Envenomation is the process by which venom is injected by the bite or sting of a venomous animal. Many kinds of animals, including mammals (e.g., the northern short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda), reptiles (e.g., the king cobra), spiders (e.g., black widows), insects (e.g., wasps), and fish (e.g., stone fish) employ venom for hunting and for self-defense. In particular, snakebite envenoming is considered a neglected tropical disease resulting in >100,000 deaths and maiming >400,000 people per year. Mechanisms Some venoms are applied externally, especially to sensitive tissues such as the eyes, but most venoms are administered by piercing the skin of the victim. Venom in the saliva of the Gila monster and some other reptiles enters prey through bites of grooved teeth. More commonly animals have specialized organs such as hollow teeth (fangs) and tubular stingers that penetrate the prey's skin, whereupon muscles attached to the attacker's venom reservoir squirt venom deep within the victim's body tissue. For example, the fangs of venomous snakes are connected to a venom gland by means of a duct. Death may occur as a result of bites or stings. The rate of envenoming is described as the likelihood of venom successfully entering a system upon bite or sting. Mechanisms of Snake Envenomation Snakes administer venom to their target by piercing the target's skin with specialized organs known as fangs. Snakebites can be broken into four stages; strike launch, fang erection, fang penetration, and fang withdrawal. Snakes have a venom gland connected to a duct and subsequent fangs. The fangs have hollow tubes with grooved sides that allow venom to flow within them. During snake bites, the fangs penetrate the skin of the target and the fang sheath, a soft tissue organ surrounding the fangs, is retracted. The fang sheath retraction causes an increase in internal pressures. This pressure differential initiates venom flow in the venom delivery system. Larger snakes have been shown to administer larger quantities of venom during strikes when compared to smaller snakes. Snake envenomation events are usually classified as either predatory or defensive in nature. Defensive envenomation events result in much larger quantities of venom being expelled into the target. Defensive envenomation can occur with 8.5 times greater venom flow rates and 10 times greater venom mass than predatory strikes. The need to quickly neutralize a target during a defensive strikes explains these higher venom quantities. Predatory strikes are quite different than defensive