Once, a few years ago a group of indigenous people of Borneo away from their hometown to the wilderness. Escape from Dutch colonizers. However, in a new place, another threat awaits ...
One by one the children disappeared. Eight boys in 8 days vanished without a trace. Population gripped by fear, who could do it. Souls forest watchman, or lest hungry tiger?
After the talks, they decided to set traps. A child forced to be used as a scapegoat, in order to stop the death of another.
From hiding place, with a pounding feeling restless, the villagers to witness a terrible event: the rippling waters of the river, and the emergence of large creatures without hands and feet from the water, which direct the boy one swallow prey.
Some residents said, the creature is a giant snake. Others called him a dragon.
After that, the villagers followed the snake into the nest. There are 3 tail there, 2 adults with similar body diameter drum of oil, and the other one is still small sized palm trunk.
Angry villagers attacked the animals, cut 2 adult snakes, and let the young ones still alive - with the agreement, from then on both snakes and humans will not kill each other.
Then, the men returned to their remote villages. Continuing to live. But they believe, dragons were still around them.
Science writer, Nadia Drake first heard the legend of Mr. Rusni, Dayak village elders tumbles past Tujang in July 2014.
Curious, he wanted to find out if there was a snake in Borneo that could grow by monsters and can kill a child quickly. He found several 'suspects'.
As an illustration, tropical forests in Kalimantan, 140 million years old. One of the oldest in the world. Moreover, during the end of the Ice Age, Borneo never be a land with the Asian continent and the other islands in Indonesia. Some species migrate there, make Borneo rich with living organisms.
When the Ice Age ended, Kalimantan into separate islands, all the creatures in it freely evolved in relative isolation conditions. Including snakes, there are about 150 species there. Even more.
"It seems like every family snake in Borneo," said Sara Ruane of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, as Liputan6.com quotes from BBC Earth, Friday (11/14/2014). "And undeniably, there must be an undiscovered species."
There are live underground, others crawl on the forest floor. Some chose to live in a tree, flying from one branch to another. They can be found in the water or in a cave. Reptiles that also inhabit the human buildings in the ceiling or under the under the house. Borneo dubbed the "Land of the Man-Eating Snakes" - land where snakes feed on humans.
Next: Original Form Appearance Dragon?
Original form Sightings Dragon?
Since the first time there, 100 to 150 years ago, the snake quickly evolved. One of them by creating an effective way to kill other animals: use can or poison.
"Most snakes have to, even the most harmless considered though," said Robert Stuebing, herpetology experts.
Venom contains a set of proteins that work together to knock out an opponent. King cobra snake venom (king cobra) contains 100 species.
Snake species first suspect is a red headed snake (Bungarus flaviceps). Usually able to paralyze their prey nervous system. Make the victim could not move, even breathing.
"Antitoxin will not be effective, unless you quickly treat it," said Nicholas Casewell from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK. In 2001, in Myanmar, the snake bite herpetology expert Joseph Slowinski at hand. Because not dealt with quickly, he died a day later.
However, the snake does not conform to the image of the dragon. Although it can reach a length of 2 meters, but his body lean. Moreover, he often slept in the daytime.
The second suspect is Calliophis bivirgatus or snake-blue blue beach in Malay. It was not like a dragon.
They usually move in between the leaves fall and the main food is another smaller snakes. That means, their fangs are too small to penetrate the human skin.
The most suitable in terms of size is the cobra king or king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). Its size can reach 5 meters and became the longest venomous snake. They also can enforce its front. "You can eye contact with him," said the head of the expedition, Peter Houlihan of the Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation and Communities.
However, even the king cobra has no characteristic dragon. Therefore, despite the danger, they rarely bite. "They are not aggressive, than a number of other snakes," said Ron Lilley, which offers search services snakes in Bali. "They have poison or be in a goodly amount, but do not like to bite humans.
Even with the Sumatran pit viper (Trimeresurus sumatranus), who live in the trees. Did not like the dragon that is in the legend of the Dayak community. "The snake is more likely to predators who prey instead of waiting for them to hunt."
If there is no snake associated with the dragon, maybe it was a python Borneo - which includes the largest snake in the world. Instead of thrust could, they usually strangle their prey to death.
Python reticulatus, for example, is the longest snake in the world, can reach 10 meters. However, the narrowing of the forest and the human factor makes it found in a long time.
Python does not have to all the bus to eat something large like a human. African python snake preys like pigs or deer, attacks on humans may also occur.
However, there is a problem with the idea that snake Borneo is the dragon in the legend. Therefore, they do not eat every day, only every month or six weeks. Swallowing 8 children in 8 days instead of the way they eat.
There is a possibility that the dragon in the story is based on several snakes at once: hunting skills king cobra, snake venom deadly red head, and the impressive size of a python. Could not be ascertained.
Currently, the area where the dragon is believed to arise called Teluk Naga. A villager, Suri said, they still keep the equipment that supposedly believed deadly dragon 2 adults. However, he said the island where dragons live split in two by the river.
Mr. Rusni and other residents claimed they saw a dragon near water. The creature is black and shiny, large size, similar to the diameter of the oil drum. But their appearance did not last long, appear and disappear at will.
According Rusni, they have been transformed from the physical into a mythical creature. Do people still feel scared? "Of course," he replied. "But they never bothered us, and we never tried to harass them." (Tnt)
See also: [Secret 'Reflex killer' in the decapitated head of the Snake] (2099229 "")