In the pine forests of Florida, a fire blazed through the plants.
Then suddenly, running through the flames was Chris and Martin as they were out exploring and was suddenly caught in the fire. They soon made it to a clearing away from the smoke as they looked around as they were surrounded.
They then quickly ran off and finally got through the flames and fell into a creek. And they quickly climbed onto the other bank.
A blaze like that is just part of life in the Florida pine forest.
"Whoa, that blaze came out of nowhere." Martin said.
"Yeah." Chris said. "Good thing we got out of it."
Then Martin's Creaturepod rang as then a holographic screen appeared showing the others with concern looks.
"Are you guys, okay?" Koki said.
"Yeah, we just made it out in time." Chris said.
"Okay, hold on." Aviva said. "We're right above you."
And soon, the Tortuga appeared as it hovered above them. And then a rope was lowered down as they grabbed hold of it as they were pulled up. They soon got in the garage as the Tortuga flies a safe distance away from the fire.
A while later, the fire soon dies down, and they were all out as they looked around the burnt area.
"Whoa, there's hardly anything." Aviva said.
"Well, it's nature." Chris said. "But plants will grow back eventually."
"I don't think anything made it out like you guys." Jimmy said.
But it's hard to imagine that any animal could have survive that inferno.
Then, slight movement caught Amber's attention. She looked over to a charred root and went over to it and sniffed it. Then she calls out as they turn to her.
"Amber, whatcha got?" Martin asked as they went over to her.
They then saw a small burrow as then Chris brought out a pair of forceps, and then reaches in the burrow, as they realized he and Martin weren't the only ones to escape the flames.
Chris then pulls out a small snake.
"It's a Pygmy Rattlesnake." Martin said.
"Pygmy?" Koki frowned.
"Yeah, the smallest species of rattlesnake." Chris said.
"Wow, I didn't think there was a rattlesnake that small." Aviva said astonished.
"Yeah, but don't be fooled by his size." Chris said. "He's still a rattlesnake."
Though like other rattlesnakes, Pygmy Rattlesnakes carry hemotoxic venom. It causes excruciating pain and swelling, but is non-fatal.
"Hey, since snakes are everywhere in Florida, let's check out the biggest of all rattlesnakes." Martin said. "The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake."
"Well, we've seen the Western Diamondback so far." Chris said. "It's do it."
The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is the biggest venomous snake in North America. The biggest ones can be 8 feet long, ranging from southern North Carolina, far south to all across Florida, and far west to Mississippi.
Early the next morning, at the crack of dawn they were all working out a plan of how to find the monster rattler.
Plenty of people come to Florida to enjoy the sunshine. Which is why it's called the Sunshine State. And a popular tourist attraction with places like SeaWorld and Disney World.
But Florida is also the best state in all of North America to find reptiles.
Soon, a plan was worked out as they took a 3 hour flight northwest to the Applachicola River in south Georgia. And work their way back south through Florida, towards the Gulf of Mexico.
It wasn't until mid-morning that they finally arrived in a good area, and the Bass Boat was lowered into the river as Chris, Martin, Aviva and Amber were in it.
The Applachicola Forest is wild and remote, but even here, human beings have made their presences felt.
As they followed the river south, Martin then noticed something on the surface.
"There's something in the water." Martin said.
They moved towards the object as it was floating, and also saw movement.
"What is that?" Aviva frowned trying to make it out.
They soon pull up next to it, and soon saw it was a water snake caught in entanglement of a fishing line and a stick.
Chris then quickly made the grab, and caught the snake, but got bit himself as well.
"It's a snake." Chris said.
"A Brown Water Snake." Martin said.
"Oh, poor thing." Aviva said.
"I wish fishermen would be more careful with their stuff." Chris said. "There might be some hooks in here as well."
"How did he get caught in this?" Aviva wondered.
"He must've been diving underwater hunting for fish, and caught in the line." Martin said. "This poor guy probably been drifting on the surface like this for days."
"Okay, let's help him out." Chris said and brought out his pocketknife. "Boy, what a tangle."
