"The viper uses this method of waiting for prey. If it catches a small bird and bites the bird on the head, the viper will slowly eat it on the branch. If it is a big bird or does not bite the bird, The highly myopic viper threw the bird under the tree together with the bird. It waited until the bird was poisoned to death before letting go. It found the bird's head and then started to devour it." Wang Mengyao continued, "Generally, it takes 5 to 5 to 10 days to swallow a bird. 20 minutes. The viper has a huge ability. It can open its mouth 120 degrees and swallow a bird several times larger than its own mouth."
I asked curiously: "If the bird doesn't fly to it, will it starve to death?"
Wang Mengyao told me: "Snake Island vipers have a strong ability to withstand hunger. They can survive by eating food only once a year, and some even survive without eating for a whole year. But they have to reproduce and survive. Eating. After a viper preys, it needs to digest for three to five days before it can eat. It has accumulated enough nutrients. It usually reproduces once every two years. It is ovoviviparous and gives birth to one to eight baby snakes at a time. The baby snakes can crawl and hunt when they are born. The mother snake gave birth to a baby snake and walked away without even paying attention to it.”
"Won't the little snake starve to death?"
"Snakes have no family ties, they only exist individually. The danger of other snakes has nothing to do with their companions. The longest snake of this kind is only about one meter, but its poisonousness is very terrifying." Wang Mengyao said, "Snake Island viper is in a few In order to adapt to the environment and survive over thousands of years of evolution, they have developed their own unique way of survival, which not only inspires scholars, but also inspires everyone to survive."
I smiled and said, "I didn't expect that this trip to Snake Island would be a spiritual educational trip."
Wang Mengyao smiled and said: "We hope that everyone who comes to the island can learn something, but what we can do is still very limited."
"By the way, when we came here, we heard from the boss of the boat that besides snakes, there were also a lot of rats on the island. Is this true?" I asked.
"That's what Old Chen said," Wang Mengyao said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, it's Lao Chen." Zhou Ruhong answered quickly.
"What Old Chen said is true. In fact, 'wars' often occur here and on Snake Island, mainly the battle between snakes and rats and the battle between snakes and eagles." Wang Mengyao said.
"It seems that Lao Chen has two brushes." I laughed.
Wang Mengyao explained: "In fact, when Snake Island was formed, the rats on the island should have become extinct. The rats we see now came to the island with the fishing boats that docked on the island. The scientific name of these rats is Rattus norvegicus. It is a kind of rat with a strong body and a ferocious temperament. Rats that accidentally landed on the island cannot return to the land. There are no cereals on the island. In order to survive, they can only eat tree seeds, grass seeds, and tree roots. They have also learned to hunt on the beach. Sea urchins, small crabs, small conches, etc. The harsh living environment makes them become ferocious."
"Old Chen said that among the rats and snakes on this island, the snakes eat the rats for half a year, and the rats eat the snakes for half a year. Is this true?" I then asked.
"It stands to reason that rats are active at night and snakes hunt during the day, so they should not invade each other. But there is too little food on the island, so they will inevitably invade each other. However, this snake eats rats for half a year, and rats eats snakes for half a year. That's actually a bit exaggerated." Wang Mengyao patiently explained, "Well, let me tell you a story about a snake and rat fight."
"Every year in late autumn, the island is already cold and windy, and snakes enter their holes and begin to hibernate. Rats do not hibernate, so of course they have to look for food everywhere. A very shrewd rat crawled into the snake hole along the cracks in the rocks. , saw a stiff snake, the rat was very happy, and had another sumptuous meal. The rat went up very fiercely and took a bite. At that time, the snake had just started to hibernate, and it still had a little consciousness, but its body began to stiffen. , was bitten by a rat, and the snake trembled with pain. The snake wanted to turn around and bite the nasty rat with its fangs, but it had no strength to attack quickly. When the rat saw the snake move, it was so frightened that it took a few steps back. The rat took a few steps back. Standing aside and looking at the snake, what a delicious meal it was! It would be a pity not to eat it. In order to eat, the rat decided to take a desperate risk. It rushed over and bit the snake, but it stopped opening its mouth. The snake was bitten. The whole body ached, but its usually extremely flexible head couldn't be used. It instinctively began to use its lower body to wrap around the nasty rat. The end result was: the rat bit the snake fiercely and refused to let go, and the snake tightly wrapped around the rat. If you don't let go, the snake will be bitten to death and the rat will be entangled to death. This war between snake and rat ended tragically."
After everyone heard this story, they didn't know what to say for a while. From the definition of a story, what Wang Mengyao told can barely be called a story, but from the perspective of the listenability of the story, it is indeed almost interesting.
In order to prevent the silence, I took the lead in laughing. Although it was a bit abrupt and artificial, it still broke the awkward calm.
"Hahaha, Researcher Wang, your story is really interesting. The snake and the rat died together in the end."
Everyone looked at my exaggerated expression, and their faces were once full of embarrassment. However, they ended up laughing very cooperatively.
