National Geographic: King Rattler Page #2

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So I had to grab my right leg,

pull it in, put it on the accelerator,

grab my left leg,

pull it in on the clutch.

I pushed the clutch in,

started the car, gave it some gas.

And I was able to twist and

pull it down and I popped the clutch.

I kept it in first gear and I tore off

down the road towards help

not being able to shift,

so I was in first gear,

going, "Rrrrrr," down the road.

The few minutes it took to drive

to Survey Headquarters

were an endless nightmare.

All I could do is just

turn the key off and let it,

"Chugchugchug" to a stop,

open the door.

And then I had to let myself down

onto the pavement.

The pain was like salt poured

in an open wound,

and worse, he was growing

weaker and weaker.

No longer able to drag himself

over the hot knobby pavement,

he had to roll in order to move,

but he couldn't roll in a straight line.

So he plotted a circle across

the burning parking lot to his last,

best chance for survival.

Means reached his destination only to

discover that his ordeal had just begun.

Nearly an hour had passed

since the rattler sank its fangs

in Bruce Means's hand,

and now the scientist was discovering

that the cure was as bad as the bite.

Twenty-six vials of antivenin

were pumped into his veins

to stem the tide of

the snake's poison.

But the medicine proved

an even more lethal toxin,

because Means was allergic to it.

People around me could see

the twitching that goes on

a thing called muscular fasciculation.

The hair follicles around the mouth

and I'm fully bearded

move in a circular motion.

My whole face was involved in these

strange rhythmical movements of the skin,

which are characteristic of

Eastern diamondback snake bites.

He spent ten days hovering

between recovery and death,

often in intensive care, as

his body rebelled against the antivenin.

But he survived.

And less than 24 hours

after he left the hospital,

he was back at work, back to

the snakes that nearly killed him.

What is the allure?

Why is Means willing to risk

the snake's fatal attraction?

You know,

this is a magnificent creature.

It's at the pinnacle of evolution

and we know so little about it.

Apart from its beauty and its mystery,

it has a rightful place in nature.

And now, it's at risk.

It's actually a very benign creature.

It likes to lie coiled up

and hidden waiting for food and,

once in a rare while, for a mate.

The survival of the Eastern diamondback

depends on bogs like this

and on these dwindling

stands of longleaf pines,

a once vast torrent of forest

that tumbled south

and west from Virginia to Texas.

These lofty but threatened woodlands

sustain an immense web of wildlife

and are the keystone to the

Eastern diamondback's survival.

The powerful connection between

the pines and the diamondbacks

was little understood when Bruce Means

arrived in Florida's woodlands.

The snake was feared and hunted,

but never studied.

More than 20 years ago,

Means pioneered the use

of radio signals

to track the Eastern diamondback's

behavior.

He carefully introduced a harmless,

mouse sized transmitter

into the sedated snakes,

which beamed their whereabouts.

In summer, he combs the forests

for his latest subject.

At this point, sometimes I get

so close that I can't see them.

They're camouflaged very well

in the grass.

I have to be very careful

I don't step on one.

Ah, there it is. Whew!

A big one.

Little head. Whoa!

Big body.

Hello? Who are you?

Whoa, is he heavy.

Look at the size. Oh!

This is a big snake, but it's not

nearly as big as rattlesnakes

get the Eastern diamondback.

This guy is about four and a half

feet long and I would estimate

about five and a half

to six pounds in weight.

They come a lot bigger.

A ten pound snake, is not uncommon,

which would be almost twice his bulk.

And I've known of 12 and 13 pound

snakes.

The next thing I need to do is be sure

that I don't endanger myself

and also that I am careful not

to cause him to hurt himself,

so I'll partially narcotize him

by putting an inhalant

and it'll take about five minutes

for him to become totally placid.

I'm not going to put him entirely out.

And then we can work with him.

Let's see how he's doing. Yeah.

What is important here is

I know he's under sufficiently

for me to work with him

when he's lost his writhing response,

which you see him lying

on his back now.

Now he's not out.

I have to be quite careful with him,

anyway,

but he's probably out sufficiently for

me to flip him over and then capture him.

Alright, notice he's not thrashing.

He would be doing that were

he not somewhat groggy.

So the first thing I do is

get a measurement

and he is 120 millimeters

is now rattle length.

And his tail now that rattling

indicates he's not,

he's quickly coming out of his

narcosis, but I have his head in my hand.

So it's 1200 millimeters in length

and 120 tail,

that's about 10 percent of the body

length, which is about right for a male.

Females have about 10 percent

less tail length.

This is a young snake.

This animal may only be

in his third year of life.

That's amazing.

A lot of people don't realize a snake

that big could be a juvenile.

But this one's probably just

sexually mature.

Could you imagine what one twice

that size in volume would look like?

The Eastern diamondback

really represents the epitome

of snake evolution.

And there are several reasons for that.

One is that it has this remarkable

heat sensitive pit right there,

which is an advancement among snakes.

Another, of course, is this elaborate

venom and fang apparatus.

The venom is a complex liqueur having

several different proteins in it

depending on the species, more.

Each one of those proteins

has various functions.

Many of them are enzymes.

They break down the tissue or

in the case of the Eastern diamondback,

it actually has quite a bit of nerve

attacking components in its venom.

So the initial use that the venom

is put to is to immobilize its prey,

so it doesn't go too far away

and the snake can go find it.

The snake employs its fierce weapons

with surgical precision.

And it strikes with lightening speed.

Its jaws are lashed by sinew

and powerful muscles

that snap open the fangs

like a switchblade.

Sacks similar to salivary glands

pump the venom

through hollow channels

just like a hypodermic needle.

Though the bite is instantaneous,

the snake pumps its venom several times

to force a lethal dose

into its victim.

After locating its prey, the snake

begins the laborious process of feeding.

And it always starts with the head.

First one half of the jaw,

then the other walk along

the prey as it is ingested.

Small sharp teeth in the palate

and lower jaw curve backward

sliding over the food, pulling it in.

The body moves forward

like an accordion

as muscles in the throat

draw the prey down.

A full grown snake could survive

for a year

on three or four lunches

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