viper

In June, Mumbai customs intercepted two passengers arriving from Thailand with dozens of venomous vipers and more than 100 other creatures, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums, also arriving from Thailand.

The white was ox-eye daisies, bladder campion and wild carrot, with spires of bright blue from viper's bugloss.

Confronting her audience, she scolded: "I'll tell you something about my good name / It's mine alone to disgrace / I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing."

In 2019, officials at the Chennai airport seized a horned pit viper snake, five Iguanas, four blue-tongued skinks, three green tree frogs and 22 Egyptian tortoises from a man travelling from Thailand.

The other class of snake – the vipers – rely more on haemotoxins, which attack the blood, rather than neurotoxins.