Some venomous snakes can bite and kill even when they're dead and decapitated

we're at the top of a hill and they come up here to lay eggs; i won't tolerate them in the fenced dog yard or chicken coops.

I try to split the head lengthwise, from snout to spine, before i chuck the snake in the swamp. that often expresses any remaining venom, and ruins all the mechanical linkages and leverage used to make the bite action work. even if those muscles contract again the result will not be nearly as dangerous.

"Beware the severed head" was something i heard way back when. I recall being told stories of using rattlesnake heads for mousetraps when i was a child. I've seen the reflex work, poking a dead snake with a stick; but I doubt movement will be possible for more than an hour or so.

The toxicity of the venom can last much longer, as TFA states.