Although Wang Mengyao was quite embarrassed at first, she smiled gratefully when she saw everyone's tolerance for her, and nodded towards me to express her gratitude.
"I have to say that this guy Lao Chen really can't compare with our researcher Wang. What did he tell us?" I continued, "He said that this mouse took revenge on the snake and took advantage of it when it was hibernating. They have almost eaten, and when the next spring comes, the surviving snakes will start eating mice crazily again to maintain the balance of the food chain. Now it seems that it is all nonsense."
"Hahaha, yes, it's all nonsense." Zhou Ruhong laughed.
"What Lao Chen said is also a common understanding in the outside world. It is believed that during the hibernation period, when snakes completely enter hibernation, they are unable to fight against the rats that infringe on them, and they have to resign themselves to their fate. In fact, since the number of rats on the island is not very large, it is not enough To cause harm to the viper population."
"Since everyone is so interested, let me tell you another story about a snake eating a rat." Wang Mengyao looked at me with a smile, "It's just that I'm not very good at telling stories, so don't dislike it."
I smiled and said, "How could that be? You speak very well. You explain profound biological knowledge in a simple and natural way, so that we can all easily understand it."
"That's good." Wang Mengyao said with a smile, "It was a spring evening, and a snake was lying lazily in the grass. The weather was neither hot nor cold. It didn't want to go back to the crack in the rocks, so it just lay there very comfortably. Suddenly, its heat detector detected a rat running towards it. When the rat approached it, the snake quickly pounced on it, bit the rat with its fangs, and quickly injected venom into the rat's body. That It was a rat. After being bitten, it dragged the snake hard and ran away. Of course, the venom took effect very quickly, the rat fell down, and the snake was also dragged all over by the rat. In the end, guess what happened to them What’s the ending?”
"Needless to say, it will definitely hurt both sides."
"Yes." Wang Mengyao said, "This is how mice and snakes solve the balance problem on Snake Island. It sounds a little incredible, even a little hasty and absurd, but it is a fact."
Due to the high confidentiality level of the laboratory, we were unable to visit some places, and the actual time we spent inside was only about two hours. After the visit, we returned to the base at the foot of the mountain and prepared to stay there for one night.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. There are stilted buildings specially prepared for tourists in the base, with both standard rooms and double bed rooms. As a single person like me, I was originally supposed to live in a standard room with others, but because the number of people was so perfect, I was left alone in the end, so I was allowed to have the standard room to myself.
At first, there were many people walking around, laughing and joking. It was not until half past ten that it gradually became quiet. At this time, the entire base was also quiet.
I was lying on the bed, about to close my eyes, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Dong dong."
"Who?"
"It's me, Wang Mengyao, Li Rui, have you rested?"
"Wang Mengyao?" I was stunned for a moment, wondering in my heart, "Why is she here?" I quickly stood up and said, "It's Researcher Wang. I'm not asleep yet. Just wait for me and I'll be here soon."
I opened the door and said with a smile: "Researcher Wang, you haven't rested yet. It's so late. Is something okay?"
Wang Mengyao stood at the door, holding a bottle of something in her hand. She smiled at me with a pleasant look on her face and said, "Here, this is an ointment for treating bruises, swelling and pain. My dad often uses this."
When she handed the bottle to me, to be honest, I was a little flattered. Moreover, after I got through it, I had already forgotten about the injury. I didn't expect that Wang Mengyao would still remember, I didn’t even expect that she would bring me potion specially.
I was stunned for a moment, "Um, this..."
"Take it, don't be embarrassed." Wang Mengyao smiled and put the bottle into my hand.
"Well, then I would rather obey your orders than be respectful."
"Yeah." Wang Mengyao nodded.
At this time, the air became quiet again.
After a few seconds, Wang Mengyao said, "You, won't you invite me in to sit down?"
I blushed and said, "We are alone in the same room at night. Aren't you afraid of being gossiped about?"
"Pfft," Wang Mengyao laughed, "You're so funny. What's the point? It's just a visit, it's not like you did anything shameful."
"Could it be——" Wang Mengyao drawled her voice, "You have something in your heart!"
I was really shocked by her, but fortunately I was relatively calm and said with a smile: "How can I have a ghost? Since you think it doesn't matter, I naturally don't care anymore. Please -"
I turned sideways and made a sign to come in.
Wang Mengyao smiled and quickly walked into the door.
I had just closed the door and was about to turn around when something sharp touched my waist.
"Uh..." I froze on the spot.
"do not move!"
"Researcher Wang, what are you doing?"
"Stop talking nonsense. You'd better be honest and tell me, who are you?"
"What am I? I'm just a tourist."
"Haha, tourist?" Wang Mengyao snorted coldly, "I have noticed you since you first arrived on the island. You have been looking around, and you have evil intentions at first glance."
I was speechless, "Well, how do you ask me to explain this? I looked here and there purely out of curiosity."
