human patients.

Snake Charmer with Cobra from Sri Lanka - Ceylon

Ceylon: Snake Charmer with Cobra

postmarked in 1950 with two Ceylon stamps

the 'Sender' writes:

Dear Doctor,
Ceylon, land of contrast, in its remote areas lived the Veddas, a primitive folk, probably direct descendants of an ancient civilization.  But there is another Ceylon, of modern stores, fine hospitals.  In them you'll find PENTOTHAL - agent of choice in intravenous anesthesia the world over.    - Abbott

sent to a doctor at the General Hospital in Syracuse, New York

the small letters down the center of the postcard are "Pentothal (Thiopental, Abbott) - so this is a very clever advertising postcard for Pentothal!

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Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), is a rapid-onset short-acting general anaesthetic. It is a drug on the "Essential Drugs List", for any basic healthcare system.

It is used for: anesthesia, medically induced coma, lethal injection, psychiatry, and in some areas of the world it is used in a truth serum.

Anaconda Snake in the Yaguacaca

Leticia, Amazonas Colombia

Standing hip deep in the Yaguacaca, an Amazon River tributary, Amazonas Colombia, Mike Tsalickis masters a giant anaconda, one of the jungles most feared inhabitants.

Con el agua hasta la cintura, Mike Tsalickis, logra dominar una Anaconda gigante, en los lagos Yaguacaca, tributario del rio Amazonas, Colombia.  Este reptil es uno de los mas temidos en esta region.
1997

Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Images and design: Audrey Smith
2011