Shouldn’t venomous snakes be considered the “kings of animals”? No, even venomous snakes have “natural enemies.” Scientists from the “Snake Island” expedition once witnessed this scene: a keen-eyed eagle searching for food on Snake Island, engaging in a fierce battle with a viper, ultimately pecking the viper to death.
Hedgehogs are also “foes” of vipers. When a viper extends its forked tongue, the hedgehog shows no weakness, bristling its entire body with spines and charging at the viper. Despite the viper’s efforts to kill the hedgehog, the spiny creature remains unfazed. In the end, the viper’s head is left crushed by the hedgehog’s attack, becoming its meal.
In the dense jungles of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China, there’s an animal called the mongoose, skilled in preying on cobras. When they encounter each other, a “battle to the death” is inevitable. Eventually, the cobra may entwine the mongoose’s body, but the mongoose will crush the cobra’s head. Within minutes, the cobra is devoured completely.
In Africa, there’s a type of red ant capable of killing large pythons. Pythons have thick, sturdy bodies, making them formidable opponents for lions and tigers but no match for tiny red ants. What’s the secret? These red ants produce formic acid in their bodies. When a python is surrounded by the ants, thousands of them inject formic acid into the python’s body, causing its demise.
Venom from snakes is extremely potent, but it’s ineffective against animals like eagles, hedgehogs, red ants, wild boars, mongooses, and yellow-throated martens. Why?
Scientists have conducted various experiments on the physical, chemical, and physiological properties of snake venom and reached this conclusion: snake venom is lethal to many animals like apes, dogs, rabbits, and mice. It can destroy nerve cells, endothelial cells in blood vessels, and red blood cells, as well as break down proteins, causing significant damage to muscle fibers and fibrinogen. However, in some animals like hedgehogs and mongooses, snake venom has no effect when it enters their stomachs because snake venom is not a gastric poison. Similarly, in animals like red ants, due to the structure of their bodies, venom has difficulty entering their bodies.
No matter how fierce an animal may be, or how potent its venom, it cannot become the “king of animals” as it still has its “natural enemies.” This is the law of nature.