My name is Austin Stevens.
Austin: “Yes, it’s a rattle snake.”
I’m after one of the world’s deadliest snakes.
It can take a lot to get the perfect photograph of a wild animal.
Sometimes far, far more than you bargain for.
Austin: “It sounds like King Kong in the jungle.”
Austin: “This is a Lancehead viper.
It’s one of the largest vipers found in all of the Americas.
And it’s the snake which causes more snake bite casualties amongst humans than any other
snake on the continent.”
It’s the very first snake I’ve seen here in Mexico.
But it’s a particularly dangerous one.
A single bite from a Lancehead contains many times the amount of venom needed to kill a
human being.
So I want to move it away from where it might find one.
A formidable snake – but it’s not why I’m here.
I’ve come to Mexico on a personal mission.
For the past twenty-five years, I’ve travelled the world, catching and photographing some
of the most dangerous snakes on the planet.
But there is one venomous snake of note that I’ve never encountered in the wild.
Now, it’s time for me to face that last great serpent.
A snake that has been revered here in Mexico for centuries…the Tzabcan rattlesnake.
The Tzabcan is bigger than most other rattlesnakes, often measuring over a metre and a half in
length.
And it can spring forward more than three-quarters of that body length and strike with absolute
precision.
Snakes can be notoriously difficult to find in this part of the world.
And the Tzabcan rattlesnake is rumoured to be more elusive than most.
Austin: “Ola, senior.
Can you have a look at my bike, please?”
Austin: “The rattlesnake I’m looking for is found
only in this part of Mexico.
While he’s taking a look at my bike, let me show you something.
Just look at this.
This is the east coast of Mexico, along the Yucatan Peninsula.
And from here, stretching for thousands of kilometres across to the west coast is nothing
but tropical jungle.
And although Mexico has the largest number of rattlesnake species, there’s only one
that actually lives in this jungle.
And that’s the snake that I’m looking for.”
So to find this great Mexican serpent, I’m heading south away from Cancun.
Once I get about halfway down the peninsula I’ll take off inland away from the tourist
strip and into the jungle.
That’s why I don’t want anything going wrong with my bike.
Mechanic: “I test it.”
Austin: “Yeah?
Good.
Quanto es?”
Mechanic: “Ocheta pesos, senior.”
Austin: “Gracias.
Gracias.
Thank you.
You’ve got a twenty for me?
Thank you, senior.
Well the rattlesnake is so important in this country that it’s even represented on their
money.”
The Tzabcan is unpredictable.
And that makes it especially dangerous.
It can be placid and shy or suddenly aggressive – pursuing its target and striking repeatedly.
Mexico has more than one hundred species of snake - but the Tzabcan is considered by some
to be the most deadly and powerful snake of all.
So powerful, in fact, that it was worshipped here as a God.
This part of Mexico was once home to the Maya.
Four thousand years ago their civilization dominated much of the region until mysteriously
their society died out.
These ruins were the great Mayan city of Chichen Itza.
Snakes were revered here.
So much so that their images appear everywhere.
But it’s the king of snakes – the rattlesnake - that was the most significant snake of all.
It was the Tzabcan that inspired these carvings.
Austin: “Just look at that rattle; it’s enormous.
And you can see how each segment has been carved separately.
And the body comes down and right into this enormous head with this wide-open mouth.
It’s so obviously a rattlesnake.
And I’ve been to places all over the world – I’ve seen carvings of snakes; I’ve
seen paintings of snakes – but never anything as dramatic as this.
I mean, it sticks right up into the sky, that giant rattle, for everyone to see.
And over here, you can see fangs.
Clearly these people knew this was a highly venomous snake.
Fangs depicted here, teeth over here, and the forked tongue, which is common for all
snakes.
The mystery is why did these people revere this deadly serpent?
Nobody knows for certain, but it may have some association with new life and old, the
circle of life.
A snake shedding its skin.
And each time a rattlesnake sheds its skin, it leaves behind a new rattle.
This may have something to do with it.
Whatever it was, it’s had a profound affect on the architecture.
These snakes are depicted everywhere.”
Now I just have to find this legendary rattlesnake in the flesh.
