At 15:36 on June 22, 2017, a purple howling bird grabbed a small snake and fed it to the baby birds in the nest. Video screenshots
At 19:09 on July 29, 2017, a big snake came and ate all the small birds. Video screenshots
A mother bird grabbed a small snake and fed it to the baby birds in the nest, and a month later, a big snake came and ate all the small birds... This video taken in the field in Zhejiang was first published at the "Spring Water Like Blue - Qiantang River Poetry Road Video Exhibition" exhibited at the Zhejiang Exhibition Center, which has aroused many people to watch and discuss in recent days.
In the exhibition area showing the landscape and animal and plant images of the Qiantang River Basin, the audience can see two sets of videos playing on the screen through a "tree hole" shaped installation. The video was shot by the same surveillance camera, aimed at the same nest, on June 22, 2017 and July 29, 2017, respectively, with an interval of almost a month.
In the first video, 1 minute and 30 seconds, you can see a blue-black bird, grabbing a small snake with a black pattern, feeding the 3 birds in the nest. A month later, in another video of 8 minutes and 50 seconds, a large snake crawled into the nest and swallowed the 3 newborn birds one by one, while the big birds flew around, only to watch and dare not come closer.
The audience who visited the exhibition will stand in front of the "tree hole" for a long time, competing to "peep" the video, and after watching it, they have speculated whether this is a "revenge". Someone else said, "It looks so cruel, the snake is really bad." ”
The video was filmed in the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve of Kaihua, Zhejiang, at the source of the Qiantang River, and was provided by Chen Shengwen, a staff member of the Scientific Research and Monitoring Center of the Qianjiangyuan National Park Administration.
Chen Shengwen, a 55-year-old Kaihua man, graduated from The Hangzhou Garden Technical School in 1985 and came to Gutianshan as a ranger at the age of 23, and has been rooted here ever since, knowing every plant, tree, bird and beast here.
Lao Chen introduced that in the spring of 2017, he found a bird's nest on the mountain next to the road near Gutianshan Waterfall, just on the rock wall, about 2.5 meters above the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was found that it was the nest of the purple howlingbird, and an egg had been laid in it.
In order to facilitate monitoring, he specially applied for the installation of a surveillance camera not far away, which can capture the biological habits and brooding growth of the purple howling bird in real time.
"The purple howling bird likes to nest on cliffs and cliffs, usually laying 3 eggs at a time, and despite its small size, it is a meat lover." Lao Chen said that the purple howling plover mainly feeds on insects and insect larvae, and sometimes also preys on small snakes, frogs, mice, etc., and occasionally eats wild fruits and seeds.
Old Chen was about to go to the monitoring room to check the video, and when he was looking through the video, he accidentally found these two rare pictures.
"From the video, the purple howling bird feeds the little snake is the first nest of chicks, and a month later, when the snake comes, the first nest of 3 has flown away, this is the second nest, it is also 3, much smaller than before." Old Chen said.
The video made him feel both regret and excitement. "That big snake is a black-browed snake, and it is not easy to capture the image of the snake."
"Gutianshan National Nature Reserve belongs to Qianjiangyuan National Park, where rare animals such as white-necked pheasants and black chamois live, in order to monitor and protect these animals, we have installed infrared automatic cameras since 2001, and there are currently more than 300 infrared cameras on the mountain, and the monitoring range covers most of the protected areas." Lao Chen said that infrared cameras are difficult to capture snake activities because it is a cold-blooded animal and cannot be triggered by infrared camera induction.
Did the snake come for revenge? Old Chen smiled and said, "This should just be a coincidence." Birds catch small snakes, snakes eat small birds, this is the law of nature's weak and strong eating, no one can stop it. ”
Last night, the reporter also sent the video to Liu Baoquan, a wildlife expert and director of the Wetland and Wildlife Monitoring Division of the Zhejiang Forest Resources Monitoring Center. He looked at it and said, "This is certainly not revenge." ”
Director Liu said: "In the first video, the purple whistlebird is likely to be the young snake of the purple gray snake, while in the second video, the chick is eaten by the black eyebrow snake, which is two different snakes. ”
Director Liu introduced that the purple gray brocade snake, the back of the copper color, the back of the body tail has more than 10 stripes such as saddle-shaped light black horizontal spots, the abdomen jade white; black eyebrow brocade snake, there is a clear black stripe behind the eyes, the front and middle of the body back have black trapezoidal or butterfly stripes, the temperament is relatively rough, the adaptability is strong, like to eat rodents, birds. Neither snake is venomous.
"Snakes don't understand what revenge is, and everyone doesn't have to make up such a plot." Director Liu said that snakes will lay eggs on grass and soft soil, snake eggs look like elongated trumpet ping-pong balls, after laying eggs, they do not care, unlike birds to hatch eggs and feed, small snakes can survive on their own. "When snakes are young, they also face natural enemies, such as the purple howlingbird; when they grow up, they become natural enemies of other animals."
"This is the biological chain, which happens every day in nature, without feeling cruel, it is the law of nature, which should be respected and protected." Director Liu said.
"Spring Water Is Blue - Qiantang Jiangshi Road Video Exhibition" is being exhibited at the Zhejiang Exhibition Hall, and the exhibition period has been extended to May 6, 2021, and is free to the public.
You can see this video in the second unit "Seeing mountains and looking at water" exhibition area. This exhibition area focuses on the landscape and animal and plant images of the Qiantang River Basin, as well as a wealth of interactive experiences, which is very suitable for children to watch. This "May Day" holiday, take your children to see it!