Today, let’s talk about the story of scientists and snakes.

New Year, New Atmosphere, the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake is approaching. But in real life, many people are still afraid of snakes. However, for some scientists who deal with snakes all year round, snakes, which are cold-blooded and very dangerous in people's eyes, may be "the coolest companions in the world."

The old academician has been dealing with snakes for most of his life

Still doing field research at the age of 70

Zhao Ermi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a famous amphibian and reptile expert in my country, has been dealing with snakes for most of his life. In 1979, Zhao Ermi went to Snake Island near Dalian to study a venomous snake believed to be a "pitting pit viper". He believed that this venomous snake was likely another unreported new species. A week later, Zhao Ermi set off with more than a dozen venomous snakes caught from the island. On the train, he hid it from the train attendant. No one could have imagined that the bulging bag under the seat contained more than a dozen extremely venomous snakes.

Zhao Ermi brought the snake back to the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The final experimental results coincided with his previous judgment: this venomous snake that had been mistaken for the intermediate pit viper for 40 years was a new species, which he named Agkistrodon acutus. Zhao Ermi, who has been dealing with snakes for almost half of his life, once said: "I am very timid and very cautious, so I have never been bitten by a venomous snake."

In 1973, Zhao Ermi went to Medog, Tibet. At that time, there was no road to Medog, and on the way, he had to cross the 5,500-meter-high Duoxiong La Pass in the Himalayas. Zhao Ermi and his party spent three days and three nights on foot. In Medog, a magical place known as the "Jiangnan of Tibet", Zhao Ermi discovered that there were many new species hidden that people had never had the opportunity to understand in depth before, including a new snake species named "Medog Bamboo-leaf Green Snake" by him.

Zhao Ermi conducted a field survey in western Sichuan in 1985. Image source: Official website of the Museum of Chinese Scientists

According to his student Yang Jun, Zhao Ermi had always had a wish, which was to exceed the age of his mentor Liu Chengzhao for field research - 70. Zhao Ermi did it. Even in his later years, he would go to the north and south twice a year for field research and research. When he was in his seventies, he took his students to Xinjiang to collect specimens, and sometimes he would catch snakes himself.

"Snake Guardian" has been dancing with snakes for more than 20 years

Making an "ID Card" for a Viper

In my country, when talking about snakes, many people will think of a place - Snake Island. And Wang Xiaoping is known as the "snake keeper" of Snake Island. He is now the deputy director of the Liaoning Snake Island Laotieshan National Nature Reserve Administration. He has worked here for more than 20 years. As long as there is a "breathing" in the reserve, he knows everything.

Wang Xiaoping is observing the animals on the island. Image source: China Environmental News

Having danced with snakes for many years, Wang Xiaoping has also been bitten by snakes. The most dangerous one was in May 2007. At that time, he caught the 10th snake with his bare hands. His hand loosened a little, and the snake jumped forward and turned back to bite his left index finger. The snake island pit viper had just finished hibernation, and the venom had accumulated for more than half a year. In less than two hours, his whole hand was swollen like a loaf of bread.

He recalled: "During the first few days in the hospital, I felt swollen, swollen and painful. I would have felt better if I had cut off my whole arm." Finally, the doctor punctured between his five fingers to drain the accumulated fluid by decompression. Because the puncture needle was thick, there are still eight white pinhole marks between the five fingers of his left hand. After staying in the hospital for 18 days, Wang Xiaoping was saved, but his left hand, left arm, and the left half of his body were all peeled off.

In 2014, Wang Xiaoping led a research team to apply advanced biological research technologies at home and abroad to snake research, implanting biochips into Shedao pit vipers, which was equivalent to issuing them "identity cards". At that time, he was the only person in the world who led the biochip research of Shedao pit vipers.

To implant a chip in a snake, they first need to clamp the snake's head with pliers, then pinch the snake's neck with their thumb and index finger, and control the strength, neither too loose nor too tight. Next, they give the snake a physical examination, recording its body length, tail length, weight, age, whether it has eaten, etc., as well as its distribution environment, GPS positioning data and other information. Finally, they use a syringe to inject a cylindrical biochip 8 mm long and 0.8 mm in diameter into the subcutaneous part of the snake's tail, and then put it back after disinfection.

As the work of implanting chips into snakes progresses, Wang Xiaoping and his colleagues have become more skilled in catching snakes. However, although it may seem simple, danger is everywhere. Now, many pit vipers on Snake Island have their own biochip "ID cards".

Reptile expert bitten by snake and in coma for four days and four nights

The unexpected discovery of a new snake species

In 2015, reptile expert Hou Mian was conducting a scientific expedition in Yingjiang. Just one day before the end of the trip, he encountered a krait by a stream while looking for a stink frog.

A new species discovered by Hou Mian and others - "Suzhen Ring Snake". Image source: Ziniu News

It was late at night, and Hou Mian wanted to stop and take a look when he passed a stream. He saw a small snake in the stream, and the pattern on its body was different from that of ordinary coral snakes. "Its white ring pattern was a little scattered, and its body was a little orange due to the light. At first glance, it looked a bit like a non-venomous white chain snake, so I didn't treat it as a coral snake. In fact, I was careless. If you look at the shape of the spine and the hexagonal scales, you can find obvious characteristics of coral snakes." Just as Hou Mian was about to leave by the snake's tail, the small snake coiled up and bit him.

