evolutionsvoid:When the world of man grew larger and our maps lost their monsters, many of the myste
evolutionsvoid:When the world of man grew larger and our maps lost their monsters, many of the mysteries that arose around our campfires were solved. Beasts of legend and myth now found to be simple flesh and blood. In some cases, these monsters lost their bite, no longer seen as wild boogeymen or creatures worthy of nightmares. We had revealed their secrets and learned their ways, now they were nothing more than an oddity, a strange animal to take pictures of at the parks and zoos. Some, though, retained a bit of their menace, but often it was those we did not expect. It was not the huge behemoths that were said to shake the land with their might, no, it was often those smaller and overlooked. If you were to ask anyone which of these legendary creatures would be an endless terror to man if proven real, hardly any would even consider the joint snake. A mere serpent that can pull itself back together? How quaint, compared to the others it shared the bestiaries with. In fact, it was thought to be one of the few creatures on the list to be a fake, as one can easily explain the illusion with a variety of other reptiles. However, we found them to be real and we all had a moment of amusement and then tossed them aside. Leave it to the handbooks and field guides, while we focus on the real monsters of legend. In time though, the joint snake got its revenge upon us. Those who would dare ignore it and leave it in the pages of picture books that kids always skipped on the way to the cooler animals. At first we didn’t even give it credit, as a dead body in the woods was easily attributed to other beasts. Could have been killed by a Hidebehind, or a Wampus Cat, or maybe just by a plain ol’ bear. Eventually we looked beyond the chewed limbs and mutilated corpses to find that the deceased had fallen well before they became dinner. A potent hemotoxin was found within them, one that caused the veins to collapse and the whole circulatory system to come to a screeching halt. The joint snake soon took credit for these kills, when they found its venom to be the source of this toxin. It was theorized that this sealing of arteries and veins was what helps this serpent split and reform with minimal blood loss. A powerful ability, now turned into a weapon. Interest returned briefly to the species, long enough for us to make warning signs and stamp DANGER next to their pictures. The snake, though, would not be easily dismissed. More deaths occurred, and suddenly a confused public was demanding to know why misinformation was being spread. The books spoke of how to identify the deadly fiend by its colors, but people were dying to ones that were supposedly harmless. It had spread so much that it was made a saying: “Red on black, friendly jack. Red on yellow, deadly fellow.” This turned out to be false, as the ones with red touching yellow were killing ignorant tourists and inquisitive fools. So they simply updated the information, switching the verses, but that didn’t work either. It was only when real focus was brought back to the joint snake was it found that they didn’t just pull their bodies back together on a whim. They rearranged themselves. Their body sections could be split and mixed up, and that was what was causing the confusion. No color pattern could identify a deadly joint snake versus a harmless king snake, as the joint snakes frequently rearranged this coloration. Now the species was fully labeled as a dangerous creature, and that all serpents with these three colors should be avoided at all costs. If no human ever goes near anything even remotely like a joint snake, then these serpents would plague us no more. Right? Sadly not. Even though the humans minded their distance, these snakes did not. Soon we realized these snakes were invading campgrounds and backyards, undeterred by the presence of humans. Those who perished to their venom could not always be blamed for the deadly scenario, as the serpents were now the ones getting too close. They took out hikers rummaging through their bags, not knowing a deadly creature had slipped inside. Families in the backyard had no clue what lurked in the lawn, and even stepping in the wrong place of your garage could send you to the grave. The snakes were coming onto our territory, and it was because we had something they wanted. It is unknown if this behavior had always been within them or if they learned it from their interactions with us, but joint snakes were seeking out scraps of metal and pointy things. When the serpent splits and rejoins, it can lodge anything caught in between within its body. The tales once said that a cut serpent could reform and take the blade with it, and it turned out this story was true. The joint snakes wanted our knives, skewers and other shiny bits. Sharpened points along its body worked as a defense against predation, but it also caught the eye of females. Male joint snakes were the ones most driven to seek out trinkets to steal, as their collection helped woo the ladies when mating season came around. We humans had these neat items just laying about, and they quickly realized that. Joint snakes associated humans with the resources they wanted, and it led to these deadly encounters. A serpent would slither into a tool shed looking for a nice addition, and would wind up biting the unaware human who tread too close. At last the joint snake received the fame it rightfully deserved, as now hikers and families within their regions had to keep vigilance in fear one may approach in search of shiny treasure. With this “victory,” the joint snake became a household name and a constant fear to any who ventured outdoors. It also became the hero to every metal detector company, who soon found their product in every house across the country. ———————————————A snake that is reeeaaaally into body piercing! -- source link