But very little is known about the real-life Tzabcan.
My instincts tell me that my best chance of finding this secretive snake is to head away
from the cities and the tourist sites.
And this is the best way to travel.
With the rush of the wind I can almost escape the intense heat and humidity.
But not for long.
After a few hours, I turn off the highway.
The road gradually gets narrower and narrower.
Until, finally, it runs out altogether.
Austin: ”The bike’s been great up until now, but
it’ll never get me through these jungle parts.
I’m gonna have to be on foot from now onwards.”
As always, I’m travelling light.
It may seem crazy not to carry full camping equipment, but it’s far too heavy and bulky
to maneuver in the rainforest.
Of course this isn’t really the end of the road.
It’s just as far as I can take my bike.
Somewhere along this path is a village where descendants of the Maya are reputed to know
a thing or two about rattlesnakes.
AUDIO
Many indigenous people still live in traditional villages like this.
But I’ve heard that in this village, knowledge of the Tzabcan has been handed down from generation
to generation.
Austin: “Guadalupe?
Guadalupe?”
Guadalupe: “Ola.”
Austin: “Hey, how are you?”
This is Guadalupe – the village chief.
Tradition dictates that I meet with him first.
Austin: “Gracias, gracias.
Thank you.
Austin: “I’m looking for rattlesnakes, the Mayan rattlesnake – Tzabcan.
Do you know Tzabcan?”
Guadalupe: “[speaking Mayan.]”
Austin: “Do, do you know, do you get Tzabcan here?”
Guadalupe: “A-huh.”
Austin: “Yeah?
You’ve seen it?”
Guadalupe: “[speaking Mayan.]”
I was expecting Guadalupe to speak Spanish but instead he’s talking to me in Yucatek
- a Mayan dialect.
Guadalupe: “[speaking Mayan.]”
But he seems to understand my questions.
So I cut straight to the chase.
Guadalupe: “[speaking Mayan.]”
Austin: “Do you have somebody who has medicine?”
Guadalupe: “[speaking Mayan.]”
Austin: “Okay.”
That’s the next link in the chain – the medicine man.
And now that I’ve paid my respects, it’s time to seek him out.
Austin: “Ola, senior.”
Medicine man: “Ola.
Buenos dias.”
Austin: “Buenos dias.”
Austin: “This is really pretty interesting stuff
here.
This medicine man has got a collection of roots and plants here and he’s apparently
making a concoction that will help with snakebite treatment.
I’ve just got to find out a bit more.
Senior, when you make this, do I eat it?”
Medicine man: “No, no.”
Austin: “No, I don’t eat it?”
Medicine man: “No.
Este, es viperol.”
Austin: “It’s called viperol?”
Medicine man: “Si, si come.”
Austin: “Can you believe that?
It sounds like viper, like viperol.
It might be the right thing.
I eat this, and then this?”
Medicine man: “[speaking unintelligibly].”
Austin: “It seems that, if you get bitten, first
thing you do is you eat some of this viperol.
Maybe that’s going to stop the venom from spreading; I’m not sure.
Then after that, you take this concoction and you stick it on the bite.
It’s hard to imagine where these ideas came from originally and how they designed this.
But apparently, they’ve got confidence in this and they believe that if you get bitten
by a highly venomous snake, this is the answer.”
Medicine man: “[speaking unintelligibly].”
Austin: “Gracias, senior.
Thank you.
That’s fantastic.”
Austin: “Well it’s very nice for the medicine
man to present me with his version of snake bite serum.
However, it’s never been proved scientifically that anything works except the modern-day
serum, which we manufacture specifically for certain snakes.
Here I carry with me, for example, a polyvalent serum, and I’ve got ten ampoules of this
stuff with me.
Even this does not necessarily guarantee my saving.
It would certainly buy me time.
If I was injected with this, it would give me more hours to get to hospital.
I might still need more after that.
Lots of things to consider when it comes to snake bite poisoning.”
The medicine man thinks I might just be needing this snakebite cure, because the villagers
have plans to get me a rattler.
I would expect to be searching remote areas to find a Tzabcan.
But the locals say they have a way to make the snake come to me.
My instructions are to wait here in the centre while the hunters fan out.
