THE PARDON by Rodney Powell

Author:Rodney Powell
Format: epub

26

Law of the Jungle

The tropical jungle was rich in palms, silk cotton trees, and hardwoods. There were deep-cut gullies of ferns, cathedrals of bamboo, and limestone outcroppings grown over with blood-red orchids. The air was alive with the forest aromas.

Interspersed throughout the canopy of green was a virtual zoo of unusual wildlife. The exotic flora and fauna captivated Marco. He caught sight of electric blue butterflies and innumerable bee-like hummingbirds that flitted back and forth between the trees. The most striking birds were the red-billed streamertails, also known as “doctor birds,” with their iridescent plumage and long swallowtail. Other birds were announcing their presence and staking out territorial claims. Black-billed parrots cawed as they flew through the trees overhead. Below, animals were stirring, digging, investigating — releasing the muted, earthy aromas of new life. Small lizards and brightly-colored poison dart frogs clung to the vegetation, eyes rotating around in their sockets as they watched this giant interloper wander through their domain.

The scene was draped and bejeweled with the boundless ingenuity found in creation. Streams of run-off that followed the same course day-in and day-out had eroded mud channels between the established vegetation. The tiny streams at the bottoms of these deep channels, which were little wider than a few inches, had formed waterfalls and rapids. There were islands in the streams where grass tendrils and roots clung to the mud and to each other. Ornate arbor-like structures of greenery emerged as one plant grew atop another.

This must be the most fantastic landscape for the small creatures that live here, Marco thought.

Marco spotted a pair of slender, weasel-like creatures that scurried around the base of the trees. They were cute at a distance. Marco recognized these fierce little animals as Jamaica’s notorious mongooses. These weren’t indigenous to the island. In the late 1800s, a sugar planter introduced nine mongooses from India to contend with snakes and rats in the sugarcane fields, which the mongooses did. However, after their purpose had been fulfilled, packs of mongooses flourished and propagated. They turned into an invasive species themselves, and soon the fields of the Jamaican farmers were overrun by these aggressive creatures.

Not normally one to take much interest in animal activity, Marco felt compelled to watch. Danger lurked in the midst of the splendor — in that aromatic and delicate stirring of new life, death waited. At first glance, Marco saw what appeared to be a thick vine dangling from a tree. But when the “vine” moved and flicked its forked tongue, Marco stopped in his tracks.

The Jamaican boa hung not far above the smaller of the two mongooses, which were preoccupied with a ground snake that warmed itself on a mossy log among the toadstools. The snake was lazing about in a small patch of sun that breached the undergrowth. Both mongooses approached the coiled ground snake from opposite sides. The larger mongoose struck first, taking a nip at it and jumping back.

The distraction was just what the big boa needed. The serpent dropped its full body onto the head of the smaller mongoose and wrapped itself around its prey.

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