Chris then slowly begins to cut through the fishing line, and soon the snake slips free.
"There we go." Martin said. "I think you should be name... Fisher."
Brown Water Snakes are expert underwater hunters, they can even catch fish nearly as big as them. And big teeth and bacteria, and their saliva has an ability that prevents blood from clotting for a period of time.
And soon, Chris was able to remove the last bit of fishing line off Fisher's neck.
Entanglements happen just as often in rivers and lakes as they do in the oceans. And fishing lines and get caught around animals as small as a fish, to animals as big as even a Blue Whale.
"There, all done." Chris announced.
And soon, Chris gently lowers the snake into the water, and Fisher swims off as he dove out of view.
An hour later, Chris pulls the Bass Boat to the shore of the river as they begin to explore in the forest.
They were soon in the forest, but they had an eerie feeling that they could come across anything in this forest. It expands for miles, and even a cousin of the Cougar, the rare and elusive Florida Panther patrols these forests.
Knowing this forest is maze-like, they could easily get lost.
Soon, they came across a creek that they can use to find their way back to the boat.
They followed the creek as they soon came across a cave opening where it's appears to be the source of the creek.
They soon grabbed their flashlights, and headed inside. But immediately, they saw it was slippery, and the cave was littered with spiders. Even though their use to dealing with spiders, but even they have their limits of how they were dealing with them.
And they even saw a big brown spider that was almost like a big brown people-eating spider. But they only saw it once, and Chris and Martin couldn't tell if it was a Wood Spider or a Brown Recluse Spider.
Brown Recluses are one of the deadliest spiders in North America, their bite is similar to a rattlesnake's.
They looked around the tunnel as their lights shine on spiders, a single Bullfrog, and soon a familiar shape of snake with tan coloration with an hourglass pattern appeared.
"Head, there's a Copperhead." Chris said.
They were in a tricky moment, their in a cave with spiders, and now a venomous snake.
Eventually, they made to the other end of the tunnel as Chris had the Copperhead secured on snake tongs.
"Phew, that was a bit tight in there." Aviva said.
A few minutes later, they found a place by the leaf litter to get a good look at the Copperhead.
"Wow, what a cool pattern." Aviva said.
"Yeah, Copperheads are experts in camouflage." Martin said. "They can easily disappear among the dry leaves and pine needles."
"You could walk by a Copperhead hidden, and you wouldn't even know he was there." Chris said.
Like rattlesnakes, Copperheads are Pit Vipers. They can easily sense heat of their prey even in total darkness. And during the summer is when their most active at night.
"Oh, here's a cool thing." Martin said. "When born, Copperheads have bright yellow tails."
"Really?" Aviva asked.
"Yeah, some think it's to lure and attract prey like lizards and frogs." Chris said.
After a few minutes of watching him, they soon left the Copperhead as they headed back to the boat.
3 Days later, they finally made it to the swamps.
They took the canoe on the Bass Boat, and paddled through the water.
Rattlesnakes are good swimmers, so this area might be promising.
But they haven't had any luck so far after a while.
But in an alligator-filled swamp, you never know what you'll come across.
Or what might come across you.
As they paddled, Chris suddenly heard a tap on his oar.
He then looks around and then dives into the water, and after a struggle he soon grabs hold of something.
"Guys, a little help!" Chris said.
"Okay, coming." Martin said.
He and Aviva got out of the canoe and went over to him. And they helped him as they weren't sure what it was.
"This guy's a monster." Chris said.
He then holds something out as a strange hard object came out of the water with a ridge.
And soon, they lifted the object up from the water revealing it was a monster turtle called an Alligator Snapping Turtle. And his jaws makes an alligator look silly.
"Whoa, an Alligator Snapping Turtle!" Martin said amazed.
And soon, after a struggle, they finally hosted the turtle onto a log.
"Whoa, he's huge." Aviva said.
"Yeah, it's one of the biggest freshwater turtles in the world." Chris said.
"The biggest Alligator Snapping Turtle ever found was weighed 249 pounds." Martin said. "Now that is a monster."
