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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 13, 2022 14:16:27 GMT -5
I saw some Quora posts once from snake ‘owners’ who seemed to have thought they’d ‘domesticated’ them. I’m no snake expert, but I’m gonna presume you don’t even semi-domesticate them. I expect that at best they’d tolerate you and get used to your presence. There was a documentary once where a seasoned python owner had to call for help as the snake had constricted her arm during feeding time. Seems they are unpredictable. A guy on The Chase, while being asked about hobbies, said he was a snake owner and was looking for permission to keep an anaconda (UK). Sounds like a death wish to me. If a seasoned snake owner can struggle with a boa, I shudder to think what a person would do if an anaconda went rogue. I had to pick up my sister’s unruly cat (gently) and place it in her garden while I was looking after it when she was on holiday. Simple. Doubt I could pick up an anaconda, tell it off and place it somewhere. There was even some guy who claimed he’d domesticated a cobra that would gently lick him. He probably was joking and not expecting to be taken seriously. I did Google some stuff about this once. Seems to be a lot of stuff to get right while keeping snakes, from making sure your hands are free of the odour of any dead rodents you’ve handled to making sure your body movements don’t antagonise the snake. Doesn’t sound like a pet to me! Snakes are content to be left alone and are generally not aggressive unless they are hunting food or threatened, like most animals. However, they are not exactly a communal species, so they are not like dogs. You don't domesticate them; but if you treat them with care, probably get used to your presence. Still, they're reptiles and not exactly nature's brightest denizens. I'm not big on animals who haven't evolved much, across the millennia. I'll stick with mammals, though cats are pretty pure hunters and I don't trust my cats as far as I can throw them and that's a pretty long bloody way! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2022 14:33:19 GMT -5
Don't see snakes around in the wilds of New York City but I had 2 friends that kept them as pets. Both would invite me over and tell me I can watch them eat their dinner, which would be a live mouse. Once was enough for me
There's something fascinating about seeing those jaws open wide and swallow the mouse from head to tail....with the tail disappearing inch by inch down its throat....when I go to the zoo, it's around feeding time.
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Post by tartanphantom on Jul 13, 2022 14:52:13 GMT -5
We have a general rule here, and I'm sure it applies in other places as well--
If you are hiking the forest or mountains in a group, make sure that you're not the 3rd person in line. They're the ones that are often bitten by copperheads (copperheads don't have rattles, so you don't have much in the way of early warning).
The folklore logic is like this-- first person in line walks by and unknowingly arouses or alerts the snake in the nearby underbrush, second person walking by makes him feel threatened, by this time, the snake is pretty irritated that its slumber was disturbed, and takes it out on the next person in line.
While there is a touch of truth in this, it's obviously not a hard and fast axiom. I'm usually running point when hiking with others, and I've spotted many a copperhead simply sunning themselves right in the middle of the trail path.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jul 13, 2022 19:29:23 GMT -5
We have a general rule here, and I'm sure it applies in other places as well--
If you are hiking the forest or mountains in a group, make sure that you're not the 3rd person in line. They're the ones that are often bitten by copperheads (copperheads don't have rattles, so you don't have much in the way of early warning).
The folklore logic is like this-- first person in line walks by and unknowingly arouses or alerts the snake in the nearby underbrush, second person walking by makes him feel threatened, by this time, the snake is pretty irritated that its slumber was disturbed, and takes it out on the next person in line.
While there is a touch of truth in this, it's obviously not a hard and fast axiom. I'm usually running point when hiking with others, and I've spotted many a copperhead simply sunning themselves right in the middle of the trail path.
I came upon a pretty sizable rattle snake hiking Blue Hill once doing just that, it had to be close to six feet long. You can bet I turned right back around and aborted that hike. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 13, 2022 20:28:35 GMT -5
We have a general rule here, and I'm sure it applies in other places as well--
If you are hiking the forest or mountains in a group, make sure that you're not the 3rd person in line. They're the ones that are often bitten by copperheads (copperheads don't have rattles, so you don't have much in the way of early warning).
The folklore logic is like this-- first person in line walks by and unknowingly arouses or alerts the snake in the nearby underbrush, second person walking by makes him feel threatened, by this time, the snake is pretty irritated that its slumber was disturbed, and takes it out on the next person in line.
