讓你覺得蛇類更加恐怖的十大理由(上)

We all know snakes aren't evil, but a lot of people find them incredibly creepy. Thanks to their tongues, teeth, and legless bodies, serpents are often portrayed as villains in bad Syfy movies and novels featuring noseless wizards. True, snakes keep the rodent population under control, but due to eerie facts like these, plenty of people still think they're awfully freaky.

我們都知道蛇不是惡魔，但是很多人卻十分害怕。因爲它們的舌頭、尖牙和沒有四肢的軀幹，蛇在美國Syfy頻道的垃圾電影和故事裏的巫師沒有鼻子這類小說裏，常常被刻畫爲壞蛋。當然，蛇控制着齧齒類動物的數量，但是由於前面那些莫名其妙的事實，蛇仍然讓無數人感到十分恐懼。

e House

10.蛇屋

Ben and Amber Sessions thought they were getting a great deal. Their five-bedroom house in the country cost only $180,000. If only they'd watched more horror movies, they would've known something was up, especially once the realtor started talking about the "previous family."

本（Ben）和安伯·塞森斯（Amber Sessions）以爲他們賺了一個大便宜。他們在鄉村帶5間臥室的房子只花了18萬美元。如果他們看過的恐怖電影再多些就好了，他們就會知道一定發生了什麼事，尤其是當房產經紀人開始說到"前面的住戶"時。

Evidently, that family hadn't wanted to pay their mortgage, so they'd made up a tall tale about a snake infestation. Of course, it was totally untrue, the real estate agent assured Ben and Amber. Happy to get such a great house, the Sessions signed a paper acknowledging the crazy serpent story and found themselves the owners of a new house. Then their lives turned into a started when Amber found eight garter snakes slithering around the house. Soon, the snakes were popping up everywhere. They were swimming in their well, releasing a musk that tainted the water. Sometimes, so many congregated in the yard that the ground looked alive. Even worse, when the Sessions went to sleep, they were serenaded with the sound of hundreds of garter snakes crawling through the owingly, the Sessions had moved into a house built on top of a hibernaculum, which is a hangout where snakes sleep during the winter. Once things warmed up, the creatures awoke and invaded the Sessions' new home. The family was in no real danger. Garter snakes are only mildly venomous and can't harm humans. Still, there's something inherently revolting about sharing a house with innumerable reptiles. As Amber put it, "It felt like we were living in Satan's lair." The couple declared bankruptcy and moved out as fast as they could.

很明顯，那一家人不願償付按揭貸款，所以他們編造了一個半真半假的故事，說有蛇侵入。當然，這完全不是真的，房產經紀人向本和安伯保證。塞森斯一家很高興能得到這麼大一所房子，簽署了一份確認蛇的恐怖故事的文件，立即成爲了新房子的主人。隨後，他們的生活變成了一場噩夢。噩夢始於安伯發現8條襪帶蛇在房子周邊遊走。很快，到處都出現了這些蛇。他們在井裏遊動，放出的麝香味污染了水。有時候，院子裏聚集了太多蛇，地面看上去都像是活動的。還有更嚴重的，當塞森斯一家睡覺時，他們耳邊會奏起幾百條襪帶蛇從牆上爬過發出的樂聲。這所房子建在動物冬伏地上面，塞森斯一家不明就裏地搬了進去——蛇經常在這裏出沒，冬天則在這裏睡覺。一旦氣候變暖，這些動物醒來，便侵入塞森斯的新家。這家人其實沒有面臨多大危險。襪帶蛇是性情溫和的毒蛇，不會對人類構成危害。但是，與數不勝數的爬行動物共享一所房子，仍然讓人不由自主地反感。就像安伯說的，"好像我們住在撒旦的巢穴中。"這對夫妻也宣稱破產，儘快搬走了。

Snake That Steals Poison From Toads

9.偷蟾蜍毒液的蛇

There's a difference between poison and venom. Sure, they'll both kill you, but venom is injected through a bite or sting, while poison has to be swallowed or inhaled.