At least I hope that’s what they’re doing!
Austin: “Now, what these guys are doing now is incorporating
the old Mayan tradition of hunting.
So they form a circle, actually go wide around and whatever’s within that circle, they
start beating on the outskirts and bringing it closer and closer.
This normally works well with wild animals, but I’m not sure it’s gonna work with
reptiles.
But there is a chance.
I mean, snakes pick up vibration and that’s one of the big things.
So if they’re beating the ground, coming closer and closer, they might in fact just
flush out a snake or two.
And if I’m lucky, I might be able to get a shot or actually catch one.”
But before the snake hunters can get into place, the weather suddenly changes.
There’s a reason why they call this the ‘rainforest.’
Showers come and go without warning.
But it’s on a shout from the leader that the hunt gets going anyway.
Leader: “Byoda!”
Snakes pick up vibrations through the ground, so they’ll definitely be sensing this.
Luckily, though rattlesnakes can strike at lightning speed, they don’t move too fast
along the ground.
Austin: “Oh, I can see something.
If I was moving through the jungle, they would just be gone like a shot.
I’m keeping this dead still hoping they come close to me.
It’s a peccary mother with two young ones.
She’s coming right past me.”
They may look cute, but peccaries can actually be very aggressive.
So fierce, in fact, that they’ve never been domesticated.
Austin: “Look at that.
That’s incredible.
She came right past me.
I’m keeping dead still, but look at that.”
Astonishing.
It’s like a ‘victory lap!’
Austin: “Peccaries are reputed to actually attack
snakes.
They are supposed to actually jump on a snake and hoof it to death.
Whether that’s actually true or not, who’s seen it, I don’t know.”
Despite the best efforts of the hunters to flush out a Tzabcan, the next hour brings
only more rain.
But it doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm.
Austin: “That was fantastic to see those peccaries
and I think I got a few shots as well.
I didn’t expect that.
But not a sign of a snake.
I mean, this jungle is so thick, how am I going to find a snake in this jungle?
And I’m very close to the village too.
So I think my chances are pretty bad.
I’m going to have to find something else.”
I’ve heard a story that Tzabcans can be found underground.
Deep underground.
So that’s where I’m heading – first thing tomorrow morning.
Local legends say that the Tzabcan rattlesnake guards the entrance to the underworld.
And unbelievably this old guy is said to know where that entrance is.
Trouble is – he’s speaking Yucatek - so I haven’t a clue where he’s leading me.
Villager: “[unintelligible].”
Austin: “Wow, look at this.”
This is a cenote - a Yucatan sinkhole – an entrance to a vast underground waterway.
Austin: “This is my first cenote, which he’s showing me now.
And obviously, this is just the entrance and it goes way out underneath.
I can’t see; it’s dark.
It just disappears over there.
It looks fantastic.
I can  go inside?
Yeah, yeah?”
Villager: “[unintelligible].”
I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’
But  first I need to find out what I’m getting
into.
Almost all the rivers in this region lie underground.
You can only get to them through these cenotes.
The question is – is this really the sort of place to go looking for a venomous snake?
Austin: “Woah.
This is fantastic.
And there’s water down here, I just can’t see.
Let’s get out of this.
This is an incredible place.
Get outta here.
I don’t like this claustrophobic.
I don’t want to be without light if I can help it.
There’s movement down here, there’s movement down here.”
I think it’s just bats.
But there might be another cave down here if I follow the river.
Most snakes are good swimmers.
So if I can find another chamber, I may just find my Tzabcan.
The water is astonishingly clear, almost like it isn’t there at all.
Austin: “Wow.
These places are fantastic.
There must be hundreds of them.
And all these stalactites all over the place.
It’s really, really beautiful.”
When I come up I’m in a completely new cave… and I’m not alone.
Austin: “Ah, there’s a snake!
Wow!
Ah, it’s a boa constrictor.
Quite a big one too, it’s about two metres.
These guys can bite.
They’re not venomous, but they can bite and they’ve got about a hundred little teeth
in their mouth.
A reaction bite would be pretty sore.
Boa constrictors are quite, quite common all around this area.
The biggest snake you’ll find in Mexico.
