This was a hybrid viper I kept in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In September 1991, civilians and military went on a rampage, and when the worst had settled down, the French sent their troops in to see what had happened to the facility where I lived and worked. It was very late at night, but I agreed to tour them around. From Grains of Golden Sand:"Their commander admired my AIDS sign at the entrance but seemed reluctant to leave France’s ten-million-dollar facility in untrained hands.
“Oh, sir,” I said, “maybe I'd better clarify. You haven't heard about my super-weapon?”
“No,” the chief gave a Gaelic shrug. “Can you show us?”
“I'd be delighted.”
“Just make my day,” I thought as I walked over to a big plastic container hidden in the courtyard recesses. “I have these things scattered at strategic locations, including my apartment. You'll have to gather around to see.”
"The contents of the blue tub were impossible to discern, and the officials and soldiers eagerly crowded close. I was standing over the cage, a hooked metal pole in hand.
“Oh, a little closer,” I coaxed. They inched in, bunching together.
“Okay, please don't be scared,” I said. With one hand, I slid open the screen top and smoothly hooked out, at eye level, an enormous viper.
“Behold, my super-weapon!”
"The mass of men recoiled in unison as if choreographed. Collective squawks, curses (Merde! Putain! La vache!), whoops, shouts, and whistles greeted the sight. An exaggerated ophidian phobia kept some men reeling backward until they nearly toppled down the shallow courtyard steps.
"I stood there holding the viper that was balancing angrily on the thin metal of the snake-hook. She hung there, hissing with the slow suck-in and forced exhalation of a creature sublimely calm with deadliness. The bolder military rank and file gravitated closer while the others circled warily in the background.
“Don't be afraid. She can't strike you at this distance,” I assured them. “She can't even reach me.”
"Fascinated by this impromptu natural history lesson, the men ogled and asked a dozen questions. I explained that the snake was still quite deadly, as it was cruel to remove the venomous glands. African vipers are hazardous to pin and hold by the head, as experienced herpetologists will attest, because they have the longest fangs in snakedom. These hollow teeth are independently suspension-operated and can reach back to inject a careless thumb. However, with heavy bodies and sluggish temperaments, vipers can easily be contained on snake hooks.
"This beauty was unique, a cross between the Gabon and rhinoceros viper. I had collected her in the bush three years earlier, and the local villagers admitted that they'd never before seen such a snake. Unlike a typical viper, she had never settled down in captivity and bluffed loudly and dramatically any time that she was disturbed. The epitome of hybrid vigor, she was always ravenous, and always pissed off. A perfect super-weapon.
No comments:
Post a Comment