The author of this article, Starbucks, the first Chinese who went deep into Africa to explore the cause of wild conservation, an expert on the global protected area friendship system, the author of "Guardian Lions", and the protagonist of the documentary "Lion Heart".
Since childhood, I have loved all kinds of snakes, especially poisonous snakes, but it is difficult to see snakes in Africa, and encountering snakes is something that cannot be found. This year, because of the epidemic, I can't go back to Africa, and the idea of going to the wild in China has become a reality, hoping to contribute the experience of 10 years of front-line wildlife protection in Africa to China's wildlife conservation cause, and strive for more social forces to support China's biodiversity conservation. I overheard that there are often five-step snakes and bamboo leaf green snakes in the Jiulong peak area of Huangshan Mountain, Anhui Province, so I made plans to visit Jiulong Peak on September 2, hoping to find these two highly venomous snakes, understand their habitat and react to close contact with humans.
The five-step snake (Deinagkistrodon acutus) and the bamboo leaf green (Trimeresurus stejnegeri) are both more common venomous snakes in southern China. Relatively speaking, the bamboo leaf green snake is more common, widely distributed, and is also the venomous snake that causes the most bites. The five-step snake belongs to the viper subfamily Viper genus, also known as the Viper, mainly distributed in Guizhou, Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian and other places, from the topographic point of view, the habitat of the five-step snake extends from Dalou Mountain to Wuyi Mountain in the south of the Yangtze River, including Wuling Mountain, Xuefeng Mountain, Nanling, Huangshan, Tianmu Mountain and other mountainous areas. Bamboo leaf green belongs to the viper subfamily Bamboo leaf green snake genus, also known as green bamboo Biao, mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan and other places, in India, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and other countries are also distributed.
Topographic map of China's mountain ranges
The snake venom of both snakes belongs to the blood circulation toxin, and after a person is bitten, the wound will have severe pain, bleeding, causing rapid swelling, skin necrosis, and spread to other parts of the body. Relatively speaking, the venom of the five-step snake is much stronger than that of bamboo leaf green, and if it is not treated in time, it will be life-threatening.
In terms of habitat, the five-step snake prefers to live on the more open and open ground in the forest, does not like to grow grass, does not like to climb trees, and has little demand for water, rarely appearing in rivers or streams. Bamboo leaf green is much more dependent on water sources, often appearing in trees, bushes, bamboo forests, rock crevices or rocks in rivers by the river.
Figure丨 Five-step snake
In order to learn more about these two poisonous snakes, I specially visited Huang Feng of the Huangshan Snake Research Institute, he is very familiar with the local venomous snakes, especially the five-step snake, I began to know the story of Huang Feng because of the CCTV documentary "Looking for the Poisonous Five-Step Snake", I saw the five-step snake and the round spot viper he bred, and their aggressiveness was extremely impressive. Huang Feng's father, Huang Jietang, is a well-known five-step snake research expert in China and was a member of the IUCN Species Survival Committee Amphibian and Reptile China Expert Group, making great contributions to the field of snake injury prevention and control in China.
Picture 丨Zhang Rong, Huang Feng, Starbucks, Haohua
Jiulongfeng Nature Reserve is a public welfare protected area managed by the Taohuayuan Foundation, located in the western part of The Huangshan Scenic Area in Anhui Province, with an area of 40 square kilometers, established in 2018, including the Huangshan Jiulongfeng Provincial Nature Reserve and the Yanghu Lake Conservation Area.
Rangers at the Kowloon Peak Conservation Area perform weekly walking patrols and often stumble upon five-step snakes and bamboo leaf greens. One of the rangers, Chang Zhaoqian, was called Lao Chang, who had worked here for nearly 30 years and was well aware of the terrain, vegetation and birds and animals of the reserve, especially the snakes, and he could perceive snakes in the vicinity of the area where he passed. I followed him on two patrol lines, one in daylight, sunny, about 11.6 kilometers long, and needed to cross two large mountains, about 11.6 kilometers long, from the mouth of the village to the gate of the reserve.
While crossing a stream, the patrol encountered a bamboo leaf green hanging from a branch, sub-adult, about 60 cm long. I often found it first and then beckoned me to see, it did not move at first, I was only 30 centimeters away from it did not react, until I used a long pole miniature camera to approach it about 6 centimeters, but the range of action is not large, not a single active attack, more in dodging, it jumped directly from the branch into the river, swimming very fast. This was the first time I saw Zhuyeqing and I was very impressed. The other was a night watch, it didn't rain, after 20:30 the walk was only 2.2 km long, but most of it was slowly traveling among the rocks in the river, and a snake was found in the waterhole by the waterfall, which began to move 3 meters away from us, swimming very fast. Because the vision is not good at night, it is not clear what snake it is, but it can be determined that it is not a five-step snake or bamboo leaf green.
