A Chinese chef was poisoned by a severed snake head while preparing a special meal requiring it as an ingredient. The snake's head seemed to have an involuntary muscle reaction that caused the fatal biting incident in the jaw muscles.
Peng Fan had done the recipe so many times, but the chopped head bit him this time. He never thought it would bite since he already cut the head off. A soup made from these poisonous snakes is sought after in Southern China, but it finally turned deadly for a chef like Fan.
Severed snake head bites chef
The Chinese chef came from Foshan, where it was on his restaurant's menu of unusual and dangerous dishes for connoisseurs, but this would be the last time Fan would prep it, reported the Daily Star.
It was usual to lop the head of a deadly Indochinese Spitting Cobra. It took him 20 minutes to cook the soup and clean up. It was still alive when he was about to throw the head, and it sank its fangs into him, injecting the venom. The venom of a spitting cobra is very potent and fatal for its victims.
Cobra venom has neurotoxins that will kill anyone or thing bitten in just 30 minutes. It will paralyze and affect the respiratory system that prevents breathing. A bite is usually non-fatal if the anti-venom is given asap, noted Livescience.
One of the guests in the restaurant is Lin Sun, 44, who was celebrating his wife's birthday when they noticed a commotion in the kitchen. The Chinese chef bit by a severed snake head was the source of the disturbance, noted the Daily Record.
Sun said that he heard screaming coming from the kitchen that caught his attention. They heard that a man needed a doctor during the commotion, but the medical assistance arrived late, and the chef died. He did not finish their diner due to the incident.
According to a police official, the last recorded death due to a snake bite was in 2014. It was not common what happened to Chef Fan since he had a complication from the bit that killed him. If medics gave the anti-venom earlier, he could have lived, but it was not the case.
Horror of chef killed by snake bite 20 minutes after chopping its head offhttps://t.co/ZiZM1Peidd pic.twitter.com/4tlNJcEscV
— Daily Star (@dailystar) August 24, 2021
How can a dead snake still bite?
Many experts say that snakes and reptiles can make involuntary movements, even after kill for an hour.
One expert explained that the snake head was still alive when it bit the chef. It further explains that after getting its head chopped off, it ceases essential functions when still alive but can do reactive action. Despite being severed from the body, Peng never realized that a dead snakehead could bite and pump venom.
Certain cultures believe that snake meat has magical properties that lead to killing them for food to near extinction. A spitting cobra does not usually bite its victim and will prefer to spit venom at a distance, not bite.
They will attack from 9-feet away and target the eyes to incapacitate their prey. It will only spit at a moving face, not to any other movement, and its venom can blind too. Such snakes are sharpshooters, with black-necked spitting cobras having good aim hitting 8 out of 10 victims, but the Mozambique cobras are very accurate hitting the eye every time, noted Livescience.
Most people know snakes are lethal, those with venom, but the Australian Inland Taipan kills in 30-minutes. The Chinese chef, bitten and poisoned by a severed snake head, did not realize his fatal mistake until it caused his life.
