The Bushmaster Breeds Killer Babies | National Geographic

A Bushmaster, the largest pit viper in the world, has a bite so venomous that humans have only a 25 percent survival rate. That is not good. She can sense the faintest chemical odors and vibrations in her environment. She has detected prey—would not want to be said prey.

Pit vipers are named for the specialized organ that can detect the body heat of other animals, which they use to pinpoint their victims. She uses her fangs to walk the prey into her gullet. That's our choice of a word; they didn't actually walk, but you know, they're snakes. We thought they’d like that.

She always starts head first. Satiated, she is ready to lay her eggs, and she will not eat again for months. It's the perfect diet—very efficient. But she will already be gone by the time they hatch, probably leaving these snakes with abandonment issues without their mother.

The young Bushmasters will venture out alone to find their first meal. There they go—these emotionally scarred, motherless snakes forging their own paths, finding their own destiny, their place among the stars.

Good luck, little Bushmaster! This humble narrator wishes them well. [Music]