毒素和動物毒液有所區別。當然，它們都會使人致命，但是動物毒液是通過叮咬注入人體的，而毒素是被人嚥下或吸入的。

Now let's focus on the tiger keelback. Unlike cobras or mambas, this Japanese serpent is non-venomous. If it bites you, it'll hurt, but you could shake it off and just walk away. But while the tiger keelback lacks fangs, it does pack two glands brimming with poison on the back of its neck. These nuchal glands release toxins called "bufadienolides," which attack the heart and make breathing difficult. However, the keelback can't actually produce poison. So where are these chemicals coming from? Tiger keelbacks love chowing down on toads, and these warty amphibians have glands overflowing with bufadienolides. When snakes pig out on a bowlful of toxic toads, they load up on poison to fight off predators. Their bodies then modify the poisons to make them even more powerful. These supercharged substances give the snakes a confidence boost, so chances are slim that they'll back down from a fight. If you ever see one of these guys slithering across your path, don't pick it up.

現在我們集中討論一下赤練蛇（tiger keelback）。與眼鏡蛇和曼巴蛇不同，這種日本蛇沒有毒性。如果被它咬到，你會感到疼痛，甩掉它，走開就可以了。但是，儘管赤練蛇沒有毒牙，它頸部背後有兩個裝滿毒液的腺體。這些頸部腺體釋放的毒素叫做"蟾蜍二烯羥酸內酯"，可以影響心臟，讓呼吸困難。但是，赤練蛇其實不能產生毒液。那麼這些化學物質又來自哪裏呢？赤練蛇喜歡吃蟾蜍，而這些長疣的兩棲動物長有一些腺體，裏面充滿蟾蜍二烯羥酸內酯毒素。當蛇吃下大量有毒的蟾蜍後，它們貯存毒素，以備回擊對手。它們的身體會對毒液進行改造，甚至增加其毒性。這些增強自身力量的物質讓這些蛇信心大漲，所以它們面對挑戰幾乎從不退縮。如果你看見路上溜過一條，別去捉它。

in Births

8.單性生殖

Scientists have known for some time that female vertebrates don't always need males to conceive. This process is called facultative parthenogenesis, and chickens, turkeys, sharks, and Komodo dragons are all able to reproduce without male assistance. But all those animals have been observed in captivity. No one had ever found a vertebrate virgin birth in the wild until 2012, when scientists studying the spawn of North American cottonmouths and copperheads found that 2.5–5 percent of all pit viper litters were born without fathers.

科學家早已知道，雌性脊椎動物受孕不一定需要雄性。這個過程叫做兼單性生殖，家養雞、火雞、鯊魚和最大的蜥蜴科莫多龍都能在沒有雄性的情況下繁殖後代。但是，所有這些動物都是在隔離環境下進行觀察的。直到2012年纔有人在野生自然狀態下發現單性生殖的例證——當研究北美食魚蝮和銅頭腹蛇的卵時，科學家發現2.5%~5%的響尾蛇科毒蛇的幼蛇都沒有爸爸。

While scientists aren't exactly sure what causes facultative parthenogenesis to occur in wild vipers, they know the process starts with meiosis. That's the phase of sexual reproduction when sex cells divide in two halves, each with half of the chromosomes needed to create a new snake. Usually, these haploid cells need input from the father, but in bizarre cases, the mother's cells merge with each other and create future serpents. For the most part, scientists think these virgin birth babies are sterile, but in 2012, one researcher claimed he found a garter snake that gave birth to fertile offspring.

科學家還不十分明確導致野生毒蛇出現偶發單性生殖的原因，但他們知道這個過程始於減數分裂。減數分裂是有性生殖的一個階段：生殖細胞分成兩部分，每部分帶有一半創造新生命所需要的染色體。通常，這些單倍體細胞需要父方染色體；但是在特殊情況下，母方卵細胞相互融合，產生未來的小蛇。科學家認爲絕大部分通過單性生殖出生的幼蛇都沒有生殖能力，但2012年，一位研究人員聲稱發現一條襪帶蛇產出了具有生殖能力的後代。

Sense Your Heartbeat

7.蟒蛇感覺你的心跳

Occasionally reaching 5.5 meters (18 ft), boa constrictors are some of the most affectionate animals on the planet. All they want to do is hug you—to death. While they don't eat people, they have been known to cuddle with humans from time to time.

