Predator vision weakness

 As the predator surged forward, standing tall in the shallows of the river, the major’s last conscious thought was that he’d lost. All he could do was stare in horror and fear, paralyzed with shock and fatigue as the monster closed in on him. He waited for the sting of death, too exhausted to fight, defenseless and alone.

  The alien rippled slowly through the water until only a few feet remained between them. Then it stopped, towering above, as if to inspect its prey for one last full moment before the annihilation. Images of Hawkins’s, Blain’s, and Davis’s mangled bodies collided in Schaefer’s mind as he lay there motionless, helpless. He closed his eyes to wait for the final blow, his dignity intact.

  Seconds dragged by. Nothing. Schaefer dared open one muddy eye and saw the alien still standing as before, impatiently turning its head from left to right. It looked up and down the riverbank, back and forth among the tree roots, yet acted as if it didn’t see him.

  It didn’t. It was trying to tune into Schaefer’s heat source, but its optic scanning system couldn’t penetrate the thick paste of cold mud that coated him. After a moment the creature uttered a skirl of irritation and bewilderment and turned aside. It moved heavily down-stream from the battered Schaefer, searching the jungle clutches for its prey.

   The Predator (1987 novelization), chapter 15