"What's that in his mouth?" Aviva asked noticing something.
"Oh, that appendage is how he hunts." Martin explained. "What they'll do, is twitch it around like a worm, attracting fish. He'll even take on and eat birds."
"And that hooked beak has a powerful bite." Chris said. "Those jaws could easily snap a finger off us if not careful."
"And here's what might happen if it's your arm." Martin said grabbing a stick.
He then nears the stick towards the turtle's mouth, and then he bites down on it snapping it in 2.
"Yikes!" Aviva exclaimed.
"Yep." Chris said. "That would be bad."
"Why is he called an Alligator Snapping Turtle anyway?" Aviva asked.
"He got his name for this 3 ridges on the shell." Martin explained gesturing the ridges. "Which looks like the back of an alligator."
Soon, they placed the turtle back into the water as they headed off.
Later, they continue through the waterway as they saw creatures everywhere they turn. Like 2 Anoles, and even a Softshell Turtle.
Eventually, they made it to the shore of the waterway. And decided to go on foot.
Before long, a snake skin was spotted.
"Hey, check it out." Chris said and grabs it.
"A snake skin." Martin said.
"Is it an Eastern Diamondback?" Aviva asked.
"Not likely." Chris said having a close look at it. "If it was, there would be bigger scales with the Diamondback pattern. I think this is that of a Pine Snake."
They then headed off to see what they can find.
As they looked among the hollow-out trees, Chris noticed some movement in one of them.
"Hey, I think I got something." Chris said.
"What is it?" Aviva asked.
"I can't tell." Chris said peaking through the gap. "But it's definitely a snake."
He then climbs up the tree, and soon found an opening for him to get through.
"Okay, I can see it." Chris said and begins to climb in. "Okay, let's see if I can..."
He then suddenly slipped and fell through as Martin, Aviva and Amber cringed when they heard a thud of Chris hitting the ground.
"I'm okay!" Chris called from inside. "I'm fine and... WAH, COTTONMOUTH!"
Then they heard the hiss of a snake from the Cottonmouth proving it wasn't happy of being disturbed.
"Guys, I'm about to bring him out!" Chris called out.
Martin, Aviva and Amber moved aside as Chris used his snake tongs and brought the Cottonmouth out from the tree.
Chris was able to climb out of the tree and rejoins them as the Cottonmouth gaped his mouth open which was a threat display.
"This is exactly why he's called a Cottonmouth." Martin said. "His mouth is all white."
"I can see that." Aviva said.
Even Amber was keeping her distance, recognizing the head shape like with the rattlesnakes and Copperhead.
Then they saw the Cottonmouth twitching his tail like how a rattlesnake would.
"Is he rattling his tail?" Aviva wondered.
"Yeah. If you leaves against it, it's nearly like a rattlesnake." Martin said.
And Cottonmouths are snakes to get bitten, their venom causes bad tissue damage.
"Oh, here's a Wow Fact." Chris said. "I've actually heard these snakes can feed on dead things."
"What?" Aviva said baffled.
"It's true." Martin said. "They're one of the few snakes that will scavenge food. Like carrion, dead fish, and even road kill."
"Quite adaptable for a snake." Chris said.
Sometime later, they were back on the river heading south and pass by a Red-Bellied Watersnake laying on a branch in the shade.
They continue down the river when suddenly the Bass Boat's engine stuttered and smoke appeared.
"Oh, no!" Aviva cried.
Chris turns off the engine as Aviva removes the cover as smoke spews out as she tries to work out what was wrong.
"Ugh! The engine's overheated!" Aviva angrily groaned.
After 3 weeks in their search of a Eastern Diamondback, and things took a bad turn.
After calling Koki and Jimmy to pickup Amber since part of their deal with Masrani was not to have word of a dinosaur beyond Isla Nublar. And last time they checked, there was no dinosaur daycares.
Fortunately, the nearest town was only 4 miles away and they managed to get the broken down boat to a harbor for repairs.