Picture丨 Patrol in the middle of the inspection of infrared trigger cameras, Wang Xianqiang, Zhang Rong, Chang Zhaoqian, Starbucks, Haohua (from left to right)
Figure丨 Starbucks approach bamboo leaf green
Tu Shu Pan was motionless on the tree
Pictured on a rock by the water's edge
Jump into the water and start swimming
The second time in Kowloon Peak found that the snake was next to the clear water pool, or a bamboo leaf green, adult, about 80 cm long, it began to lie on a rock, the head to the gap in the rock side, next to the water flowing through, obviously a good place to wait for the rabbit. I started testing the safe distance from it, and in the first stage I approached it from 70 cm away until the distance of 50 cm and it didn't react at all. In the second stage, I approached it with a long-pole camera, the nearest distance was less than 2 centimeters, it was still unresponsive, very "steady", until I swung around it several times, its head began to shake slightly, and kept sticking out the red letter, so that for 16 seconds, it began to move towards the gap between the water flow and the rock, not fast. At this time, I grabbed its tail with my left hand, and with my right hand, I held the long pole to pick up the front end of its body, so that it could be closer to me and facilitate close observation, but this step should be particularly careful, and it was necessary to make sure that its head stayed on the long pole, so that it could calculate its attack range to avoid being bitten. At first it kept twisting its body, and after 20 seconds, it calmed down a little, about 6-7 seconds, and I asked my companion to take a video and then put it back on the rock, and it didn't stop but moved quickly to dive into the stream. The whole time I approached Bamboo Leaf Green, it didn't attack my movements once.
Tu Shu was motionless on the rocks in the water
Figure 丨 Starbucks test with bamboo leaf green response to people
Through these two encounters with Zhu Yeqing, the reaction of snakes to human approach in different scenarios was tested and found
Zhu Yeqing's active aggression is not high, and the instinct is to avoid humans as much as possible, unless the distance is too close, so that it has nowhere to escape, or accidentally touches it with its hand and steps on it with its feet, it is likely to attack.
Compared with Zhuyeqing, the Protobothrops jerdonii I found in the Laohegou Nature Reserve in Sichuan province was much more aggressive, attacking my long-pole camera 12 times in 30 seconds, and the attack speed was fast and the attack power was also very strong. Bamboo leaf green and cauliflower protosthesis viper are very similar in habitat, close to the water, but the altitude is different, cauliflower proto-spearhead viper habitat is higher, usually between 1350 m and 3160 m. In terms of appearance, bamboo leaf green is thinner and shorter than the cauliflower original spearhead viper.
Picture 丨 Cauliflower original spearhead viper in a rock crevice
Figure丨 The state of preparation for attack
Figure丨 Cauliflower original spearhead pit viper attack instantly
Bamboo leaf green usually lives in the mountains below 2000 meters above sea level, and the environment they inhabit is directly related to the environment in which they eat (frogs, lizards, rats). Male bamboo leaf green average body length of 70 cm, female bamboo leaf green is longer, the average body length of 90 cm.
Many people confuse bamboo leaf green and emerald green snake, in fact, the two snakes have obvious differences in appearance: bamboo leaf green head and neck fine distinction is obvious, the tail is pale red, careful observation can be distinguished at a distance, and bamboo leaf green is highly poisonous, while emerald green snake is non-venomous.
Most people are afraid of snakes, this fear comes from human instincts, which should be helpful for the survival of snakes, so that people will take the initiative to keep a distance from snakes, but also many people because they do not understand snakes, will kill snakes because of disgust for snakes, or because of profit and a large number of snakes, resulting in fewer and fewer snakes, resulting in frequent rat infestations and other ecological disasters. Snakes are not valued enough compared to mammals, and their importance in ecosystems is vastly underestimated.
Precautions for frequent walking in the wild:
Wear high-top outdoor shoes, gloves, and a hat
It is important to wear leg guards, preferably in a cowhide texture, not only against snake bites, but also against ant bites.
There are hiking poles or long sticks, and "striking grass snakes" is effective for most snakes.
Always pay attention to observe the way forward, especially when passing through dense weeds and bushes, not only to look at the feet, but also to observe the situation on the head, some snakes such as bamboo leaf green like arboreals.
When walking, pay attention to the back foot, so that the front foot can be pulled back in time when it meets the snake.
Don't just stick your hand into the grass or bushes with a bad view to grab branches, so as not to be bitten by snakes.
Pay special attention to the presence of snakes when passing through rock piles by the river or in the jungle.
Know when snakes are active: Most snakes leave the cave during the day to go out, usually between 10:00 a.m. and 5 p.m., and during the summer heat, between 12:00 p.m. and 14:00 p.m. Some snakes such as five-step snakes, bamboo leaf green, golden ring snakes, silver ring snakes, etc. like to go out at night, in general, the time of snake activity is related to the activity time of their predators.
Snakes mostly live in sunny caves, rain and sunshine is the peak time for snakes to leave the cave to go out, this kind of weather should pay attention to snake prevention.
The most suitable temperature range for snakes is 10-30 degrees Celsius, summer and autumn are the "active season" of snakes, feeding and breeding are carried out during this period, and the late autumn and early winter to the spring of the following year are hibernating periods.