They’re probably down in this cave, feeding on bats.
He’s actually gorgeous.
I’ll let him go off.
Off you go.
Is that fantastic?
There are snakes down here.
What a beautiful snake.”
I search for another chamber but the rock and water start to close in.
Austin: “Oh, theses underwater, these underground
waterways must go for hundreds and hundreds of miles.”
There’s no way I’m risking going any further.
Otherwise I’ll never find my way back.
I swim down in search of the tunnel I came through before.
But nothing looks the same.
Every time I look for light, all I see is rock.
It’s then I spot a terrapin.
Like me they have to go to the surface to breathe.
Problem is they are capable of holding their breath for long periods.
Unlike tortoises, terrapins are equally at home in water and on land.
I hope this one is heading for land.
I’ve no idea where I’ve come out, I’m just glad that I am out.
Take it from me - don’t mess with the underworld!
The locals have done everything they can to try and help me find this last serpent.
Now it’s time to go it alone.
It’s early.
Morning is one of the best times to find snakes.
Tzabcan rattlesnakes are well camouflaged.
So you have to know where to look for them – under trees, roots and logs, where they
can escape attention and lie in wait for prey.
This is how I work best.
On my own I start to tune into the landscape.
Even when it’s a landscape that’s new to me.
Gradually I begin to notice things that I would have just walked past before.
Austin: “Look what I’ve got.
I just spotted him as I was walking past.
He’s nearly under this log, but I’m just gently holding on ‘cause he’s pulling
like mad.
These guys disappear like a shot.
Here we go, here we come.
Here he comes.
Now this is, ah, look at that, oh, isn’t he gorgeous?
Look at the colours.
This is when I’m astonished by nature.
Can you imagine designing a snake with colours like this?
This is a coral snake.
Wonderful little snake.
Absolutely fantastic.
I’m trying to bring his head up a little closer to have a good look.
Look at that, isn’t he gorgeous?
I mean that is so fantastic.
Look at that black, yellow, red, yellow again, black.
Black and yellow kill a fellow.
Don’t get bitten by this snake.
It’s not a snake to play with.
There is an anti-snake bite serum designed for the coral snake.
But you wouldn’t like to get bitten by the neuro-toxic venom.
Always the worst, eh?
Kills very quickly, much quicker than some of the fibro-toxic and the hemo-toxic venom.
That’s the difference between them and the hinged-fanged snakes, like the rattlesnakes.
If I put him down and leave him to go about his way, off you go.
Look at that.
Watch him disappear.
Isn’t that incredible?
Lucky find.
It’s not a snake you find that easily.
That is the most beautiful snake that I’ve seen in this forest.
There he goes, there he goes.
Working his way along, yeah.
Lucky find.
Very lucky find.”
But no rattlesnake.
By late morning it is already too hot for snakes to be active.
But I’m going to keep moving.
The deeper I get into the jungle the more chance I have of finding an undisturbed rattler.
I’m navigating by using the sun.
But it’s better to keep my head down.
Not just to look for snakes, but because the forest floor is riddled with holes that drop
down to the underground rivers.
But what I do see, really sets me on edge.
Austin: “This is a tarantula.
And I don’t want to upset him and I don’t want him jumping in my face.
Oh!
See that movement?
They are like grease lightning; it’s unbelievable.
This is what scares me the most about spiders; you can’t control them as easy as you can
a snake.
They’ve got big fangs, fangs about a half an inch long.
If these guys get mad and you fool around on them, they stand up on their front legs,
they raise their front legs right up and they expose those fangs.
They warn you that they can bite you if they have to.
All of these spiders are venomous.
Some are more venomous than others; some are dangerous to humans, some not.
I would not like to be bitten by this guy.
This is one of my greatest fears.
I’m not too keen on spiders.”
So I leave the tarantula where it is and plough on.
With dusk drawing in I need to get moving.
Guadelupe told me about a Shaman – a witch doctor – who is said to have a Tzabcan.
Or at least knows where to find one.
But his house is hidden away deep in the forest.
Sure enough the Shaman does have a Tzabcan.
But it’s roasting on his fire.
I have never seen anything like it.
Austin: “The snake has been dried out completely,
so it’s crispy hot.
