Five poisons specifically refer to "poisonous snakes, centipedes, scorpions, toads and geckos", don't look at the centipede is small, but it is a carnivore, small birds and beasts are its recipes, even highly poisonous snakes It is not afraid.
The "exotic pet" market has always existed, and there are many "alien" people who are particularly fond of all kinds of strange and highly toxic animals.
For example, centipedes, poisonous snakes, beetles, ants, cockroaches, poisonous frogs, black widow spiders, etc., are frequently intercepted by customs officers everywhere. No, just recently, Haikou Customs in Hainan successfully intercepted 5 centipedes.
The centipede intercepted this time is not ordinary, it bears the title of "largest, longest and most poisonous" in the world's centipede world, it is the "Galapagos giant centipede".
The giant centipede is worthy of the name, the 5 intercepted this time are still juveniles, it reaches 15~20 cm long, if it grows up healthy, the longest can reach 46 cm, the average person sees, it is estimated to faint on the spot.
So, how poisonous is it? The rooster eats centipedes like "spicy strips", is it afraid of giant centipedes?
How poisonous is the Galapagos giant centipede?
At present, more than 7,800 kinds of centipedes have been found in the world, among which the Galapagos giant centipede stands out and wins the crown.
How long is it? General centipedes, adult individuals are generally between 10~20cm, while Galapagos giant centipedes adult individuals can reach 46cm, and some people have also captured 62cm long, which is very rare.
How big is it? Judging from the largest record captured, its thickness is almost catching up with the forearm of an adult, and ordinary people will be terrified when they see it.
Focus on its toxicity.
Galapagos giant centipedes come from the Galapagos Islands in South America, parts of Ecuador and southern Peru. It is brownish black throughout, with 21~23 pairs of thick legs, and the legs have tufted and sharp hard spines.
It has a short temper and strong fighting power, and when it attacks its prey, it holds each other with its legs, as firm as pincers. The first pair of legs below its head is its fangs, as long as the prey is held by it, the fangs immediately follow, and the prey has no room to breathe.
The giant centipede has sufficient venom reserves, and it is more powerful than the poisonous snake, which belongs to a comprehensive toxin combining cytotoxicity, nerve poison and heart poison. On the "five poisons" toxicity ranking, centipede toxicity has the fastest effect.
In 2018, the Center for Strong Magnetic Field Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Kunming Institute of Zoology jointly studied the predation efficiency of gold-headed centipedes, and gold-headed centipedes can disable mice 15 times larger than themselves and die in 30 seconds.
Therefore, the giant centipede fights with fearless venom, it is domineering, and in its field of activity, there are few natural enemies. As a carnivore, the rest of the "four poisons" can become its food, and even birds and bats in the sky are its hunting objects.
For example, biologists once observed giant centipedes preying on bats in the Amazon jungle. At that time, the giant centipede was hanging upside down with several hind legs at the mouth of the cave edge, and when it waited for the bat to fly past it, it hugged the bat tightly with other legs suspended upside down, and then quickly bit the bat's head with its fangs, and in less than 30 seconds, the bat died.
Another example is that a biologist had the pleasure of seeing the spectacle of a giant centipede vs a coral snake in 2014. At that time, the 20-centimeter-long coral snake swallowed the 15-centimeter-long giant centipede, and as a result, the giant centipede continued to gnaw the internal organs of the coral snake, and then broke the hole and the snake died tragically. Coral snakes are highly venomous snakes, and giant centipedes can still be leveled.
Giant centipedes are still rare centipedes that can directly cause death. For example, in 2014, a 4-year-old Venezuelan child was unfortunately bitten by a giant centipede, and although he was sent to the hospital in time, it was still too late.
Can roosters be poisoned by eating Galapagos giant centipedes?
Friends from the countryside have been more or less dominated by the "rural three tyrants" (big geese, roosters and big yellow dogs), among which the rooster is an omnivorous bird, pecking is only its entertainment, and it eats centipedes like "spicy strips", which is its strength.
The author once when playing under the eaves, I was dominated by the terrifying centipede, but I didn't expect that as soon as I ran away, the rooster went head-on, and before the centipede resisted, the rooster pecked the centipede and swallowed it alive, and after that, the rooster didn't do anything.