While there is a touch of truth in this, it's obviously not a hard and fast axiom. I'm usually running point when hiking with others, and I've spotted many a copperhead simply sunning themselves right in the middle of the trail path.
My late uncle once told us a story of his time in the Army. He was stationed in the Southwest; but, I think it was earlier, during his training, as it sounded like it was in the deep south, like Mississippi or something. They were going on a hike and because of the danger of venomous snakes, they wore metal guards on their trousers to prevent snakebite. he said the marched along and then you could hear a "ping", as a snake bounced off the metal, as it struck. He said he heard several "pings" on that hike. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Jul 13, 2022 20:59:58 GMT -5
We have a general rule here, and I'm sure it applies in other places as well--
If you are hiking the forest or mountains in a group, make sure that you're not the 3rd person in line. They're the ones that are often bitten by copperheads (copperheads don't have rattles, so you don't have much in the way of early warning).
The folklore logic is like this-- first person in line walks by and unknowingly arouses or alerts the snake in the nearby underbrush, second person walking by makes him feel threatened, by this time, the snake is pretty irritated that its slumber was disturbed, and takes it out on the next person in line.
While there is a touch of truth in this, it's obviously not a hard and fast axiom. I'm usually running point when hiking with others, and I've spotted many a copperhead simply sunning themselves right in the middle of the trail path.
My late uncle once told us a story of his time in the Army. He was stationed in the Southwest; but, I think it was earlier, during his training, as it sounded like it was in the deep south, like Mississippi or something. They were going on a hike and because of the danger of venomous snakes, they wore metal guards on their trousers to prevent snakebite. he said the marched along and then you could hear a "ping", as a snake bounced off the metal, as it struck. He said he heard several "pings" on that hike. That would most likely have been at Camp Shelby. Copperheads, Eastern Diamondbacks, Pygmy Rattlers, and Water Moccasins are thick as thieves in South Mississippi. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 11:14:53 GMT -5
What is wrong with me that I can't follow traffic reports? Once they get into traffic-report cadence, my eyes instantly glaze over. They speak slightly faster (understandable, at least), put the normal verbal, end-of-sentence pause in the middle of their sentences, and verbally plow through where the sentence breaks should be, and their word emphasis seems to draw attention to the wrong words. It's worse than John Cleese in the Meaning Of Life, instructing his students about what to do to prepare for the upcoming holiday.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 11:17:31 GMT -5
I've also been wondering where the garter snakes went. I would see at last a few every year as a kid. I haven't seen any in decades, and I've always lived within 50 miles of my childhood home.
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Post by badwolf on Jul 15, 2022 12:08:16 GMT -5
I've also been wondering where the garter snakes went. I would see at last a few every year as a kid. I haven't seen any in decades, and I've always lived within 50 miles of my childhood home. Cody ran over them all. |
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Post by The Captain on Jul 15, 2022 12:12:52 GMT -5
I've also been wondering where the garter snakes went. I would see at last a few every year as a kid. I haven't seen any in decades, and I've always lived within 50 miles of my childhood home. You can come hang out at my house. We still see plenty of them, along with some big black snakes. Go about an hour to the east, and we’ll find you some rattlesnakes if you’re interested. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 12:49:34 GMT -5
It’s Bigfoot I feel sorry for. Always have. Wandering the woodlands of North America, he must be targeted - and even attacked - by bears, wolves and snakes. Makes you wonder if Bigfoot has suffered any major wounds from bear, wolf and snake attacks. It’s a real shame that a peaceful primate could be targeted by carnivores/omnivores.
I wonder, though, would bears, wolves and snakes shy away from encountering a ten-foot primate?
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 15, 2022 13:11:45 GMT -5
(...) I wonder, though, would bears, wolves and snakes shy away from encountering a ten-foot primate? Well, given that most animals tend to avoid one-on-one confrontations with anything significantly bigger than themselves (with the possible exception of wolverines and badgers - or really any member of the Mustelidae family), I'd say the answer to that question is yes. |
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Post by impulse on Jul 15, 2022 13:51:43 GMT -5
Honey badgers in particular, if the memes are true.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 15, 2022 14:17:56 GMT -5
And mosquitoes. They really go for bigger critters. Like yours truly.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jul 16, 2022 19:42:10 GMT -5
So, I have a question: Did anybody here actually read and or sell Grit Newspapers back in the day? Have always been curious about it
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