Originally, the snake’s head is cut off and the tail and these are discarded.
And the rest of the body is just placed out in the sun or over a fire and allowed to dry,
once they’ve removed the intestines and all the innards.”
Shaman: “[Speaking unintelligibly.]”
Austin: “The Tzabcan protects against all different diseases.
Yeah.”
This ancient form of medicine has been handed down from the Maya.
Austin: “Vincenti believes that the whole snake
has medicinal properties.
Wow, this is just incredible, what I’m witnessing here.
And they make it into a complete and very fine, fine powder.
Bones, meat, everything crushed into this fine powder.
And by swallowing this, they believe it protects against various ailments.
And, from what I can make out, every kind of disease you can possibly think of.
It seems that there’s different ways to take the powder, eventually.
You can either sprinkle it on your food, or you can take it just complete whole, as it
is.
And Vincenti assures me that he’s never seen a doctor in his life.
He takes about a teaspoon of this two or three times a day.”
It’s not something that I’d recommend.
Austin: “How’s that for ironic?
I’m looking for this rare Tzabcan rattlesnake; the first one I find is in a hut, being ground
into powder.
One good thing did come of this though; he told me that every snake he’s found just
about has been near temple roots.
So that gives me something to work on.”
The next morning I resume my search.
The further I travel from the village the thicker and denser the jungle becomes.
It’s no surprise that people rarely see a Tzabcan if this is indeed where these snakes
live.
(((growling coming from jungle)))
Austin: “Hear that?
That’s howler monkeys.
And I know howler monkeys frequent temple roots.
And the Shaman said he finds all his rattlesnakes at temple roots.
This might just be my chance.”
The howlers are on the move.
But the way their calls echo round the forest it’s hard to keep track of exactly where
they are.
Harder still when you’re trying to keep one eye on them and the other on the rough
terrain.
But I think I’m gaining…
Austin: ”Listen to them howling.
Hear that sound?
Wow.
How can such a small animal do such a small sound?
Sounds like King Kong in the jungle.
Look at ‘em go.
Watch ‘em go.”
Howlers are one of the loudest animals on land.
Their call can be heard up to a mile away.
Austin: “They’re getting higher and higher all
the time.
I’m gonna have to try and get higher.
It’s fantastic.
I’m right amongst the family of howlers.
They’re all around me; they don’t seem to mind our presence.
I think they’re so busy feeding now.
They’ve got such thick, furry jowls.
It’s incredible to see them.
Look at the little baby right over there.
They’re so tiny.
They’re so agile; they hang by their little tails.
I’m lost getting a couple of good pictures of these guys.
It’s not easy to see how howler monkeys this close.
I’m very lucky.
There’s nothing more exciting ever to me than being in the presence of wild animals
and them accepting you to be there.
It’s great.”
And they have done me a huge favour.
Austin: “I was hoping I’d run into some howlers
and there they were.
And they brought me straight to this temple.
I would never have seen it if I was down there; there’s too much bush.
They come up high and they stay over you and I followed them.
And this is possibly a great place for snakes because there’s so much debris around here
and old rocks and places to hide.
This might be one of my best chances to actually find the snake I’m looking for.”
All snakes are cold-blooded so they have to rely on the sun to get them moving.
These Mayan ruins are perfect.
The jungle is clearer here and the stones of the buildings just soaks up the heat.
But I haven’t got long - the sun here gets so fierce, so fast, that any rocks will soon
get too hot for a basking snake.
The sun is rising quickly.
Far quicker than I expected.
Already the steps of the temple are hot to the touch.
If there is a Tzabcan here it’s likely to be somewhere a little more shaded.
Austin: “These are such great places.
Passages everywhere, rocks on the ground, broken trees; everything you want.
I’ve got a movement.
There’s a snake here; there’s really a snake here.
He’s right in the leaves.
And it’s big!
Yes, it’s a rattlesnake and it might be a, I think it’s a Tzabcan.
I’ve gotta be very careful.
These rattlesnakes are famous for being able to strike at great range.
He’s trying to get away.
I’m going to stick my hand in and just grab.
I can’t see where, got him!
I’ve got him!
