The scabbard, which is designed to be slung to a saddle, is decorated with "piteado" embroidery, so-called from the use of maguey plant fiber, or "pita" as the thread. It is a traditional Mexican art and is very expensive to produce, as it is very time-consuming. A piteado belt, for example, could easily take a skilled artisan a week to make. Piteado work is considered a luxury or prestige item in Mexico. Incidentally, many piteado items produced today are decorated with marijuana leaf motifs, images of AK-47s and other tools of the drug trade, since drug lords and their soldiers are some of the few people in Mexico who can afford them.
In Mexican Spanish "vibora" means snake or more specifically rattlesnake. A good translation of the etched motto could be "When this snake bites you there is no remedy at the apothecary shop."
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