Chapter 11 eleven sea snakes

Playing with snakes?Roger was not enthusiastic about the idea. They don't look like good playmates, he said, but I don't think they can do anything to me either. I really don't know why you think this way, Hal said, of course, there are many kinds of sea snakes, some sea snakes always shy away from people.But the sea snakes in the Great Barrier Reef are not so timid and gentle. They are big. The sea snakes outside seem to be more than three meters long. They want to bite you.It is said that their ancestors are the same as the ancestors of cobras and kraits.No matter what kind of sea snake, the toxicity is equivalent to fifty times that of the king cobra.

Then why are you kidding with them? Because one of our most important tasks here is to collect poisonous snakes for the Institute. What does the research institute want poisonous snakes for? Extract snake venom.You already know how they extract the venom from the snakes.After obtaining the snake venom, they use it to make antivenom to treat people who have been bitten by snakes.They also extract toxins from sea snakes, fish, jellyfish, sea leeches, and many other sea creatures to develop medicines for various diseases.To my knowledge, no one has ever collected venomous organisms in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

Roger understood.I understand what you mean, he said, let's go.What method is used to hunt and kill sea snakes? We don't kill them, we capture them alive.If it is killed, the venom will be broken before we send the sea snake to the research institute. Roger leaned forward to observe those sea snakes, you said, their grandpa is a cobra, but I don't think they look much like a cobra.Look, their tails are broad and flat.And, how could they be descended from cobras?Cobras are land snakes. These are also terrestrial snakes, which used to be.Once upon a time, they lived on land.Later, for some reason, they prefer to move to the sea.

How do you know this? We know this because sea snakes have lungs and no gills.They breathe air.Although they can stay underwater for long periods of time, sometimes hours, they still have to surface to breathe. But, Roger asked, how do you explain that land snakes don't have such broad tails? Well, Hal said, think of dolphins, they used to walk around on land, but since they got to the sea, their feet gradually evolved into fins, and their tails gradually widened and flattened, so that they can walk in the water. Freedom of movement.Those broad, flat tails of sea snakes are powerful paddles that enable them to swim at incredible speeds through the water.

At this time, many sea snakes came.Some snakes were scurrying up on the jeep, as if trying to snatch the two delicious morsels from the jeep.Their fangs smacked the glass with a crackling sound. Think about it, Hal said, and I reckon you'd better stay in the jeep. Roger boldly said: Never.If you can take the risk, so can I.He has bid farewell to the time when he was treated as a baby by the whole family.He was big enough for his age, and almost as strong as his brother. Well, said Hal reluctantly, but do you catch snakes? Of course it will, grabbing the place on the back of its head.

And hold on, don't let go, Hal added, they're so strong, they'll wriggle out of your hand and maybe bite you. Enough preaching, said Roger, let's go. They swam outside through the hatch.The sea snakes wandered around, perhaps, they had never seen this kind of sea monster before, and they were a little scared.However, they are curious and, perhaps, hungry.They can attack all kinds of sea creatures, big and small, don't they dare to mess with these two sea monsters? They swim around with their mouths open, rapidly extending and retracting their forked tongues.Their hollow, venom-filled teeth are not as flat as those of some snakes.They are as sharp as the teeth of a cobra.

These were apparently several different species of sea snakes, and they huddled together in a spectacular way.There are those with yellow bellies, those with yellow rings on a brown base, those with black rings on a yellow base, and a kind of snake whose skin is dazzlingly blue. The two children had seen many snakes in their father's zoo, and they had a high appreciation for their beauty.In Africa, they have also caught live snakes, but never under the sea.These fellows slipped about under the water with such ease; two boys who had not spent aeons under the blue waters could not help but be ashamed of their clumsiness, they were their air-breathing relatives!Of course, very distant, distant relatives.

The sea snakes huddled around the two children in groups, staring at them with round eyes.Why do their eyes look so scary?Roger's answer is that since they never blink, they don't have eyelids.They don't have ear holes either, they hear, or rather feel, with their tongues.That flickering tongue looked dangerous, but Roger knew that even a poisonous snake's tongue was harmless.Snakes usually listen for sounds with their tongues, which are as sensitive to all sounds as the nerve that grows in the lateral line of fish. After examining the two monsters well, a big snake decided to try his luck.It rammed it head-on, bit Hal's crotch with its fangs, sprayed a little venom on the pants, and then waited for the big monster to fall dead.He thought the trousers were the skin of a great monster, and his fangs must have bitten through it.And according to all the common sense of the subjects of the snake kingdom, the poison should start to spread to the whole body at this time, causing convulsions, and then death came.

The sea snake was of course very surprised to see that the result of the matter was not as it expected.Suddenly, it felt something caught in the back of its head near its throat, almost suffocating it. Hal quickly pulled the sea snake off his trousers and stuffed it into a plastic bag he brought with him. The snake writhed violently. Three more snakes rushed over, and Hal put them into plastic bags one by one.Roger hasn't had any snakes yet. At this moment, Roger found that he could not move his right leg, maybe he was bitten but didn't feel it. He was so frightened that his whole body was cold, and he tried to move his legs again.No doubt he had been bitten and his leg was numb.The numbness would spread rapidly, and soon he would not be able to move a muscle, and then the terrible pain would begin.

