Stuff of Nightmares: The Spider-tailed Viper

There probably aren’t many animals as aptly named as the spider-tailed horned viper. With a tail tip that resembles a spider and horns atop its head, it’s easy to visualize this venomous snake.

And this reptile doesn’t just stop at interesting looks – there’s a reason why in “The World’s Most Atrocious Animals,” children’s book author Philip Bunting jokingly changed its scientific name from Pseudocerastes urarachnoides to Sssneakeus ssswindleus.

Part of the genus Pseudocerastes, the spider-tailed horned viper’s lives in western Iran and eastern Iraq, particularly in the Zagros Mountains. Its natural habitat includes cliffs and mountainous terrain. The diurnal animal is venomous.

Like the green tree python, the spider-tailed horned viper is an ambush predator. The snake preys on unsuspecting birds and does it in the sneakiest way possible.

“It’s not actually a mutated spider on this viper’s tail,” Sami Bayly writes in “A Curious Collection of Dangerous Creatures.” “It’s an evolutionary adaptation that acts as a fleshy lure to attract prey. The snake mimics the movements of a spider, wiggling its tail about and moving the ‘legs.’ When a bird comes close to peck at the ‘spider,’ the viper springs out and catches its meal.”

Like the rattlesnake rattles, the viper has an elaborate caudal lure (the movement of its tail). That said, it does not work on local birds who have caught on to the viper’s way. Instead, the horned viper will lure a migrating bird, particularly insectivorous birds. Their venom affecting amphibians and not birds, however, might suggest that toads are an important food source.