By Yash Desai
It was a warm sunny afternoon, the time when I'm most hungry. I had stumbled into a barren clearing while trailing a defiant lizard but I had finally caught up to it. I closed in on my prey and dashed forward only to have my teeth sink into empty air. While I was fixated on the reptile, I forgot to examine my surroundings – a cardinal mistake. I turned my head only to find a Pit viper, hissing and spitting with my prey dangling from his mouth, glaring at me in a provocative manner, challenging me.
Now, we mongooses and snakes are lethal animals, with mongooses being one of the only creatures able to withstand their venom. This alone makes mongooses and snakes nature's most bitter animals. Usually, I can overpower a slow snake, like a garden snake or at worst a Cobra, but Pit vipers are different, Pit vipers are deadly with speed and reflexes on par with us mongooses. In a flash, carelessness could get you dead.
We closed in on each other, glaring fiercely, neither one relenting. It was an unspoken declaration of war and neither can live while the other one survives. This fateful day, I would either die the worst death or win the greatest victory. The Viper darted his head back and forth, looking for an opening, his tongue hissing. I approached him cautiously, waiting and watching for any sudden movements. My nerves were tingling as I waited for the inevitable first strike. As we circled each other, looking for opportunities, I lowered my guard a little, a risky strategy. This would bait him to strike, giving me an opportunity to grab his neck and counter attack. He slowly inches towards me, his head swaying from side to side, in a sort of trance and then my sixth sense instinctively reacted to something my five other senses could not detect as the Viper shot forward like a bullet train giving me no time to react. I dashed to the side.
I sighed in relief, but after examining myself quickly, I deduced that the snake's bite had grazed my left shoulder and thus some venom might have seeped into my body. Mongoose are tolerant of the venom, but too many bites might result in a venom overload, making my movements sluggish and vulnerable. I cursed myself for trying out something so dangerous and was determined to act
cautiously from that point on. The snake grinned grotesquely and hissed about, warning me not to come closer.
I didn't relent but this time I kept my distance. A few seconds passed and it looked like I would have to make the first move. We danced in a peculiar fashion, hissing and screeching at each other aggressively. I tried going in for the kill, constantly moving towards the Pit viper's vulnerable side, looking for the best timing. I soon had it as the snake let his concentration slip and slowed down, only for it to dawn upon me that it was purposeful. The snake dodged my attack and lashed at my neck as I stepped backward mitigating the damage.
I was precariously clinging onto my life now but at least I could read the snake's movements well, after suffering two of its best attacks (at least I hoped they were.) It was do or die now. I could not let myself make any mistakes or the damage would be fatal. The serpent, over confident now, sneered and dashed forward but I was starting to get used to the speed of the serpent. I could not take advantage of any careless mistakes on the snake's part anymore because of the venom. I still had one last trick up my sleeve left. I lowered my guard again, hoping it would be like the last time but now I was ready. The snake dashed forward again but I darted to the side and sunk my teeth into its neck. My risky strategy paid off and fortunately mongoose would not be on the lunch menu today.
I vigorously shook his body, trying to snap its neck. He thrashed around in desperation and spewed venom randomly as a last resort but I held on until the end as I witnessed his life slowly begin to ebb away from his body.
It was a close call but I had won.
By Yash Desai
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