Man Claims Snake Sealed In Jar Of Wine For Over A Year Survived And Bit Him When He Opened It

A man from China claims he got a nasty shock after being bitten by a venomous snake he had kept sealed in a jar of wine for more than a year.

The man had reportedly been keeping a trio of venomous snakes in a jar of medicinal wine in order to treat his son's chronic illness, resorting to the treatment after various other attempts had failed.

It is traditionally believed that snake wine, which is the product of putting venomous snakes into a jar of rice wine and leaving them to marinate for a long time, holds anti-inflammatory properties and works as a painkiller.

Fortunately, the man received treatment quickly and survived his bite from a venomous snake after a trip to hospital.

It is legal to drink snake wine in many countries, though importing it is often banned as many of the snakes stuffed into jars of wine are considered to be endangered species.

Since the alcohol used in the wine is so potent, snake wine is usually drunk with shot glasses.

Perhaps fortunately, nobody is expecting you to drink the snake along with the wine, especially if they can survive inside the jar and will be quite angry by the time they get out.

For the record, scientists have looked into the whole snake wine thing and and concluded that putting snakes into a jar of wine isn't at all medicinal and doesn't help you brew your own painkillers, denouncing the traditional practice as 'cruel, inhumane and useless'.

Snake wine can actually be quite dangerous, as in this case the snake can potentially survive for long periods of time and bite once the jar is opened, while there are also risks that they can pass on deadly parasites to the person drinking the wine.

It's possible that the jar of wine wasn't properly sealed, letting in enough air for the snake to survive for an improbably long time and lie in wait for the moment of freedom.

Snakes do hibernate in a process called brumation, where they conserve energy during the colder months. This is a potential suggestion for how this venomous critter survived so long inside a jar of wine.