Speaking of poisonous snakes, many people will have "hair hairs standing upside down". Not to mention its mouth full of deadly venom and sharp fangs, even seeing its slippery appearance and mottled scales will cause psychological discomfort in people. Humans' fear of poisonous sn

Speaking of poisonous snake , many people will have "hair hairs standing upside down". Not to mention its mouth full of deadly venom and sharp fangs, even seeing its slippery appearance and mottled scales will cause psychological discomfort in people. Humans' fear of poisonous snakes can be said to be innate.

However, in , there is a kind of creature in nature that is the "natural nemesis" of poisonous snakes, that is, eagle . In our understanding, it is a normal thing for eagles to catch snakes. However, have you ever thought about a question, why did eagles die without venom after eating venomous snakes? Does the eagle have an anti-venomous immune system in its body?

The nemesis of the venomous snake - Eagle

Eagle is the "leading leader" in the bird world and belongs to the small Raptor . They have a wide range of distribution and can be seen on almost every continent in the world. Especially in China, they can appreciate their "magnanimity" in Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Qinghai.

They have a wide variety of species. Generally, adult eagles have about 54 cm long and their wings are about 1.5 meters long. Some small eagles have only about 20 cm long. Due to different types, the body sizes vary greatly.

But there is one thing that is the same, that is, they are fierce in nature and are both carnivorous animals, mainly feeding on other birds, hares, mice, snakes and other small animals. If the overlords on land are lions and tigers, then the title of overlords in heaven is necessary.

Because they have been entrenched in high altitudes for a long time, they have naturally developed a good skill of "dive hunting". The prey on the ground basically cannot escape their "claws". Eagles have natural advantages for hunting, and their killing speed is beyond the reach of other mammals on land.

There is information that after the eagle determines its hunting target, it can launch an attack at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour. accurately locks the specific position of the prey and dives at high speed, and then uses its sharp claws to tightly grasp the prey. It can be said that this set of actions is smooth and kills it with one move.

In addition, eagle has another "magic weapon" for hunting, that is its eyes. It is said that eagles have "six-mile eyes", which is not a bluff. related investigations show that the eye range of eagles is 436 kilometers, which is about 6 times that of human eyes. That's because the structure of the eagle's eyes is different from that of humans. Each of us has only one fovea on the retina of our eyes, which can only be used to look at the front.

There are two fovea on the eagle's eyes, one can look at the front, and the other can look at the side. This also means that the field of vision of the eagle is much wider than that of humans. Not only that, they see more detailed things than ours. The vision cells in eyes are six to seven times that of humans, which is equivalent to the function of a "magnifying glass". , so this is also the reason why they can still find prey at altitudes of dozens of miles.

, especially , slow-crawling snakes, are their primary target for hunting. Eagles seem to love snakes particularly, and many stories about eagles and snakes have been circulated among the people. But have you ever thought that a person may die if he is bitten by a poisonous snake? Why is this "guy" who has eaten hundreds of snakes not only fine, but also becomes more and more moister? Does the eagle specifically choose non-toxic snakes to eat? Or are they immune to snake venom?

Is there a system for immune snake venom in the body of an eagle?

If you want to know whether an eagle has the ability to immune snake venom, you have to start with the principle of how the venomous snake venom can work. According to relevant information, there are more than 3,000 snakes in the world, 85% of snakes are non-venomous, and the other 15% are venomous snakes. There are countless examples of venomous snakes dying every year, which also shows how terrible snake venom is.

So, what exactly is snake venom?

In fact, venomous snakes are the snake's saliva, which usually appears golden yellow or transparent. Its main ingredient is protein . However, the venoms between different venomous snakes are different, and they are mainly divided into neurotoxin , hematologic toxins and mixed toxins.

Different toxins will have different effects. For example, blood toxins entering the human body will destroy blood circulation system , causing patients to have fever, blood congestion or continuous blood flow, which will lead to death in severe cases. In theory, ordinary animals can't stand such a powerful toxin entering the body, but why can the eagle?

In fact, the main reason for is not that the eagle is "picky to eat" or that it is immune to snake venom, but that the venom does not enter its blood, so it does not work. is right, almost all venoms of venom, can only work if it injects venom into the blood through its fangs.

and the eagle catches snakes. first pecks the poisonous snake to death and then swallows it into its stomach. . At that time, the poisonous snake had no power to fight back and could only be decomposed by the eagle's gastric acid. finally became a witness to the eagle's full meal. Seeing this, some people may say, aren’t the eagle afraid of being bitten when hunting vipers? The venomous snake attacks very quickly, will it be stupid to be the "on-trade meal" of the eagle?

Eagle VS Viper, who has a greater chance of winning?

Of course our eagles have also "thinked" about this issue, so their hunting methods also have "arranged rules".

First of all, they like to do "raids" behind and never fight head-on with poisonous snakes. and the sight range of snakes is not as wide as that of eagles, so once they are "raids" by eagles, it is likely that they will be "poor misfortune".

Secondly, when the eagle hunts, it will use its sharp claws to catch the "seven inches of the snake", can also be said to be the "life gate" of the poisonous snake. After subduing the "head" and "tail" of the poisonous snake, the next "killing and cutting" can only be followed by the eagle's mood.

Finally, The unique body structure of the eagle can prevent the "attack" of the viper. can be said to be the "nemesis" of nature "tailored" for the viper.

If the poisonous snake is lucky enough to "sweep a few moves" with the eagle, it will only delay the time of death. Because the eagle is covered with thick feathers, even its exposed claws are covered with rough and heavy "armor" - that is its horny scales.

has no nerves and blood at all. It is precisely because of this special structure that venomous snakes have no way to get down. So even if the poisonous snake tangles with the eagle for a few more rounds, it is just a waste of energy and eventually becomes a "delicious dish" for the eagle.

But this does not mean that the eagle has not "missed". If the eagle is injured or has "ulcers" in its body, then the poisonous snake still has a chance to "venge" the eagle.

As long as the venom can enter the blood, even the eagle can't resist it. But we eagles are not good at slaughter. Once they find that they will be "powerless to turn the world back", and when they are angry, the poisonous snake will not have any good results.

As the overlord in the sky, its revenge is also extremely strong. Even if is "poisoned", it will still pull the other party. Before completely losing strength, the eagle will peck the venomous snake to death with its sharp beak.

So, generally speaking, we can't see any examples of venomous snakes that can survive. Even the most toxic snake is just a piece of cake in front of the eagle. In short, in this life-and-death game, the eagle has an overwhelming advantage.

It can be said that the eagle and the snake are a pair of "old enemies". The snake's fear of the eagle is like a mouse seeing a cat, and is engraved in DNA. After all, in the food chain, the eagle is still in the upper hand of the snake, which means that no matter how venomous the snake is, it cannot escape the eagle's "claws"., and this also reflects the cruelty of nature. However, isn’t this our law of survival also our survival?

Reference:

How do venomous snakes secrete venom? And how do people get poisoned? Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2019.9

Perceive the outside world, they have super vision China Digital Science and Technology Museum

Talk about snake toxins CNKI Biology Bulletin Sun Tianan

Author: Chifanla Xiaozheng Proofreader: Chuanchuan