There is a meme being circulated at the moment that explains very well the difference between these words so I will start there. The meme simply puts it that if IT bites YOU and you die it is venomous, if YOU bite IT and you die it is poisonous. If you fully understand these two sentences then you know the difference between venomous and poisonous. Let’s get some more detail involved. That meme finishes with people asking various questions such as: What if IT bites ME and IT dies – then you are poisonous, What if IT bites ITSELF and you do die – voodoo. What if IT bites ME and someone ELSE dies – correlation not causation. What if WE bite EACH OTHER and like it? – Keep that behavior for the bedroom.
Venom and poison are often confused because they are both toxins. Toxins are any deadly biological secretion from a living thing. Venom is considered an active toxin while poison is considered a passive toxin. Venom requires the animal to deliver the toxin actively – they need to do something, that could be biting you or stinging you. Whatever it is the animal must actively do something to inject you with the venom. Poison is considered a passive toxin as the animal doesn’t have to do anything. Instead, the person who is poisoned is the one who either comes in contact with the animal or eats it.
That is easy to understand when you read it but it can be difficult to remember. At some stage in the future, you will say to yourself “I know one is venomous and one is poisonous but I forget which is which”. The easiest way to think of it is to remember the plant poison ivy. Poison Ivy can’t bite you or put a hole in you, it poisons you by coming in contact with your skin. This can help you remember that poison is passive delivery. The alliteration of poison and passive is also a good reminder.
Australia is the home to many venomous and poisonous animals so if you want to get a little closer to the action we suggest you move there. In Australia, there is one snake called the Inland Taipan that has enough venom to kill 100 adults with a single drop. An Inland Taipan is not poisonous though, so you could quite happily eat one (although we imagine they don’t taste great) as long as you don’t eat the glands that the venom is stored in. There are many animals that are both venomous and poisonous so don’t assume if it is venomous that means you can eat it, you better make sure it is not poisonous either.
It is interesting to note that many poisonous animals are poisonous because they eat a poisonous animal. Poison Dart Frogs are poisonous because they eat little insects. These are the brightly colored frogs where the poison is strong enough to kill ten humans. Don’t eat these. Snakes do eat them though and the Keelback snake is an example of a venomous and poisonous animal. It is poisonous because it eats poisonous toads.
Nature is an incredible thing and something that we should respect. These animals are incredible but you must know what you are doing before you ever come in contact with them.