That evening, they were having dinner as the damage was not as bad as Aviva thought. And Koki announced the Bass Boat will be ready by tomorrow.
And Chris was looking at a map and some islands further out in the water. And have heard of rattlesnakes crossing islands to the mainland and coming to islands from time to time.
And thought it meant be worth a look.
The next day, with the Bass Boat fully repaired. They headed out to the shallow water where some islands are.
But this has got to be the craziest place to find a rattlesnake.
"Are you sure about this?" Aviva asked while looking across the water.
"Well, they do often island hop from time to time." Chris said. "So, it's quite possible."
But sometimes crazy things turn out to be true.
Eventually they made to the shallows of a nearby island, and soon a shape was seen in the water ahead of them.
"I got something." Martin said spotting it.
Chris quickly tossed the anchor into the water, and Martin got out with the snake tongs and heads towards it and saw it was an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
Martin was soon able to grab the snake's tail as he wasn't striking. And he was able to hold out revealing it was a monster-sized rattler, looking about 6 feet long. And it's head was as big as Martin's fist.
Martin then brought the snake onto the boat still not showing any aggression. And like with the Western Diamondbacks, Amber kept her distance after recognizing it as a rattlesnake.
Half an hour later, they brought the snake onto the nearby island where he possibly came from. They plan to bring the snake to the mainland once their done with him
Soon, the Tortuga landed as Koki came out. And Jimmy kept his distance like with Amber.
"He sure is different from the Western Diamondbacks." Koki said.
"Yeah, Eastern Diamondback are more of a grayish brown coloration." Chris said. "And their pattern with the diamonds are more of a cream yellow."
Soon the rattlesnake started rattling his tail, but the thing they noticed is that his tail only had 4 rattles.
"That snake sure has a small rattle." Jimmy said seeing it even at his distance.
"Yeah, a rattlesnake at this size would have 20 rattles on it's tail." Martin said.
"But... Why is it short like that?" Aviva wondered.
"Hmm. It's rattle can break off if it hits rocks and other hard things." Chris said. "So, maybe that's what happen."
"A rattlesnake does get a new rattle everything he sheds." Martin said. "So he'll have a proper rattle again eventually. Like our fingernails, it's made of keratin."
"And what's interesting of these guys, they're actually known to have a taste for rabbits." Chris said. "They'll eat anything warm-blooded. They're meanly diurnal snakes. And can be 15 pounds. But the heaviest on record was 34 pounds."
"And they can even live in burrows with Gopher Tortoises." Martin said.
"Really?" Koki said. "But isn't the tortoise in danger."
"The rattlesnake actually lives the tortoise alone." Martin said. "I mean, reptiles aren't mainly in their diet."
Soon, they noticed the rattlesnake getting more active by the warmth of the sand and from the sun. Meaning he could strike at any second. Even the buzz from his short tail was a clear warning.
"I think I'll name this guy... Short Rattle." Martin said.
"Well, by the sound of Short Rattle's tail, I think he's getting upset." Koki said.
"Hmm. A venom sample might be interesting." Aviva said.
"Why you'd want that?" Jimmy asked nervously.
"To make anti-venom." Aviva said.
Soon, a flask was made and Chris begins to head the snake with the tongs. And was soon able to get a good hold behind the head.
Eastern Diamondbacks are equally dangerous as Western Diamondback in venom yield.
"Okay, let's do this." Chris said holding the flash nearing the snake's mouth.
He inches the flask near the mouth, and quickly Short Rattle bites down through the plastic and delivers a shot of venom.
Once done, Chris pulls the flask away and soon released the snake. They were lucky he was a behaved snake.
"This sample works enough to anti-venom." Aviva said. "I'll get to work on it soon."
2 hours later, they transported Short Rattle to the shore of the mainland.
They soon brought him near a forest, and Martin brought him out of a snake bag. And they watched as Short Rattle slithers off.
"What an incredible snake." Martin said.
"Yeah, and so many amazing animals yet to see." Chris said.
Author's Note:
I think the Eastern Diamondback might be my favorite rattlesnake.