At that time, I considered the rooster an "idol" so much that every time I ate chicken, I had to eat two more pieces.
Speaking of centipede toxins, most of them are actually similar to the toxins of poisonous snakes, they are all a special protein, mainly composed of active proteases, amino acids, small molecule peptides, etc.
In addition, centipedes also have a small amount of non-protein toxins, mainly squalene, phospholipids, free fatty acids, etc., which is the key to accelerating the spread of toxins.
Therefore, for the toxin of centipedes to be effective, it must be transmitted by blood, and wounds and subcutaneous injections are the transmission routes. Therefore, it has to bite its prey with its fangs in order to inject venom into the other party.
The Lapaggs Giant Centipede is very toxic and has extraordinary combat power, if the rooster meets it, will the rooster be poisoned?
The rooster has no teeth, only a hard beak, and it swallows food raw. Once the rooster finds the centipede, it will pounce and peck, and the centipede's flesh cannot carry the rooster's pointed beak, and it is quickly pecked to pieces.
The centipede wants to resist, but the rooster has thick and rich feathers, and even if it bites the rooster, the venom cannot penetrate into the rooster's skin to produce an effect.
In addition, the centipede can only swim on the ground and grapple with the rooster, and it bites the rooster's foot, which is the only way to defeat the rooster. However, the horns of the rooster are covered with a thick cuticle layer, and it is estimated that before it bites it, it will become the rooster's "superb spicy strip".
At the same time, after the rooster swallows the poisonous centipede, there will be no poisoning reaction. This is because chickens have a special enzyme in their stomachs that has strong protein-breaking ability and can easily break down centipede's toxins.
Even if the rooster has ulcers from the mouth, throat to stomach, and is accidentally injected with toxins by centipedes, the rooster is fine. After all, the rooster's ability to digest toxins is still very strong.
For example, chickens often eat hard stones, in fact, it does not love to eat, but grinds the food in the stomach through stones. From this point of view, the rooster's "iron stomach" is not ordinary.
In fact, nature pays attention to one thing descending one thing, and the rooster against the centipede is suppressed with the attribute of natural enemy. In addition, the rooster is competitive and likes to show in front of the hen, and when it meets the centipede, the "desire to win or lose" that has nowhere to place directly scares the centipede into the seam, which belongs to the proper "king" to "bronze" level.
Fans who have watched "Ghost Blowing Lantern Angry Qingxiangxi" should know that the "Nu Qing Chicken" inside is very strong, although the body size is not as good as the six-winged centipede, but the Nu Qing Chicken still hangs it, a few scattered chicken feathers, it can be regarded as Nu Qing Chicken leaving thin noodles for the six-winged centipede.
Therefore, even if the rooster encounters the world's "longest, largest and most venomous" Lapags giant centipede, it can easily handle it. Poisoning? It is impossible.
The Rapagus giant centipede that was intercepted this time was used to make wine? Or be a pet? Or do you want to develop a "miracle medicine"?
The "five poisons" can be used in medicine, and in different pathologies, it has special curative effects. In the mainland's traditional Chinese medicine treasures "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" and other famous books, there are records of centipedes in medicine.
At the same time, in addition to toads, many people also use centipedes, vipers, scorpions and geckos to make wine. This kind of medicinal wine, fighting poison with poison, is favored by some people.
Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the 5 giant centipedes intercepted this time were used by someone to make wine.
In addition, many "exotic pet" people also ask questions on a platform, has anyone ever had the experience of raising a Lapags giant centipede? Another person replied that he knew many people who raised giant centipedes. Some people in the comments said, "I really want one." "I really don't understand why "exotic pet" people raise such a dangerous centipede.
It is not ruled out that unknown scientific research institutions want to study what viruses or "miracle drugs", take the gold-headed centipede above to bite the mice within 30 seconds, it cracks the gold-headed centipede venom contains potassium channel inhibitor toxins, which can quickly cause prey brain, lung and heart dysfunction. This discovery will also help the clinical treatment of serious symptoms such as myocardial failure caused by centipede bite poisoning.
generally
Whether it is as a sparkling wine, exotic pet or research and development, before the real cause is understood, customs officers encounter any "invasive alien species", which must be forcibly intercepted.