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March 12, 2007

Déjà Viper: I've Seen This Snake Before...

Have you ever learned a new word and then had it start cropping up in everything you read? This happened to me recently.

I saw a disturbing National Geographic documentary about the very deadly viper, the fer-de-lance, and how it has been coming into contact with people more and more as they settle in the wilds of Costa Rica.

Incidentally, there is an amusing side story about how they got the snake to strike right into the camera by using the cameraman's 9-Volt batteries to trigger its heat sensors, which the snake uses to detect prey. I don't know that much about snakes and I'd never heard of a fer-de-lance, but the next night I started reading a book which opened with the heroine, who is sleeping in a hammock in the jungle, waking to find a fer-de-lance hissing in her face. She promptly shoots its head off and the adventure continues. What are the chances of this snake entering my life twice in as many days?

Sorry guys, but I didn't have a picture of a Fer-De-Lance (I'd never heard of one!) so I used this picture of another pit viper instead since it's coloring was similar, although it's head is not. I'm pretty sure this picture is of a Gaboon Viper, which is the world's heaviest viper, has the longest fangs and the highest venom yield of any venomous snake (according to Wikipedia). I took this picture a couple years ago at the San Diego Zoo in the Reptile House.

Posted by sorsha at March 12, 2007 10:29 PM