National Geographic: Land of the Anaconda Page #3

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because otherwise it's very hard to

it's a very strong animal.

And also the teeth are shaped like

needles pushing backwards.

First the mouth holds

and then if the animal gets

to make a loop around the prey,

it doesn't matter

what kind of prey it is, it's dead.

Anacondas can and do take prey

the size of humans,

and many a person's

disappearance on the Ilanos

has been blamed on the giant snakes.

Though no human deaths

have been confirmed,

members of the anaconda team

have been stalked and attacked.

So, yeah, having been bitten sometimes

yet doing the right thing

I've managed to have all my

fingers and toes so far.

Over the years

Jesus has recaptured some of

his snakes several times.

He's come to like and respect

them as individuals,

but understands that the

feelings aren't mutual.

Each time I catch them

each time I find them,

I learn something new about them.

And I get attached to them.

I get to understand even

their personalities,

makes me really happy

when we find an old friend.

But I don't think they're quite as

happy to see me as I am to see them.

No, let go, let go. Give me room.

Trying to defend herself

this old friend has sunk

her fangs into Jesus' hand.

Okay, open the mouth now.

Ready?

Yeah.

Alright, push your finger forward

if you can.

Because her teeth curve backwards,

he must fight off

the instinct to pull away,

which would only do more damage.

Instead, he must push his hand

deeper into her mouth

to free his skewered finger.

Alright, back a little bit.

No, it's caught...

Yeah...

Need a stick.

Alright...

A stick, yeah.

Long on power and short

on stamina the anaconda relents

after a few minutes.

It's loosening up now.

Okay, okay.

We got it, we got it.

Okay.

After six years of snake encounters

Jesus still marvels at the range

of temperaments

among his favorite creatures.

Anaconda have a

very interesting personality.

Some animals are normally oblivious

and we have caught them several times

and we know they are tame animals.

Some of them are absolute b*tches.

They're really...

they get to be really mean.

As the heat of the dry season

continues to intensify,

the reptilian residents of the Ilanos

bask along disappearing streams.

Capybaras hunker down

in what water remains.

For the yellow-headed caracara

the capybaras are an obliging,

moveable feast of ticks.

The floodplain that lured many

piranhas away from their home rivers

is now evaporating rapidly

trapping many.

Stranded and suffocating

the once fear some killer is helpless.

No one knows exactly why caimans gape

but they might as well be grinning

in anticipation.

The crocodilians move in and put

an end to the piranha's suffering.

But when the rains come again,

the carnivorous fish

will have their day.

It's now late May

six months since the Venezuelan savanna

has seen a drop of rain.

But a season of calamity for fish

is a season of plenty for birds.

Dozens deep at the water's edge

birds wait their turn at the buffet.

Each species has perfected

its own feeding technique.

Little distracts the voracious

birds from the feast,

but an uninvited guest is about

to get their attention.

It's Diega, in search of a

nice quiet shallow for mating.

Her arrival seems to elicit more

curiosity than fear,

despite the fact that

anacondas regularly eat birds.

It's almost as if they know that

the snake is an ambush hunter...

and won't waste her energy striking

at prey that can see her coming.

Indignant Orinoco geese announce

that this is no place

for an amorous anaconda.

And the stilts escort her

off the property.

Diega retreats, but with an anaconda's

characteristic lack of haste...

leaving this place to the birds.

Eventually, Diega finds a suitable

place to await her gentlemen callers.

It's likely that

the female anaconda sends out

come hither chemicals, or pheromones,

so that the males can locate her

using their tongues

as sexual divining rods.

Male anacondas are much smaller

than the females.

But with these giant snakes

small is a relative term.

He arrives to find the mating party in

full swing, but he's undeterred.

Several males have already wrapped

themselves around Diega.

It may look like her dance

card is full,

but sometimes a female will accommodate

up to a dozen males in a breeding ball

a phenomenon Jesus is now trying

to understand.

Breeding balls are made of one female

and several males

and the question is whether one male

gets to mate or several of them do it.

Is it the largest male?

Is it the smallest?

Is it the one that gets their first?

Is it the one that tickles her better?

The "tickling" is done

with the male's mating spur,

the last vestige of his

lizard ancestor's hind leg.

After mating, the male leaves a sperm

plug in the female,

but Jesus believes rival males

may be able to squeeze it out of her.

The key question

whether females are impregnated

by one male or many

can only be answered if

the snakes breed successfully.

Following her radio signals,

Jesus and Renee are thrilled to find

Diega has become the belle of the ball.

What comes next will test their

snake-handling skills to the limit.

Not only is gathering information

of snakes not easy,

but it is basically a race

against time.

Once the dry season hits

we're out there every day

trying to find as many snakes

as we can process.

Once we find breeding balls

it's not like catching one snake.

Suddenly you have three four

up to 12 snakes

to deal with at one catch.

So, that's a lot of work to do.

Back at the ranch, it's the males'

turn to do their bit for science.

Jesus takes blood samples

for DNA testing.

Eventually, he'll compare their DNA

to that of the offspring

to find out who fathered whom

that is, if all goes well,

and Diega has babies in the fall.

But that's far from certain.

She hasn't given birth in the

four years Jesus has followed her.

And she's up against the

worst dry season in years.

There's no telling

when the rains will arrive.

The inland sea has become

a mere patchwork of puddles.

Heat and crowding are already

taking a toll on the capybaras.

The caracaran once a welcome

parasite remover, has become a torment

the weakened capybara has little

energy to fight off.

The bird feeds with impunity on

the rodent's wounds,

which were inflicted by rivals.

Nearby, an opportunistic

predator lurks.

Known as the cougar or mountain

lion farther north in the Americas,

the puma finds easy and abundant

prey on the Ilanos.

These are especially

hard times for Diega.

Now pregnant

she must choose her waterholes well.

Some will disappear altogether

in the deepening dry.

And she won't survive for long if she

is exposed on the parching surface.

Just seven degrees north

of the equator,

with the summer solstice approaching

the Ilanos evaporates.

Scarlet ibises keep a close eye

on their sometime nemesis.

In waterholes turned sucking mud,

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