體長達5.5米（18英寸），蟒蛇是地球上滿懷愛意的動物之一。它們只想擁抱你——讓你窒息。它們雖然不吃人，但是時不時擁抱人。

Once a boa wraps you up, there's no way you can play possum and hope the snake lets you go. While you might close your eyes and hold your breath, the constrictor isn't fooled. It can feel your heart archers from Dickinson College stuck simulated hearts into dead rats and gave the rodents to hungry snakes. The fake hearts were connected to a pump that scientists controlled from a distance, and they varied the amount of time the hearts beat from feeding to feeding. Boas let go sooner if the heart wasn't beating at all. And if the heart pumped for longer than 20 minutes, they actually gave up. Since they could feel the organ beating away seemingly endlessly, they figured it wasn't worth spending so much energy on such a scrappy rat.

一旦被蟒蛇纏住，你裝死是沒用的，更別希望蟒蛇會把你放掉。儘管你閉上眼睛、屏住呼吸，蟒蛇也不會上當。它能感覺到你的心跳。迪金森學院的研究人員將模擬心臟植入老鼠屍體，把老鼠放在飢餓的蛇面前。人造心臟與遠處科學家控制的泵相連，他們變換心臟跳動的時間，重複投放老鼠進行試驗。如果心臟根本不跳動，蟒蛇不久就會鬆開老鼠。如果心臟跳動時間持續20分鐘以上，它們就會放棄。它們既然感覺心臟無休止地跳動下去，就會發覺不值得爲一隻精力如此旺盛的老鼠花這麼大力氣。

Disease That Makes Snakes Tie Themselves In Knots

6.讓蛇把自己打成結的疾病

Without a doubt, the two scariest words in the English language are "new virus." Whenever scientists discover one of these infectious agents, there's always a chance it might start a global pandemic of Stephen King proportions.

毫無疑問，英語裏最讓人驚慌的詞語就是"新病毒"。無論科學傢什麼時候發現了一種傳染性病原體，它未來總可能會像史蒂芬·金的暢銷作品那樣迅速傳播，引發全球流行病。

And humans aren't the only creatures that worry about the viral apocalypse. In 2009, snakes at the Steinhart Aquarium in California were hit with a mysterious virus that scientists had never seen before. While the new pathogen didn't turn the serpents into killer rage monsters or cause their flesh to fall off their bones, the symptoms were nearly as and pythons infected with this deadly virus suffer from a debilitating illness called "inclusion body disease." In the first stage of this sickness, the snake vomits uncontrollably. Next, it starts acting like it's had too many drinks, swaying back and forth, flipping over on its back, and staring at the sky like it's watching the stars. And then things get really gross. The snake crawls over its own body, back and forth, until it's tied itself into one big knot that it can't disease is caused by an arenavirus, an agent distantly related to the pathogen that causes Ebola. The arenavirus attacks the brain, making the snake work itself into the world's most horrifying bow. There's no cure for inclusion body disease, and any snake that gets infected has to be put down. The only silver lining here is humans can't contract the same affliction, which is great news, as the results wouldn't be pretty.

人類不是唯一擔心病毒災難的生物。2009年，加利福尼亞州斯坦哈特水族館（Steinhart Aquarium）的蛇受到一種神祕病毒侵害，科學家從沒見過這種病毒。雖然這種新型病原體沒有把這些蛇變成暴躁的殺手怪物，也沒有讓它們的肌肉從骨骼上脫落，它們出現的症狀還是讓人們感到不安。受到這種致命病毒感染的蟒蛇和巨蟒忍受着一種疾病的折磨，逐漸衰弱，這種病叫做"包涵體疾病（inclusion body disease）"。患病初期，蛇會身不由己地嘔吐。然後，它們的舉動像喝多了酒一樣，來回搖晃，背腹翻轉，盯着天空，好像在看星星似的。以後情況就嚴重多了。它們在自己身上爬行，反反覆覆，直到把自己打成一個自己也解不開的大大的結。這種疾病是由沙粒病毒（arenavirus）引起的。這種病原體與引起埃博拉傳染病的病原體有一點關係。沙粒病毒攻擊大腦，讓蛇把自己打成世界上最恐怖的結。現在還沒有治療包涵體疾病的藥物，所有被感染的蛇只有死路一條。唯一的安慰在於，人類不會受到相同的感染，這個消息極好，因爲感染沒有好結果。

翻譯：羅惠月 來源：前十網