I have a wildlife zoo

Fang Ye explained: "Actually, there's no need to be so worried. The snakes in the zoo see more people than people see snakes. They've been through all sorts of situations, so usually, the animal keepers are very calm when they clean and tidy up the snake's enclosure. They don't get irritated as easily as wild snakes do.

It's basically no problem to clean up in front of a snake. It just flicks its tongue to sense its surroundings. Oh, you're not food, so it won't have too strong of a reaction unless it's stimulated by a smell of food on you. As long as you keep a clear view of the snake's distance and position, and maintain that distance, you won't get attacked.

Also, some venomous snakes live in caves, and if they sense danger, they'll hide inside. You could just block the entrance of the cave with something before cleaning up without any problems.

Or if it isn't afraid of the animal keeper but the animal keeper is afraid of it, you can agitate it a bit, poke it with a stick a couple of times, and the snake, bothered by the disturbance, will retreat into its hole."

Experience tales at empire

In the past, the zoo would reserve a backstage area for handling venomous snakes, because back then, people didn't have a deep understanding of snake habits and routines. Now, there's no need to create a special backstage area. There are many ways to control their movement. Whether feeding them or cleaning up, there's no need to move the snake out of the box. Just open the box and proceed inside.

Thus, the danger isn't as high as most people think.

Lan Li, somewhat worried, said, "Won't the venomous snakes get angry when you poke them?"

Fang Ye smiled and said, "The more you deal with snakes, the more familiar they become with this set of operations. Like, many snake owners do the same. They tap the snake's mouth with a snake hook to tell it that it's not time to eat yet, and the snake will naturally understand what that means.

Moreover, when venomous snakes get angry, they have a very obvious threatening gesture before attacking: they raise their heads, flick their tongues, sway back and forth, and arch their necks back in a coiling motion, ready to spring forward. In such a situation, the animal keeper, upon observing these signs, simply needs to be a bit more cautious.

It's not that a snake will suddenly bite without any warning signs."

The venom of a venomous snake is precious, like fine steel used on the blade's edge. Venom is used to hunt prey!

Why waste precious venom on something that's not food? The first response is to warn and threaten. If the enemy ignores the warning or even escalates its actions, then an attack will follow.

Lan Li nodded thoughtfully, seeming a bit more reassured, but then asked with some confusion, "Then, since there are so many ways to prevent snakebites, and Instructor Wu is very experienced, why has he still been bitten several times?"

Fang Ye thought for a moment: "This should have to do with the environment and the space for keeping snakes! If a one-meter-long snake is kept in a one-meter-long tank, that's obviously dangerous. Humans are within the snake's range of attack. A sudden strike, and there's a bite.

Sometimes, even with precautions, it's difficult to avoid, so the space provided for venomous snakes definitely needs to be larger!

For a one-meter-long venomous snake, using a two or three-meter-long tank would be better. This way, the snake lives comfortably and its desire to attack naturally decreases, plus there is a longer safety distance. While cleaning one side, the snake can hide on the other side, creating a buffer space that makes it much safer.

Now, when cleaning out the venomous snakes' display boxes, it is always done by two people working together—one person uses long tools to clean, while the other person watches the snake's position with a snake hook.

If the snake shows interest in moving towards people, either coming out of its cave or preparing to descend from a tree, the person would scrape it back with the hook, making it actually quite safe."

Many accidents with venomous snakes injuring people actually arise mostly because they are given insufficient space.

"I see!"

As they walked down the zoo's perimeter path, they arrived at the quarantine area. Ming greeted Fang Ye and Lan Li: "Director, Sister Lan Li! I've already taken in the ring-tailed lemurs! Ah, these little guys are so rowdy!"

Fang Ye said with some anticipation: "Good, you've worked hard. Let's go have a look."

The ring-tailed lemur is a very interesting animal!

These creatures have a peculiar habit. Every day when the sun rises, they spread their limbs, face the sun, and raise their hands as if embracing the sun, allowing the warm rays to bathe their chests and limbs.

Ah, praise the sun!

Once you've seen them gather around like a ritual praising the sun, the scene is sure to leave an unforgettable impression.

The ring-tailed lemur lives in Madagascar, and due to poaching and forest destruction, fewer than 2,000 remain in the wild, classifying them as vulnerable and listed in Appendix I of the Convention, though they breed well in zoos. They're a popular attraction for visitors in zoos worldwide.

Upon arriving in front of the quarantine room for the ring-tailed lemurs, because there were so many, they had been split into two rooms to house them.

As soon as Lan Li saw the ring-tailed lemurs, a loving expression appeared on her face, her hands clasped in front of her chest, "So cute!"

Fang Ye was also looking at the ring-tailed lemurs with interest, laughing, "Indeed it's fun!"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Though it was a temporary abode, the quarantine room still had several perches and rope bridges set up.

At that time, some of the ring-tailed lemurs were sitting on the ground grooming each other, some were on the perches, and some were swinging on the rope bridges.

Their fur was light grayish brown, fluffy with a faint hint of white, while the fur on their cheeks and bellies was pure white.

Around their eyes and on their noses was black, which to some extent resembled the black masks of raccoons and the dark circles around the eyes of giant pandas, but the difference was quite clear!

To make a comparison, the raccoon's black mask looks like a sneaky masked thief, the giant panda's dark eye circles like that of an immortal who's just pulled an all-nighter, radiating charm and simplicity, while the ring-tailed lemur's dark eye circles are like those of a cool guy wearing sunglasses!

Viewed from the side, their noses and mouths form a triangle, not resembling the human-like faces of most monkeys, but more like the faces of canids like foxes, with their white ears also being pointed. Lemurs got their name for this reason.

Their long tails stand erect like flags behind them, appearing to be even longer than their bodies, with black and white rings alternating—very distinctive features.

When they saw people approaching, quite a few ring-tailed lemurs turned their heads curiously towards them. With so many friends around, they didn't seem too scared even though they had just been transported here!

Even a few of the bolder ones sprang up agilely, leaping onto the metal mesh, clinging to the grid with their paws, their amber eyes intently observing them as they started making a "woo-woo" sound.

The call of the ring-tailed lemur was also quite unique. The sound was as if blown through a horn, somewhat similar to the pressured squawk of a squeaky chicken.

"Woo—"

Fang Ye leaned forward, locked eyes with a ring-tailed lemur, and tried to mimic their call, but it was obvious he couldn't capture the same feel, leaving the lemur baffled and then it hopped away.

Lan Li found this amusing and took out her phone to snap a couple of photos, thinking happily: "Hehe, got a new photo of the director and the animals!"