It is, it’s a Tzabcan rattlesnake.
It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for, and he’s enormous!
And he’s cool, he’s cool to the touch.
He’s not freaking out; he’s just behaving and he’s looking around.
He’s trying to come to my head.
I must get him out of here.
I’m so confined in the space here.
I’m so confined, I can’t work with him like this.
I want to get him out.
Here we go, here we go.
Come on boy, come on.
I’m just, holy mackerel, I’ve reached the end here.
I’ve gotta hold him up.
There’s nowhere to go but down.
Ah!
Oh, I’ve got him.
I’ve got him.
Yes.”
Austin: “Look at this.
That’s the snake I’ve been looking for.
And it’s a big one as well.
He’s just wondering what’s happened because I suddenly brought him out of a dark area
into a light area and he’s a little bit confused and that’s my best time to work
with him.
I’ve got to be very careful.
I mean these snakes are far strikers.
Like all the vipers, they strike at tremendous speed.
They could probably about twenty foot per second, no problem at all.
And their venom is tremendously powerful.
It’s one of the most dangerous snakes in the world and certainly the most toxic of
all the rattlesnakes.
Even with today’s modern technology, with the serum devised for the snake, it’s still
very dangerous.
You need large quantities of that serum to neutralize the bite from a snake like this.
Wow, and he’s a gorgeous snake.
What I’d like to show you what makes this snake a little bit different from other rattlesnakes.
Most rattlesnakes have got a fairly standard brown flattish body.
And this guy has a raised ridge on his back.
That really sets him apart.
None of the other rattlesnakes have got that.
Let me just line him up a bit.
There we go.
Look at that, look at that ridge over there.”
Austin: “He’s got a raised spine and that’s
the first thing you’ll notice about these snakes.
That makes them different from the other rattlesnakes.
Gives the snake a triangular look.
Also, their scales are very round and almost beaded.
It gives that beaded effect.
The scales are keeled.
Each scale has got a slot in the middle of each one, giving this keeled scale and raised
scale sort of effect.
It’s beautiful.
What a snake.
I never thought I’d be able to handle one just like this.
Of course, there’s the rattle at the end of the tail; that’s a giveaway.
That is probably for every animal, every person living in Americas, one of the greatest warning
signs ever devised.
Everybody knows the sound of a rattlesnake.
And when a rattlesnake rattles his tail at top speed, it actually buzzes.
And he has to shake it very fast and it rattles and anybody knows that sound.
That means there’s a snake in the district; be careful, keep away.
You such a good boy.
You’re not even rattling at me.
I can’t believe it.
This guy seems to know me.
He says, ‘I know this guy.
I’ve been hearing about him.
He’s been looking for us.’
Austin: “I’m looking forward to getting some photographs
of this guy.
He’s really gorgeous and he’s quite, quite docile still.
I just want to move closer to the head.
The head, of course, is very interesting.
If you look at the nose, of all the vipers and all the rattlesnakes that you see, in
between the eye and the nostril, you see that pit.
That’s the heat receptor and this allows the snake to detect minute changes in temperature.
And that is important when following his food.
A warm-blooded animal like a mouse or a rat, even in the pitch dark without seeing him,
by using those heat receptors.
And a mouse and a rat shooting past him, right in front of him, picks up the heat change
with that receptor and is able to strike accurately and grab that mouse.
It’s fantastic.
Of course, they flicker their tongues continuously and the tongue is a smelling apparatus.
They smell with their tongues.
And like all the vipers, these guys have got large fangs.
Snakes are cold-blooded, so as he’s warming up, he’s getting more active.
I’m holding him out here in the sun, so he’s slowly getting more active and wanting
to get away.
And I’d like to still look at those fangs, if I can.
The fangs are so perfectly designed, they actually fold up in the roof of the mouth.
And when the snake is striking at its prey, it shoots the fangs forward, bites, injects
venom and pulls them back.
It’s nature’s most perfect killing machine.
It’s fantastic.”
Austin: “I’d love to show you those fangs, but
to do that, I’d have to grab the snake by the head and he’s probably not gonna like
that.
It might just be possible.
Woops!
You won’t get them on me.
This is not going to be very easy.
