
National Geographic: King Rattler
- Year:
- 1999
- 20 Views
The mere suggestion of this creature
strikes fear into the hearts of many.
Legendary serpent.
Stealthy predator.
This king of the rattlesnakes won
his reputation for good reason.
In truth, his world is one
full of danger,
one that we know little about.
Look at that!
One man has set out to change that
Dr. Bruce Means ventures through
the inland waterways
that went from Georgia
through Florida's panhandle.
A freelance scientist, he is often
on his own and prefers it that way.
For 25 years now,
Means has pioneered
largest and most feared viper.
Means journeys into this
personal heart of darkness on a mission.
He fears for the fate of
the venomous snake he is after,
the Eastern diamondback rattler,
a proud and complex recluse slithering
toward the black hole of extinction.
For over 50 years,
I've wondered in nature by myself,
sometimes barefooted,
but usually with just my sandals on.
Where I'm heading
takes some getting used to.
There's marsh and muck,
but on the other side
there's this paradise
where the longleaf pine forest grows
and this special creature
I love so much survives.
Diamondbacks are almost
impossible to find.
Sometimes in the summer, though,
you can use the gopher tortoise
for a guide.
Pregnant snakes
often make their temporary homes
in the long burrows
that the turtle digs.
So if you find a tortoise, he can
sometimes lead you to a diamondback.
There! There's the gopher tortoise
about two feet down.
The gopher tortoise shovels out
his own burrow,
creating a home for hundreds of
other creatures large and small.
There's another gopher of sorts,
the gopher frog.
The Florida mouse and its pups.
And something we've been
searching for, something menacing.
Incredibly, this is also the home of
the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
it is among the most highly evolved
of all snakes,
among the most dangerous,
and among the most unlikely roommate
any tortoise ever had.
The perfect odd couple.
Diamondbacks only prey on
warm-blooded animals,
so the coldblooded tortoise
is safe from the snake.
Still, the snake is not harmless and
the tortoise is not taking any chances.
The Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
is as American as the bald eagle.
It is the largest rattlesnake
in the world.
This is a singular serpent.
Many snakes swim, but few take
to surfing like this rattler.
It seems as at home at sea
as it is on land.
It is the king of American snakes
more forbidding,
almost invisible and utterly silent,
but for its warning.
Its signature, the menacing rattle,
signaling the nearness of sudden death.
The snake's trademark
is made up of scales
left behind each time
They scratch together when shaken.
Amazingly, the frequency is the same
as an ambulance siren.
the ancient dance of survival.
a menagerie of strange animals
roamed the Atlantic Coast
mastodons, lamas and bison,
like this one,
were as plentiful as deer.
All are gone now from the region
but for this survivor,
the Eastern diamondback.
Having melted into his environment
through camouflage,
the viper may have evolved a signal
to spook off these big mammals.
Instead of being trampled, the snake
rattled out a warning don't tread on me.
Like the snake,
Means prefers to be left alone.
So often, it's just the doctor
and the diamondback,
man on snake,
I had hoped to be one of the few
herpetologists
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"National Geographic: King Rattler" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 18 Jan. 2021. <https://www.scripts.com/script/national_geographic:_king_rattler_14545>.