Thursday, August 07, 2008

Crotalia 2: Hot Snake

After the last post LabRat linked in Comments to a pic of the delightful little Crotalus lepidus, the neurotoxic but sweet- natured banded rock rattler. Around here they live at elevations from about 7500 feet and up, in talus slopes, and have a very short "growing season". Because of this they may be less picky about food than other crotalids; Floyd Mansell once caught one that disgorged a centipede. Here is a pic of me ca. 1983 with one in a jar labeled "hot" (for pickles); venomous snakes are known as hot snakes by their keepers.


We are certainly in Crotalia here; in addition to the banded rock we have the local version of C. viridis, Western diamondbacks, black tailed rattlers, desert massasaugas, and we aren't far from Mojaves.

4 comments:

Heidi the Hick said...

Ever get the snakes and the pickles confused?

Just wondering.

And providing your dumb question of the month. You're welcome!

Anonymous said...

My son was at Double H Ranch last summer back packing and saw both diamondback and desert rattlers. I know this is very near you. He has always been crazy about snakes so this was the highlight of his trip.

R Francis said...

from andrew sullivasn at the atlantic
Even by PETA's standards, this is pretty great:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans today to announce an unusual marketing pitch to the U.S. government: Rent us space on the fence for billboards warning illegal border crossers there is more to fear than the Border Patrol.

The billboards, in English and Spanish, would offer the caution: "If the Border Patrol Doesn't Get You, the Chicken and Burgers Will — Go Vegan."

"We think that Mexicans and other immigrants should be warned if they cross into the U.S. they are putting their health at risk by leaving behind a healthier, staple diet of corn tortillas, beans, rice, fruits and vegetables," said Lindsay Rajt, assistant manager of PETA's vegan campaigns.

Steve Bodio said...

Somewhere in the blogosphere someone has already retorted:

"But they are coming here because they want to eat more MEAT!"