The snake hiding in the crack of a big rock by the stream is a pit viper, also known as the five-step snake.
Even people who don’t know much about snakes have heard of the name “Five-step Snake”. This name is too famous.
As soon as you hear the name "five-step snake", you know how toxic it is!
Both of them belong to the subfamily of vipers. The name of the Pit Viper sounds poetic, while the name of the Five-Step Snake is simple and crude, which adds a sense of terror.
When Steve approached, the snake in the crevice did not react. It was not until Steve pushed aside the grass and prepared to drag the snake out that the snake hiding inside moved.
"It's a big one! It looks like it must be around seven or eight kilograms!" Cheng Si sighed.
Just now, he only saw the part below the crevice and he knew he couldn't deal with this snake.
A five-step snake weighing seven or eight kilograms is considered big, and it is a poisonous snake!
Cheng Si didn't have the courage to try to handle a short and thick poisonous snake of this weight.
This is a snake, it's all muscle!
If you don't have enough experience and physical strength, don't try it easily. He still cherishes his life.
Compared to Cheng Si's retreat, Steve was more excited when he saw the snake come out. Seeing its raised head and pointed nose, he looked for an opportunity to attack, and words like "Oh baby~" and "So cute~" came out of his mouth.
Feng Yi: “…”
Cheng Si shook off the goose bumps on his body. Seeing that Steve had not caught the snake and had been attacked several times, he asked, "Do you need help?"
Steve waved his hand: "Move aside, you can't hold on with that much strength!"
Cheng Si thought to himself: Even if I have the strength, I can’t hold on!
He had been chased by a five-step snake and was frightened when he saw the snake.
When Steve finally caught the snake, the three of them walked back.
Cheng Si looked around and said to Professor Zhou, "Professor Zhou, how about we do a live broadcast here first? We just caught a five-step snake, let's show everyone what a venomous snake looks like in the wild."
The purpose of letting Cheng Si join the team was to leverage the popularity of his live broadcast room to let the public understand some of the work related to scientific expeditions and enhance awareness of ecological protection.
Professor Zhou looked at the weather and nodded, "Okay, you and Steve will work together to broadcast a live show first."
Cheng Si was about to start broadcasting, and before the broadcast he asked Feng Yi: "Let's broadcast together?"
Feng Yi shook his head, "You guys can broadcast it, I'm not interested."
"Okay." Cheng Si heaved a sigh of relief. With Feng Yi's looks, he would definitely steal the spotlight if he came here.
Feng Yi didn't care about Cheng Si's little thoughts. He took out a piece of compressed biscuit from his bag and chewed it carefully.
After the scientific expedition team enters the mountain, if they follow the planned route, there will be supply points along the way, where they will replenish some supplies and place the samples collected along the way there. Someone will pick them up and then send them to the experimental base of Nanchong Nature Reserve for testing and analysis.
But even if there was a supply point, the food he carried was still not enough to satisfy Feng Yi's stomach.
While Feng Yi was thinking about how to find an opportunity to give himself some special treatment, Cheng Si and Steve had already started the live broadcast.
Steve is interacting with the online audience.
"… This is the pit viper, commonly known as the five-step snake. I just caught it. I heard that when there were many of them in the past, they often coiled on the roadside at night and could be stepped on accidentally. Using a bamboo pole to beat the grass may not be effective…
“… Arrogant? Looking down on others with your nose? Hahaha, that’s how its little upturned nose looks like, so it has the nickname ‘never bows its head’…
"But those two big nostrils you're talking about aren't its nostrils. Its nostrils are here, and these two small holes are. The two big holes are typical cheek pits of the Viperinae subfamily, just like the labial pits of pythons, which are heat-sensing pits.
“… Small eyes? Its eyes are not small, but the pupils don’t look that big.
"Generally, snakes that forage during the day have large, round pupils, while those that hunt at night have upright, long pupils like this one, which you often call vertical pupils. You all know cats. When the light is strong during the day, the pupils of cats are also narrow, just like this one, which looks almost shrunk into a line. But when the light is dim, the pupils expand, and the eyes may look bigger at that time.
