• Question: What is the difference between poison and venom? If you drink venom, will it kill you?

    Asked by Bill to Anthea, Chloe, Kevin, Michel, Sean on 14 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Chloe Kinsella

      Chloe Kinsella answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      Venomous and poisonous animals both produce a toxin that can harm other living things. The difference between the two is how the toxin is delivered. Venomous animals inject their toxin using a body part like fangs or a stinger. Poisonous animals do not inject their poison, they store it in or on their bodies. Something has to eat or touch off the poisonous animals to be harmed by the toxin.

      For example, snakes are venomous because they bite you and inject toxins but the poison dart frog is poisonous as its toxins are secreted by and cover its skin.

    • Photo: Kevin Healy

      Kevin Healy answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      Yes but it is not recomended. Usually you would be ok because most venomes are designed to either attack you blood (check this video out to see what viper venom can do to blood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvnjCkLbvY ) or you nervous system. If you drank it the special enzymes in the venom which are designed to attack your blood or nerves would be broken down by your stomach acid (did you know stomach acid is nearly as strong as car battery acid). However if you have even the smalleest cut in your mouth or in your throat then the venom can get into your blood and attack you the way it was intended!

    • Photo: Michel Dugon

      Michel Dugon answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      Venom is a toxic substance produced by an animal usually in a particular organ (the venom gland) and injected into another organism via a very sharp device (e.g. the fangs of a snake, the sting of a scorpion).

      Poison on the other hand is a substance produced by a plant, and animal or artificially created that is toxic when swallowed or when it entered in contact with the skin (e.g. the toxins of the poison dart frogs).

      It is true that you can drink the venom of certain snakes without any ill effects. But it is definitely not recommended (if you have a cut in your mouth or throat and that the venom enters your blood stream, you have a BIG problem!). I have done it myself with tribesmen many years ago with the venom of monocle cobras. It just tingles on your tongue… The same amount of venom from the same animal injected in our bloodstream would have probably send us to hospital for a good while! Now, you can’t drink ALL venoms: some toxins can also cause a pretty nasty swelling of the tongue, which is at best very unpleasant, and in the worse cases, it is a life threatening condition…

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