Nah, I want him right at the end.
Right at the end, other way.
Other way, go back.
No, I don’t want you there.
This is, this is the most dangerous part.
What I think I’m going to do is rather use the flat end of the tongs and see if I can
do that.
The fangs are so large that, if you don’t get the head exactly right, they can pierce
your finger without even opening the mouth.
Because he can drop the fangs just below the jaw line.
There we go.
Okay.
It’s very important to get your fingers in exactly the right spot as well.
There we go.
I’ve actually got the head right in my hand.
And he’s not putting up a struggle.
He’s a really nice snake; he’s fantastic.
He’s gorgeous.
You’ve got to be so careful.
The fangs are that large that, if he gets agitated and he just drops them below the
bottom jaw, he can prick your thumb.
So you gotta keep your thumb really way back.
I’ve got this little screwdriver here that I actually use for working on my camera.
I may just be able to show you the fangs a little bit.
Remember, they’re hinging up against the roof of the mouth and I have to just entice
him to bring them a bit forward.”
Austin: “Look at the tongue.
He says, ‘what’s going on?’
I’m pretty nervous about doing this.
This is a very short little screwdriver, this.
Let’s just see if I can, aw yeah.
Oh he actually wants to bite.
Look at the fangs, there they are.
And they’re covered by a protective sheath, which is not quite clearly visible there.
Maybe if I just use the sheath, there you are.
On the right side, you can clearly see the fangs.
And there’s a drop of venom coming out.
Look at that.
That’s all you need.
A drop of venom like that is capable of killing an adult human being.
Oh, and inside the mouth, woah.
It’s not easy to show, but in the bottom jaw, there are rows of teeth and there are
rows of teeth in the top jaw.
Six rows all together.
There, I’m touching on the teeth.
Those teeth are used to grip the animal that it’s feeding on and pull it down into the
throat.
The fangs are basically only used to strike, inject the venom.
There, I’ve got the fang, there I’ve pushed the other sheath right back.
You can see them clearly.
Man, look at those little hypodermic needles.
Imagine being stabbed by that and venom being injected into you.
Oh, that’s terrible.
If you look in the bottom of the mouth, you can actually see the trachea.
Below the trachea is where he actually keeps his tongue, in a little slot down there.
And the trachea, through which he breathes, actually can be extended right out of the
mouth when he’s swallowing a large animal.”
Austin: “Wow, that’s fantastic.
He’s given us a few drops of venom.
He’s been so well behaved.
To release this now, to not get bitten when I release the head, I’m going to have to
just step back and drop it very quickly, like that.
Such a well-behaved snake I’ve got.
No problems here at all.
I’ve got to take some photos of this guy.
I’m gonna love to set him up in a few different places.
We’ll just take one shot over here.
He’s enjoying the sun.
As I’ve put him here, I can just feel he goes dead.
He’s feeling the sunrays baking down and he’s enjoying that.
Get a head shot here.
That’s my first ever picture of a Tzabcan.
Austin: “I’m trusting this guy.
He poses so beautifully.”
This is a once in a lifetime experience…
Austin: “Oh yes.”
…and it’s hard to stop my enthusiasm getting the better of me.
Austin: “Incredible snake.
That’s excellent.
Really nice, nice.
I think he’s enjoying this.
Really nice.
That looks pretty good.
A lot of shots, fantastic.
You can see right through the pits.
This is good stuff.
He’s so, oh yeah, this is how you want to work with a snake.
Oh, that’s fantastic.
If all snakes would pose for photos like this, you wouldn’t have half the problem.”
Austin: “Isn’t this fantastic?
I mean look at that shot, you know?
I could get really close to this guy.
Normally, when I’m working with a rattlesnake like that, it’s agro, striking out maybe,
rattling, going off at you and you have to stand back and take a long lens shot.
This guy was so fantastic, so calm.
I went right up to him, right there in the wild, put him on that log and actually took
photos, fantastic pictures.
I mean, I could go right up his nostrils.
That’s beautiful.
It’s not often you get a chance like that.
Most snakes won’t let you do that.
This was good luck, very good luck.”
I’d finally found my last great serpent – in the most magical of surroundings.
