[vacri]

> particularly of those small, fast elusive ones you barely glimpse

How is taxonomy going to help you if you don't get enough identification time and don't have enough herpetology to identify the snake's species and genus in the first place? The vast majority of people don't use taxonomic terms: "Doctor, can you help me? I have a canis familiaris bite..."

[contingo]

Read my paragraph number two?

If you have absolutely no information about what bit you, diagnostics look at habitat, bitemark characteristics, venom reaction, and of course serological tests / enzyme immunological assay can be conclusive. Taxonomy is critical generally, if the patient doesn't have an ID it's not as if taxonomy becomes irrelevant.