First written: June 8, 2009
Written for Moments in Crime, the blog site of my American
publisher, St Martin's Press.
Slay a king cobra and its mate will hunt you down
and kill you in revenge.
True? Actually, no - just one of the many snake myths I've
uncovered lately. More below, if you're interested, together with a
few true facts that almost seem less plausible.
An unexpected bonus of writing fiction, I've discovered, is the
obligation to research obscure but fascinating subjects: the rate
of decomposition of the human body in different environments, for
example; or common techniques of embalming. In Awakening, I had to
learn about venomous snakes, and I was starting from
scratch.
Discovering that my home village, a peaceful, picture-postcard
place in the English Chiltern Hills has a thriving snake population
was the inspiration behind my second book. I became fascinated by
the idea of life that seems perfect on the surface, but with
something sinister lurking in the undergrowth.
Researching snakes gave me the opportunity to
indulge my twin passions: folklore and forensics. Folklore, because
the snake seems to have wriggled its way into the mythology of just
about every culture in the world. (Ever wondered why the snake is a
symbol for modern medicine? Or of Freemasonry?) Forensics, because
I got to find out, in glorious detail, exactly what happens to the
human body once snake venom is injected into it. Here's a little
extract from Awakening, by way of example. It may not be for the
squeamish.
"Taipan venom is nasty because it contains both a
neurotoxin and an anti-coagulant,' said North, leaning back against
the wall. 'The neurotoxin binds to the neuro-muscular junctions and
stops them functioning. Most victims suffer respiratory paralysis
within four to six hours of being bitten. The anti-coagulant would
cause continual bleeding from the bite wound and from the gums.
Internal haemorraghing is a problem, especially in the brain. You'd
have suffered convulsions, probably slipped into a coma. Oh, and
the poison eats away at muscle tissue. Your piss would turn
reddish-brown as your muscles deteriorated and passed through your
kidneys.'
Snake experts (herpetologists, zoo-keepers and the like) argue
that we fear this animal out of all proportion to its ability to
harm us. The snake is a shy, secretive animal, they stress, posing
no danger to human life until threatened itself. Its venom evolved
to paralyse its natural prey - lizards, small mammals and birds,
not us.
Perhaps it's an English thing, this disproportionate fear of
snakes. On this small, safe island of ours are we just unable to
get our heads around the possibility of wildlife being dangerous?
We have robins, rabbits, rodents of various description - nothing
scary. True, we also have badgers, and they can be pretty fearsome
beasts, but let's be honest, death by badger is rare.
I got to rather like snakes this past year,
graceful, mysterious, strangely beautiful creatures that they are,
with their silk-like skin and their gravity defying movement. One
thing I do struggle with though: tell me this, you proponents of
the gentle, largely harmless, much misunderstood creature. If the
inland taipan hunts mainly rats and bandicoots, why does it have
enough venom in a single strike to kill 62 people?
As I write, I can feel a snuffling round the nether regions. The
dog has woken up and wants her midday walk through the fields below
the village. Time to don thick walking boots and tread very
carefully…