Have you heard of Snake Island? At first, this sounds like the name of a horror movie, or maybe a documentary about snakes. It also might sound like an intriguing place to visit as a tourist since it could be an adventure... but it's a bad idea to travel here.
Why? Because this island literally has killer snakes on it. According to Business Insider, Ilha da Queimada Grande is located 25 miles away from the Brazil coast and it actually had residents but as of the 1920s, people realized that living there was a truly scary idea. While it's not legal to come here, Business Insider says that some people actually get the venom from the snakes because it's said to be used for heart conditions. (What?!)
While there are many beaches in Brazil that we'd love to see for ourselves, we don't want to go to Snake Island. Tourists can't visit Snake Island... but no one should be disappointed. Keep reading to learn more about this unique place.
There Are A Few Creepy Legends
Of all the things that you can find out about Snake Island, the creepy legends are at the top of the list. One legend is about a lighthouse operator, three kids, and wife running to a boat to get away from horrible snakes who have gotten into their house via a window... but snakes are hiding on trees above them and the snakes bite them. Okay, we're totally shuddering right now.
The second legend is about snakes biting a fisherman who is looking for some bananas. Once he gets onto a boat, the venom of the snake has already killed him. And there is even one more: according to Business Insider, people say that pirates brought the snakes because they didn't want anyone getting their treasure here.
Yeah... We're going to say that we're not disappointed that we can't visit Snake Island.
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What You Need To Know About Snake Island
There are some islands that are beautiful and that tourists are super excited to visit, like many in Hawaii. That's just not the case with Snake Island.
Business Insider says that the snakes here are because of "rising sea levels" and this area actually became an island because of that. According to The Huffington Post, these snakes are called Golden Lanceheads which have venom that is "three to five times stronger than that of any mainland snake." While most of us are freaked out by snakes normally as that's a pretty common fear, we definitely don't want to get near this snake as"melting human flesh" is something that it can do. The island is 110 acres and there are 4,000 snakes here.
Smithsonian Mag says that there is a "government ban" on coming here and that there really are tons of snakes: "one snake for every square meter in some spots." Kidney failure is one of the things that can happen when someone is bitten by this type of snake, and there's a seven percent chance that it would be fatal if someone was bitten. According to The Culture Trip, it would only take 60 minutes for someone to pass away after this. We're definitely not interested in visiting...
Once people learn the truth about the killer snakes on Snake Island, no one is going to be sad that this isn't a place that tourists can explore. There are plenty of other parts of Brazil that we want to check out... and they don't have these horrible snakes (phew).