Just 93 miles away from Sao Paulo, one of the busiest cities of Brazil, lies the most unexplored & inhabitable island in the Atlantic ocean named Elha de Queimada Grande commonly known as "The Snake Island". This island is considered to be having the highest concentration of snakes in a single land mass in the world. It is home to 4000 different species of snakes. Some people say that there are 5 snakes every square meter area but not scientifically validated but such is the concentration of snakes over here. It is the only place where the endangered species of Golden lancehead Pit Vipers are found.Estimated population of these snakes are said to be in few thousands and declining at a rapid rate. This small chunk of land is spread over 4,30,000 square meters of rocky terrain and is seldomly visited by humans.
The island was once part of the Brazilian mainland some 10000 years ago but due to the rising sea levels it got isolated from the main landmass and turned into an island leaving behind the animal species which had migrated here. Somehow the animals adapted to the new environment and evolved differently from those on mainland over the course of centuries. Particularly the golden lanceheads, the island is said to be one of the pitstops for migratory birds which nest on high trees on the island. Since the island vipers had no prey but birds, they evolved to have extra potent venom so that they could immediately kill any bird. The lanceheads are so venomous that a human bitten by one of these could be dead within hours.
Here snakes appear everywhere, walking on the ground, hanging from the trees, hidden in rocks etc. The snakes feed on the helpless, migratory birds that land on this island. Not only that, these snakes are also known to be cannibalistic in nature, which means that they might feed on each other.