On June 29, 2020, a man, Liu, sought excitement. With a few lighters, I lit Guantouling, which is located in the Beihai Sea of Guangzhou.
Although the fire was extinguished in time, it still caused a lot of damage. According to the official disclosure, the wildfire burned for a total of 6 hours, and the total burned area reached 6.4 hectares. The total volume of destroyed trees was 81.827 cubic meters, and the market value was about 15,735.7 yuan.
Fortunately, there were no casualties as a result of the wildfire. Unfortunately, after the firefighters extinguished the fire, they found a python in a shallow ditch that had been badly burned by the fire.
I saw that its lips were blackened, and its teeth were burned and fell out. The mouth can only be slightly opened, unable to close. The scales on his body were also burned off in many places.
Later, although the firefighters and some enthusiastic people moved it to a cool place as soon as possible, and called a veterinarian for it. But before the veterinarian arrived, he died of his injuries.
It is reported that this giant python, about 3 meters long and weighing about 60 pounds, is a first-class protected animal in the mainland, the Burmese python. Judging from the body type, it should have just become an adult.
After the incident, the arsonist Liu was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison. And the Burmese python, which died because of the fire, was also harmless.
Man-eating python
A 54-year-old villager named Jahrah in Sumatra, Indonesia, in October 2022. I went out to cut rubber and didn't come home for a few days.
In the end, it was found in the belly of a reticulated python about 7 meters long.
It can be seen from this that when the python grows to a certain length, it has the ability to eat people. Therefore, it is a good thing for us to properly eliminate them.
But if you think so, you couldn't be more wrong. Especially for the mainland, this may not be a good thing.
Exterminating pythons is not a good reason
Pythons can only eat up to a third of their body's food. If it grows longer, it will burst the stomach of the python, resulting in the death of the python.
That is to say, if the python wants to eat people, it must grow to about 6 meters at least. So far, the largest python found on the mainland is only 5 meters long, and it does not have the ability to eat people at all.
In addition, compared to the continent, which is full of wild protected animals. The presence of pythons may be able to effectively curb the frenzied growth of wild protected animals.
Take wild boars, for example. Since the wild boar became a protected animal of the "three haves" and hunting was banned, it began to grow wildly on the mainland.
So far, the number of wild boars on the mainland has exceeded 1.5 million. And every year, there will be millions of catties of grain, which are wasted by them.
In Hubei alone, the economic losses caused by wild boars reach more than 100 million yuan every year.
Therefore, in the modern era of banning hunting, biological control is particularly important and indispensable. In addition, the hunting and killing of the "three haves" at the national level should also not be punished by law and human interference.
And the predatory ability of the Burmese python is also very good. Except for adult wild boars, they can't do it. For them, the little boar is a crunchy eat.
Therefore, it is not a good thing that the Burmese python was burned in this wildfire. It is a serious damage to the integrity of the food chain in the local ecology.
In addition, the fire also foreshadowed the following three things, indicating the strong survival ability of the snake and the relentlessness of the fire
A foreshadowing of the Burmese python being burned to death
Snakes can survive in a low-oxygen environment
The burning of a fire will cause a large amount of air to be consumed in the surrounding area. When the concentration of oxygen in the surrounding air drops to 5%%, the person will suffocate to death.
And this python survived when all around it was overheated. It can be seen that snakes can survive in a low-oxygen environment.
Snakes are very tolerant to carbon monoxide
One of the leading causes of fire death is carbon monoxide poisoning. For every 1 kilogram of combustibles, 10-50 grams of carbon monoxide will be produced after combustion.
Carbon monoxide can also accumulate at lower levels, creating areas of localized high concentrations. And when this python was found, it was lying in a ditch.
Therefore, it is relatively in a region with a high concentration of carbon monoxide.
But the python did not die of suffocation due to inhaling large amounts of carbon monoxide. It can be seen that snakes are very tolerant to carbon monoxide.
Forest fires burn quickly
Although the python is large and looks bulky, it does not move slowly. It can reach 3-5 kilometers per hour and can move about 50 meters per minute.
Snakes also have buccal sockets that are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. In the range of 3-5 meters, it can be sensed even if the ambient temperature change range is only one thousandth.
But this python did not escape the ravages of the fire, which shows how quickly the forest fire burns.
epilogue
On the stage of nature, every life has its meaning and value. The incident of the Burmese python burned by the wildfire has made us deeply aware of the ruthless harm of fire.
We should learn from this incident and cherish and protect our ecological environment even more, so that every species can live in peace on the earth.
At the same time, it also allows us to reflect on the impact of human actions on nature, and strive to live in harmony with nature and jointly protect our beautiful home.
Only in this way can we avoid more tragedies and keep the Earth's ecosystems healthy and intact, leaving a green and vibrant legacy for our children and grandchildren. Let's work together for the future of our planet
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