How cunning blind creatures equipped an all-inclusive restaurant in a secret cave (4 photos + 1 video)

Snakes are dangerous, agile, fast creatures. And survive in many ways due to the speed of the reaction. But not the inhabitants of the cave Cantemo in Mexico.





"Hanging snakes", as the local yellow and red rats are called snakes, have practically lost the ability to see and hear. Yes and They also do not want to move around unless absolutely necessary. Because equipped for yourself a real snake paradise in a natural cave not far from the village of Cantemo.



At nightfall, these lazybones crawl out of the crevices, neatly fixed on the roof of the cave and swaying dejectedly, as if old decorations from last year's holiday. And they are waiting. cave in the people nicknamed the Cave of Bats, because they come here to sleep representatives of at least six species of these creatures.

And the snakes patiently hang and wait for a particularly nutritious the mouse will try to fly in or out. Lightning bite - and not the flyer, expecting such a trick, ends up in the mouth, from where it is no longer get out. And the rat snake enjoys the meal. Also choose from the menu the victim I liked: today I'm crunchier and skinnier - on a diet. A tomorrow I'll take my vile darling and eat plump and furry mouse.

How did snakes come up with such a life?





Yes, such a way of life affects the senses, causing them to atrophy. But it also has a lot of advantages: in a cave temperature is almost always stable, there are no predators representing a threat to snakes. And of course a great selection of food. True, it has to try to claw the mouse. But the snakes of Cantemo have learned to feel air vibrations that occur during movement, and throw out your carcass for perfect hit.

A cave with its interesting things hidden in the jungle the Yucatan Peninsula, the locals knew well. But we tried to get around side, because the descendants of the Maya lived in the village, whose ancestors considered its entrance to the underworld and the dwelling place of spirits. Cave exploration the biologist Arturo Enrique Baiona Miramontes took up the task, discovering in it a huge number of mice.



And the second unexpected discovery happened only after a few months. Together with a colleague, Miramontes rode around the neighborhood on a bike. And I saw clouds of mice flying out of the cave. men found in themselves the courage to look inside and were amazed by the spectacle: hanging from ceiling snakes grabbed the victims, and the surviving lucky ones streamed out.

The biologist was so impressed by what was happening that he dedicated several months of exploring a wonderful cave. Even slept inside to finally make sure that the snakes hang down to dine at the moment when mice start to fly and flap their wings.

The locals were wary of the idea of developing ecotourism with with an interesting discovery. But in the end, specially designed measures security made it possible to make the cave accessible to tourists without disturbing the balance of the internal existing ecosystem.