Now, although he can't move his right leg, he can swim with his left leg.After a while, the left leg would turn its back on him too.He began to regret that he had been so self-righteous just now, that he should have followed his brother's advice and stayed in the Jeep. He reached down to grab his right leg, and to his surprise, he felt the pressure of his fingers, so the leg wasn't numb at all. So, what went wrong with it?Got tangled in seaweed? It was not easy to see through the mask, but he finally saw the feet below him and found the reason for the numbness in his legs. One is about two.A seven-meter snake bit his flippers, its fangs embedded in the rubber.

Roger tried to kick off the snake, but it was so big that its weight alone was enough to stiffen the legs. He slapped the unwanted guest hard with the other flipper, then tried to scrape it off with the flipper.The sea snake bites like a cruel and merciless Grim Reaper. He reached down and grabbed the snake's neck and pulled it. The sea snake was pulled away, but a piece of the duck foot was bitten off. The sea snake hopped so hard that Roger could barely get a hold of it.Hal saw it all, and swam across with the sack, but before he could reach his brother, the snake clung tightly to Roger's arm.Fortunately, sea snakes are not boa constrictors, anacondas, or boa constrictors, and have no habit of wrapping their victims to death. To do murder, it relies on its fangs. Roger was trying to yank the sea snake off with his other hand, when Hal came along to help.The two children pulled the black and yellow snake roll with all their strength.The sea snake finally let go, and Roger stuffed it into the plastic bag. But when he let go of the snake's neck, the snake's head twisted and a fang grazed his hand. It was just a scratch, and Roger didn't care at all.Finally, he stuffed the pest safely into his pocket, and he was greatly relieved. Hal put his hand on Roger's arm and dragged him into the jeep. let me see.Hal said. nothing.Roger said. I have to see if there is anything to do. Just a scratch and lo and behold. A drop of blood seeped from the scratch. Hal wiped off the blood, sucked hard on the slight scrape with his mouth, and spat out what came out.He sucked it again and again, his face turned blue. You are redundant.Roger said. Not sure, Hal said, not enough venom in you to kill you, but probably very bad.If only we could have some antivenom.However, no antiserum has been developed for this snake venom. I thought you did. My antiserum is for land snake venom, not sea snake venom.If only you waited until we sent these sea snakes to the research institute and brought back some anti-sea snake venom before giving them bites. Well, you are too anxious. Hal's words sounded like a joke, but he was extremely anxious in his heart.Over the scratch on Roger's wrist, he had tied a piece of string tightly as a tourniquet.Every half hour, he had to loosen the tourniquet.The treatment of mouth and hands is also continuing. I'm nothing, Roger said, except I'm a little loose in my legs. Hal looked at his brother worriedly, which was a sign of the beginning of poisoning.He said. It's not that the hands are inflexible, it's the legs. It started like that, Hal said, and it was funny, the wound was on the hand and the snake venom made the leg stiff.What's going on here?After a while, the stiffness will slowly spread from bottom to top to the whole body. Maybe, I'd better move my legs to keep them supple. Don't move, lie down obediently.I think I'd better take you back to the house and put you in bed. You're making a fuss without a bed. However, Hal had already sat on the bridge, turned on the horsepower, and let the jeep drive quickly to the city.When he got home, he helped Roger undress and lie on the bed. At this time, the stiffness has spread to the neck, and continues to spread to the upper and lower chin, which will cause the jaw to close tightly.Roger was already having a hard time talking, he said he could barely swallow, but he had to swallow something, he was thirsty and his throat was burning with dryness. Hal took his pulse, which was slow, but weak and uneven. The toxicity spread to the eyes, the pupils dilated and the eyelids drooped. Then, the pain started.The muscles in Roger's arms and legs were twitching and throbbing.He felt as if every nerve in his body was twitching, and his whole body was convulsed with pain from the top of his head to his toes.Hal felt the patient's skin was cold and clammy, so he covered him with another blanket. The next hour was a torture.In the convulsions, the poisoned body seemed to be dismembering.Roger had never suffered anything like this before, and he wanted to scream, but a man is not supposed to cry out, so he tried to restrain himself, biting his lip and bleeding.He felt as if an elephant was crouching on his chest, weighing him down almost suffocatingly. The spasms stopped suddenly and he passed out. Hal anxiously pressed his fingertips on his brother's pulse, but he couldn't feel it. After a long time, he felt a little throbbing, followed by a very weak throbbing.Sometimes the pulse stops for a full ten seconds, and then starts beating again. Finally, the child was able to move from a coma to normal sleep, and the heartbeat became slightly stronger.The lad is a tough guy, and he won't die easily.Hal has been watching over him, all night without sleep. He was going to give up, he didn't want to find any more snake venom.At first, he thought it seemed a good idea, but now, he hated it.Yes, snake venom should be found, but why not let others do it? The next morning, Roger woke up late.When he opened his eyes, the pupils had returned to normal, and the eyelids were no longer drooping.He lay still, the pain of yesterday gone. You poor fool, he said, how long have you been sitting here? After sitting for a while, Hal said, how do you feel? That's fine, I just want to get out right now. He threw back the quilt, sat up, and began to dress. You better be quiet, okay? what happened to me?Roger said that I am afraid that a lot of time has been wasted.We had so much to do and I was lying in bed most of the day. Nothing to do.Hal said. Where's your snake venom?asked Roger. Hal said: We're done with that.Let's find something else to do. Roger scolded and said: Listen, brother, you don't have to spoil me.You're not one of those half-assed cowards, and neither am I.Let me tell you, I'm fine.I bet you haven't had breakfast yet and I'm hungry too.Let's have a quick lunch and watch our little vipers go.