"I soon realized something was wrong after being bitten. It is recorded that the bite of a common coral snake does not cause obvious pain, but I felt very painful at the time. Two coin-sized areas on my hand had begun to turn black." Only then did Hou Mian realize that the snake might be poisonous. He used a flashlight to shine on it and confirmed that the one who bit him was a species of the genus Cobra in the family Elapidae. He immediately used a knife to dig open the wound, cleaned the snake venom, and set it on fire. Although the measures were very professional, he soon felt serious symptoms and had to find a hospital as soon as possible! While speeding in the car, he contacted his good friend Ding Li to discuss his own treatment plan.

"I called and asked about the hospitals in nearby Mangshi and other places. They had ventilators and serum, but they were relatively far away. Now I think that if I had gone there, I might not have been able to treat him in time." It happened that the local hospital in Yingjiang had set up an ICU ward three months ago and was also equipped for treatment, so Hou Mian decided to go to Yingjiang. He said that generally, after being bitten by a coral snake, it takes about four hours for the onset of the disease. At that time, he was bitten by this snake only two hours later, and his body had a strong paralysis reaction and his nerves were invaded.

When the doctors in the emergency room understood the situation and prepared to put him on a ventilator, Hou Mian had already started vomiting. After being bitten, his nerves began to become disordered, his body became uncontrollable, his eyelids began to droop, and he gradually began to lose the ability to breathe normally. "At that time, I pointed at my throat and tried very hard to tell the doctor that I was suffocating," Hou Mian said. The doctor quickly understood and immediately performed intubation treatment, which helped him maintain stable breathing.

Hou Mian called his family before he fell into a coma, and soon lost consciousness, remaining in a coma for four days and four nights. During this time, medical staff injected him with three serums, while a typical snake bite would only require two injections, which shows how toxic this snake is.

Even after waking up, Hou Mian was still unable to take care of himself for a while and needed help from medical staff to turn over. "Once I wanted to turn over by myself, but when I just pushed forward slightly, the blood vessels on the bitten hand ruptured and congestion appeared. I became very fragile, and it took me half a month to be able to walk." Hou Mian said that after recovering, he carefully recalled the whole process. It turned out that he had already felt something different when he was collecting the snake, and he was sure that this should be a new species that had not been recorded before.

He told his good friend Ding Li about this judgment, so the research team began to conduct targeted investigations the following year. Later, this newly discovered species was named "Suzhen Ring Snake".

American doctor comes to China to find snakes

Hired as a university professor and found transnational love

Kevin Messinger is from the United States and has a long-standing love for snakes. When he was 3 years old, his father, a veterinarian, brought home a 5-meter-long Indian python. The little boy was not afraid, but instead circled around it fascinatedly, and fell in love with this amazing species.

In May 2006, 24-year-old Kevin was about to graduate from the University of North Carolina. On the eve of graduation, he accidentally saw a recruitment information on the Internet - in a mysterious forest called "Shennongjia" in China, researchers were recruiting volunteers for scientific research, so he signed up without hesitation and was successfully selected.

During the three months of scientific research in Shennongjia, he and the scientists in the forest area traveled through mountains and rivers, crossed dense forests, and explored on foot. They saw many snakes that they had never seen before, some of which were discovered for the first time. He felt that he had entered an unknown world.

Kevin catches snakes during the expedition. Image source: ScienceNet

Kevin was deeply attracted by Shennongjia and China, so he gave up the opportunity to work in the United States and chose to stay in China to continue his studies and research. During his doctoral studies at Nanjing Forestry University and a few years after graduation, he went deep into the mountains and forests of Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and many other places, and never tired of his journey to find snakes.

As a snake expert, Kevin was bitten by a snake and survived. One day in 2012, Kevin and two Shennongjia staff members came to an ancient town called "Pingqian" in the Shennongjia forest area. In a place full of stones and weeds, Kevin and his companions found a snake half-body had drilled into the cracks of the rocks. Kevin quickly grabbed the snake's tail, turned over the stone, and used the snake hook to hold the stone to prevent the snake from being crushed and injured again. At this moment, the snake rushed towards Kevin at a very fast speed. Kevin quickly withdrew his hand, but was not sure whether he was bitten.

As he hesitated, blood began to seep out of his right index finger, but since there was no pain, he decided to wait and see. At about 12 o'clock in the evening, Kevin's body began to react, with tingling sensations on the inside of his legs and dizziness, so he slowly sat down to prevent himself from falling. He was then helped back to the car by his companions and taken to the hospital for treatment. On the way, Kevin began to experience symptoms such as fatigue and thirst, his consciousness gradually blurred, and his vision became unclear. "At the time, I felt a tingling sensation in my ankles, and my neck and head would itch when touched. I wondered if the venom had spread throughout my body. I might have to meet my Western grandmother," Kevin recalled.

They then went to a hospital in Xingshan for emergency treatment and confirmed that his life was not in danger. However, snake venom is difficult to remove. Before long, Kevin's entire right hand turned black, the swelling became more severe, and his left hand was also swollen. Kevin was then transferred to a hospital in Yichang for further treatment, and his condition was finally stabilized. After 14 days of treatment, the lump began to shrink, and he slowly recovered.

While coming to China to study snakes, Kevin also found his love. In 2019, he met his wife, Li Yecheng, in Nanjing, a girl who likes cats and dogs. When they met and chatted for the first time, when Kevin said that he also liked small animals, Li Yecheng thought she had found a soulmate, but when Kevin said that his favorite thing was snakes, Li Yecheng was shocked.

However, after in-depth contact and understanding, Li Yecheng was still moved by the simple Kevin and became his wife and personal research assistant. He also went deep into the mountains of Shennongjia in Hubei with Kevin to look for snakes. Currently, Kevin has been officially employed by Nanjing Forestry University as a foreign professor in the School of Life Sciences.

Source: ScienceNet, China Environment News, Daguan News, The Paper, Ziniu News