Read Lost... In the Jungle of Doom Online
Authors: Tracey Turner
Lost... In the Jungle of Doom (7 page)
• One of the world’s most venomous snakes, bushmasters, are found in Central and South America, especially in the Amazon rainforest.
• Bushmasters are a type of pit viper. These are snakes that have heat-sensitive pits on their heads, which they use to detect their small animal prey.
• They’re the longest venomous snake in the Americas and can grow up to three metres long, though on average they’re less than two metres.
• Bushmasters are reddish brown in colour, with an irregular diamond-shaped pattern along their thick bodies. This means they’re well camouflaged on the
rainforest floor.
• The snakes are rarely seen, partly because of their camouflage and partly because they are usually nocturnal.
• Bushmasters can be aggressive, especially if they’re startled. They have been known to bite and kill people.
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Y
ou rip a strip of cloth from your shirt and gingerly apply it to the wound, tying it in place firmly but not too
tightly. Your makeshift bandage provides enough pressure to stop the bleeding. You rest for a while, then cautiously stand up and move. The wound is painful, but at least it’s not pouring
with blood. There’s even more reason for you to find help now, so despite the pain you carry on.
There’s a well-worn trail ahead of you – possibly made by animals, but you hope it might be made by people. Alternatively you could meander through the trees.
You’re not sure which route to take, but as you look through the trees in the opposite direction from the trail, it looks a little brighter. Maybe there’s a river that way.
If you decide to walk through the trees, click
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.
If you decide to take the trail, click
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.
A
s you pass a hollow tree, you hear a buzzing sound. There are a few bees near the tree and as you take a closer look you
can see that bees have made their home inside the hollow trunk. You know that honey is one of the most nutritious, easily digestable, energy-giving foods you could possibly find. And honeycomb
will keep for ages, too. It might be worth a few stings to get to the precious honey and, if it proves too difficult, you can always walk away again. After all, you know you’re not allergic
to bee stings.
If you decide to try and take some honey from the bee hive, click
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.
If you decide not to risk getting stung, click
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.
T
he water does feel good as you step into it. But very quickly, it begins to feel very, very bad. . .
You feel a sharp, tearing pain in your leg and cry out, then another – something is biting you! You lunge for the side of the pool and scramble out, shaking. There are
two very nasty bites on your leg, and you can see that whole chunks of flesh are missing! You’ve been bitten by hungry red-bellied piranha fish, which must have been trapped in the pool
during a flood and become stranded there.
You feel sick as you look down at your bleeding wounds and try to decide what to do. You’re bleeding heavily. What should you do for the best? You could make a bandage
from your clothing – but your clothes are very far from being sterile, and you might end up causing a fatal infection. Or you could try and find some clean water to wash the wounds.
If you decide to go in search of clean water, click
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If you decide to apply a bandage, click
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.
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to find out more about piranha fish.
• Piranha fish are found in lakes and rivers in South America, and are quite common.
• There are lots of different types. Some are even vegetarian! The most ferocious is the meat-eating red-bellied piranha, which weighs up to 3.5 kilograms,
measures up to 33 centimetres, and has the strongest jaws.
• Piranhas’ teeth are razor sharp, and to keep them that way the teeth are replaced throughout the fishes’ lives.
• Red-bellied piranhas prey on fish, worms and other small animals.
• Usually, they leave large animals alone, though they sometimes bite, and can be very dangerous if they’ve become trapped in a pool left by
flooding.
• The terrifying reputation of piranha fish is partly due to US President Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote a book about his travels, in which he described
piranhas as ‘the embodiment of evil ferocity’ and claimed they would eat cattle alive if they stepped into the water. They aren’t quite as bad as that, though they are
responsible for taking the odd chunk out of people, and a few missing fingers and toes.
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Y
ou find a stick about twice the length of your arm and a vine with long, sharp thorns. Carefully, you break off some of
the thorns and tie them to the stick, using the vine as string. You now have a spear with several sharp tips.
You lie on the bank, peering into the slow-moving, murky water with the spear in your hand, ready to strike. You make out a dark shape and stab down with your spear –
you’ve caught a fish! It’s not very big, but it’s a good start. You make a fire cook the fish and eat it. It’s delicious. Should you stay and catch more fish, or move
on?
If you decide to stay and catch another fish, click
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.
If you decide to move on, click
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.
Click
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to find out tips on fishing in the Amazon.
• Kneel or sit down to fish, to hide yourself from the fish, making sure not to let your shadow fall on the surface of the water.
• If you’re experienced at fishing with a hook and line you should try it (make hooks from thorns and use liana for your line).
• If you’ve not tried angling before weight one end of a length of liana and tie the other end firmly to the bank. Bait thorns with worms and attach
them to the liana at intervals. Drop the weighted end into the water and leave it for a while – maybe overnight – before bringing in the line, hopefully with fish attached.
• Make a trap that fish can swim into but can’t easily get out of. For example, use a plastic bottle with the top section cut off, turned around and
placed back inside the bottle so that the bottle top is facing inwards into the bottom of the bottle.
• ‘Tickling’ fish takes a lot of practice: put your hand into the water under the bank and wait. When you feel a fish, gently move your fingers
along its belly, then grab it and pull it out quickly.
• Spear a fish using a stick with sharp thorns attached.
• Never eat dead fish you find floating on the surface of the water as they could be diseased or rotten.
• Remember that there are dangers lurking in the waters of the Amazon: electric eels can electrocute you, piranha can give you a nasty bite, and a big caiman
could eat you!
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Y
ou take a step towards the hive and straight away, several bees land on you and sting. You swat at them. Within seconds,
you’re surrounded by a cloud of stinging insects. You run away, but there are bees already on you and hundreds more in hot pursuit. So many bees have stung you that, even though
you’re not allergic to bee stings, you have a heart attack and die.
The end.
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to return to the beginning and try again.
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to find out more about Africanised honey bees.
• Believe it or not, Africanised honey bees are more feared by people in the Amazon than anacondas, jaguars, snakes and spiders!
• The bees were introduced by accident in the 1950s by scientists who had crossed European honey bees with African ones. They’re now widespread in South
America, Central America and the southern United States.
• They are more aggressive than European honey bees and will defend their hive ferociously. When one bee stings, it releases a chemical alerting other bees to
the threat, causing them to sting as well.
• The sting of an Africanised honey bee is no more toxic or painful than a European honey bee’s sting, but the danger is that lots of bees will sting at
once. If you’re stung enough times, you’ll die.
• Some people are allergic to bee stings and they can die from even one sting from a European honeybee.
• The Africanised bees, also known as killer bees, are out-competing native Amazonian bees, which are mostly stingless.
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