"But I think their narrow pupils are still very cute. Look, aren't they fierce and cute?"
Cheng Si: “…”
audience:"… "
We have no objection to you saying it's fierce, but "cuteness" is something that not everyone can see!
Snakes are born to hunt, and are definitely natural killers! They are also cold-blooded animals! They are also famous venomous snakes!
How cute!
There was a large barrage of comments, all complaining about Steve's previous words "fierce and cute" and "adorable".
Steve's pronunciation was too accurate, and he definitely didn't say "ferocious".
However, Steve doesn't care what others think, in his eyes he is just a little cutie!
"… Fat? Fat guy? Well, it looks a bit fat, but it's definitely not fat. There are even fatter ones! For example, the southern rattlesnake, and those in the viper family, especially the Gabon viper, which is definitely fat guy plus!"
Cheng Si continued, "I know the Gabon viper. When it walks in a straight line, it looks like a snake-like caterpillar. When I first saw that kind of snake, my first reaction was, 'Is it going to turn into a butterfly?'"
Steve looked at the online comments and laughed, "...A fat otaku like you? Don't be so naive, audience! Their fatness is all made up of well-developed muscles. They are all flexible and extremely toxic fat people!"
Then Steve showed the online audience the big fangs of the five-step snake.
"... Look at its teeth. The five-step snake, the bamboo-leaf pit viper, and the rattlesnake are all venomous snakes of the subfamily Agkistrodon. Look at its large fangs. Let's collect some venom first..."
Feng Yi, who was chewing on a biscuit, paused, made sure that his two big teeth were in good condition, rubbed his cheeks, and continued chewing on the biscuit as if nothing had happened.
After Steve talked about the five-step snake to the online audience for a while, he left the time to Cheng Si.
Cheng Si continued to interact with online viewers.
“…Steve and his team will also measure the five-step snake’s physical signs, record its body length, tail length, weight, location, surrounding environment, etc., and all this information will be entered into the database… It’s still quite hard in the wild, and you have to be careful not to step on poisonous snakes when walking in the mountains and forests…
"My harvest? I caught a coral snake on my first day in the mountains. Although the process was a bit tortuous, I did catch it..."
As for the incident of Feng Yi holding the snake in his mouth, Professor Zhou said that it should not be spread outside, as it would have a bad influence. So Cheng Si did not mention it.
“… We have to pick up trash along the way. Look, this is what I picked up today. Professor Zhou, the team leader, said that these may have been in the mountains for more than 30 years, but you can see that most of them have no signs of degradation, so pick them up and don’t let them destroy the ecology of the mountains…
“… Picking up a giant python?? You guys think too highly of me! Picking up a small python is fine, but a giant python???”
Speaking of this, Cheng Si asked Professor Zhou: "Professor Zhou, are there pythons in this nature reserve?"
Professor Zhou came over and said, "Yes. During the abnormal climate period, some people found frozen pythons. Later, we organized several wild release activities, including the release of pythons, but those pythons were implanted with biochips that can locate their specific locations. Scientific expedition teams sometimes encounter them when they come here.
"However, in recent years, the scientific expedition team has not found any native pythons since entering the area. And the route we planned this time avoided those released pythons, so the possibility of encountering pythons is extremely small."
Cheng Si was relieved.
The possibility of encountering a python is extremely small, and the possibility of encountering a giant python is even smaller. The native pythons may have already frozen to death during the abnormal climate period.
Over there, Steve, who was catching a five-step snake and measuring its vital signs with others, heard the voices in the live broadcast and turned to ask Feng Yi: "Have you ever caught a giant python?"
Feng Yi shook his head: "No."
Steve: "Do you think you can catch it by yourself?"
Feng Yi: “I don’t think so.”
Steve: "Hey, neither can I. If you find a python, call me and I'll catch it with you!"
Feng Yi: “Okay!”