It's all over social media: The frightening Snake Island, home of deadly snakes. To hear some tell it, you literally would step on one of the 400,000 snakes there with every step you take.
That is a great story, but according to herpetologists, it's not true.
The island does have snakes — between 2,000 and 4,000 of them. And it is a small island, about 106 acres of rock separated from the mainland eons ago and trapped the golden lancehead snake on the island.
And the golden lancehead really is a dangerous snake. Untreated bites carry a 7 percent chance of death, an unpleasant end thanks to internal bleeding and brain hemorrhage.
Sadly, the future of the golden lancehead is bleak. It is currently critically endangered as its food sources dwindle. Inbreeding, a consequence of being trapped on an island, further threatens them.
