Day 2: The Sidewinder Snake

I'm back!  This is Kiran.  The desert has a lot of animals!  Some of them are snakes, rats, kangaroos, hyenas, squirrels, owls, lizards, and more!  A few hours ago, I was taking a walk, when "Whoosh!”  A snake jumped out of nowhere and bit my leg!  In rage, I captured the slithering vermin.  I quickly ran back to my camp howling in pain.  Boy, did that snake bite hurt!   My friends then studied the dangerous snake.  It was a sidewinder viper rattlesnake!   They swiftly applied medicine dine to my wound and I started to feel much better.  This snake's venom could do a lot of damage to someone, but it could not kill them.  Still, without medicine, you would suffer a lot of pain.  That is when I got interested in them.  I let the snake out of the jar and observed it.  I was expecting to see it slither around, but it started jumping in a sideways motion!  "So that's where they get their names!" I told my friends.  It had some scales above its eyes creating a horn like appearance.  Those structures actually helped protect its eyes  from sand and other projectiles.   I then decided to capture some more to compare them.  I found four other snakes.  Their skin colors varied from pale to brown.  They were very small, but agile.  Fully grown ones could reach from 1.5 to 2.5 feet.  The sidewinders eat small rodents (such as the kangaroo rat) and lizards.  They are often found buried in the sand or in animal burrows.  These snakes are also mostly seen at night.  Luckily, this animal is not endangered or threatened.  Some of its hunters are birds, roadrunners, men, and others.  Well, I’ll see you tomorrow! 

 -Kiran