The president need not be a trained herpetologist.

[cab67]

60. Coral snakes (which occur in Texas) aren't true vipers.

They're elapids related to cobras, mambas, and several Australasian forms (e.g. Pseudonaja, the Australian brown snake, which is unrelated to the completely harmless North American brown snake, Storeria).

Hognose snakes (also found in Texas) are also mildly venomous, and they're also not vipers. They're colubrids more closely related to garter snakes. But their venom is not dangerous to humans.

I know the term "viper" is sometimes used in a broader sense. I'm reacting as a herpetologist. (I did my graduate work at UT-Austin and greatly miss the reptiles from Texas.)

Lots of taxonomic words have multiple meanings. The best way I know to distinguish a seal from a sea lion is to bring a mammalogist along with me. If I say, "Ooh - look at the seal!" and don't get smacked in the back of my head, it really was a seal. I mean, it's not like I'd ever confuse a crocodile for an alligator, which should be a capital offense.

And as I said before, no snake should be demeaned through comparison with right-wing politicians. Vipers, like all snakes, are dignified creatures with a real role to play in the world.