Snakes are nature's most common reptiles, from the vast black water of the White Mountains to the majestic and magnificent Tianshan Mountains, from the inner Mongolian grasslands where the wind blows grass and low cattle and sheep to the extremely hot tropical rainforest of Hainan Island. There are all kinds of snake figures, even the arid desert, the vast Gobi, there are also traces of snakes.
When I was a child, the vegetation in our area was very good, the mountains and rivers were beautiful, and the scenery was beautiful. Rivers of all sizes form an oasis, with endless green weeds, birds in the sky, fish frogs in the water, hares and pheasants, rats and chestnuts, and the creepy snakes in the grass. As a snake with poisonous teeth, it is often daunting, and many people talk about the discoloration of the snake, the cold body, the meandering and crawling posture, the arrogance of spitting out tongues from time to time, eating rats and frogs swallowed alive, in short, it is very uncomfortable. But we have a person here named Golden Eagle, which is what a tiger and tiger name, eagle is the natural enemy of snakes, no wonder he is not afraid of snakes, there are people who are not afraid of snakes, but snakes are still afraid when they see him, panicked, and trembling.
Snakes are widely distributed, there are about two thousand species in the world, and there are hundreds of species in China, especially in the south, the types of snakes are more diverse, and the venom of snakes is more dangerous. There are also many kinds of snakes in our area, mainly cauliflower snakes, black snakes, white iron snakes, bald-tailed bungee snakes and so on. Later, after consulting various materials, I learned about these snakes and knew their real names. Cauliflower snake, scientific name cauliflower original spearhead viper, is a non-venomous snake, slender body, the overall appearance of vegetable green, cauliflower snake generally inhabits the water and grass abundant place, one to facilitate concealment, and to facilitate the capture of frogs. The black snake, scientifically known as the snake, is long and thick, and this snake has a dark black longitudinal stripe on the back of the snake, giving people a mighty feeling, poisonous but not powerful, inhabiting the mountain weeds, feeding on rats. The white iron snake, that is, the white snake, the scientific name is the white ridge snake, also known as the white line snake, the whole body is white, very rare.
Bald-tailed bungee snake, scientific name short-tailed viper, this snake grows in the hilly area of the loess of the mountain beam, can not be provoked, its body is short, there is no slender tail, the body to the tail is not continued, as if the tail is short, this snake is a highly venomous snake, it is not crawling forward, but the body is twisted up, jumping and jumping, very scary. It is said that there was a sheep herder in the village who went to the mountain to herd sheep, alarmed the bald-tailed trampoline snake, and was bitten to death on the spot.
The golden eagle was tall, sixty or seventy years old at the time. Legend has it that when he was a child, he was naughty and brave, and he dug out the eagle's nest, played with toads, caught snakes with his bare hands, and mastered rabbits to catch birds. Because there was a leg disease before, it is said that when he was young, he had a large abscess on his left leg, asked for medical treatment, long treatment was ineffective, very distressed, just when he wanted to saw this leg, one day a jianghu doctor came from the village, looked at his leg disease, sighed and said: "Your leg can be saved." But you need to eat the five poisons, the most important thing is to eat snake bile, snake meat, and eat raw." The five poisons refer to centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, geckos and toads, and these five poisonous animals are collectively known as the five poisons. Since then, he has embarked on the path of eating snakes, and he has not been able to harvest them until he is cured of his leg disease.
In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there is "A snake eats an elephant, and at the age of three comes out of its bones, and a gentleman obeys it, and has no heart disease." The records show that in ancient times, snakes were used as medicinal herbs to cure diseases. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that there are more than 70 prescriptions for the treatment of snakes, and snake skin, snake blood, snake head, snake eyes, snake molts, snake gall, snake liver, snake ointment, snake venom, etc. can be used in medicine. 、
Liu Zongyuan's "The Snake Catcher Says" once described it this way: "If You think of it as bait, you can have strong winds, cramps, fistulas, and boils, go to dead muscles, and kill three insects." "It is recorded that at that time, there were already special snake catchers in the Yongzhou area to offset taxes, although dangerous, but it was still passable."
The golden eagle is not afraid of snakes, and who in the village has a snake in the yard and house, the first thing that comes to mind is him, ask him to catch the snake. Villagers have a sense of awe for snakes, who finds snakes in the yard and dare not deal with them, he will take the initiative to come and be happy to help the villagers deal with them. Strange to say, the snake seems to be afraid of him, often tied hands and grabbed, with half the effort, and won a complete victory. When children encounter snakes in the wild, they always ask him to deal with them. Once, a few children in the village went to herd cattle, and suddenly felt that the flesh under their feet was soft and soft, and when they looked down, it turned out to be a black snake, and the child roared loudly and pulled his leg and ran. At this time, he just happened to encounter the golden eagle rushing the mule past, only to see that he was quick with his eyes, and grabbed this black snake that was one meter and five long in his hand, as the saying goes, "hit the snake seven inches", and he grabbed the tail of the snake, lifted it high, shook it in the air a few times, the snake suddenly quieted down, and then put the snake on the ground, the left foot stepped on the snake's head, the right foot on the snake's tail, at this time the snake's back arched high, like a stone arch bridge, he swooped down, bit the snake's back, began to suck the snake's blood, the black snake gradually weakened down and lay on the ground, and then he went to the snake's head, The snake skin was removed from the head, the stomach was disemboweled, the snake gall was taken out, and swallowed it in one bite, and a group of children who watched were stunned.
Snakes have a regular pattern of action: every day at about nine o'clock in the morning out of the cave to bask in the sun, it is said that someone has seen the golden eagle eat live snake, it was an autumn noon, he was cutting wheat in the field, suddenly a bungee snake came out, the golden eagle was not in a hurry, with a sickle to hit the snake's head, the snake was stunned, grabbed the snake with his hand, chewed the flesh of the raw skin, and even swallowed the bones together, leaving no trace. It is precisely because of his boldness and might, listening to the words of the jianghu doctor, often eating snakes, and the leg disease gradually improved.
Snakes are a sign of ecological balance, in elementary school, I once learned a text of "Snakes and Crops", snakes eat mice, increase grain production, people should protect snakes, care for snakes, maintain ecological balance. The sun and the moon are like shuttles, and the times have changed. Many years have passed, and the story of the hometown snake will always remain in the memory. The golden eagle has also long passed away, but the story of his catching snakes and eating snakes to cure his illness has been handed down and has become a topic that the villagers talk about after tea and dinner.
(Wang Yanfeng, Yang Xiuchuan)