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Topic 32 of 58: Snakes

Sat, Dec 4, 1999 (17:02) | Wolf (wolf)

48 responses total. 

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 1 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:22) * 1 lines
Thank you, St. Patrick...I really would not have created the topic here without your permission...honest! Now, where is Karen (KJArt) the snake lady...or was it Maggie? Ree loves snakes, too. Puff-adders as I recall...yeow! Wonder why men hate snakes more than women....don't like the comptition?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 2 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:25) * 1 lines
No snakes to mention in Hawaii - yet. All we have is an earthworm-sized blind cave-dweller which I have never seen in person. They are pretty rare.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 3 of 48: KJArt  (KJArt) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (18:56) * 3 lines
Couldn't that last be an amphibian?
Re: New Topic -- you shouldn'ta. "Reptiles" would have been perfectly acceptable -- and they're much closer to "crawlies" (numerically).
You realize, I hope that this is the weekend and the only time I have to indulge in this nonsense. I cannot hold up a Topic solo as half the time I'm in a zomby-ized state of mind from work.

(besides, I only discovered "ark" a coupla weeks ago and this is the first chance I had to return to it since then. 


 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 4 of 48: KJArt  (KJArt) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (18:59) * 1 lines
And I hope I remembered to close the tags! Hee hee! 

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 5 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:09) * 1 lines
me, too! *grin*

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 6 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:29) * 1 lines
Karen, you at least keep me from talking to myself on weekends when everyone else is otherwise occupied. Today has been a happy change - both a Karen and a Wolfie are here to play with me and the ookies of the animal kingdom. *grin*

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 7 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:32) * 2 lines
The Hawaiian snake could be an amphibian, but it is not. It is a true snake, thus a reptile.
For someone who likes her *bugs* big so she can see them, she uses double small html to write her messages...;)

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 8 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:48) * 1 lines
do you have sea snakes, marcia?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 9 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (20:00) * 1 lines
Probably...we get anything pelagic and reef-dwelling that can get here either under its own power or hitch-hiking on the hull of a ship. We do not hear much about sea snakesm but we have the most amazing array of morays - some bright yellow, ones that are magenta with black-rimmed white spots, electric blue ones. It is very colorful on the reef.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 10 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (15:40) * 22 lines
I couldn't resist posting this one from Food Conference posted by John:

Response 54 of 60: John Burnett (mrchips) * Thu, Sep 9, 1999 (05:44) * 5 lines
I'll never forget the Kalahari bushman grabbing the cobra and whacking him on the ground to kill him in the beginning of The
Gods Must Be Crazy. One night in Thailand (1974), I had missed the final bus from town back to base (Sattahip) and was
walking along my merry way when a cobra lifted its ugly head and challenged my right to cross his/her path on the road. I
tried walking around it, but it kept mirroring my lateral moves. This was long before Gods, so I'd never seen the bushman's
trick. Anyhow, I'm too slow, too cowardly, and was too drunk to try anything like that. It was about 2:30 am, and it was cooler on
the road than in the dense underbrush on either side, so the cobra was staying put. I kept a respectful distance (15-20 feet),
not knowing whether or not common Thai cobras can spit venom into your eyes (they can't, but I didn't know that). I wasn't
going into the underbrush either, because there are snakes far more venomous than cobras in Thailand (such as Russell's
adder, a beautiful green snake servicemen there call a "three stepper" because you have about three steps left in your life if one bites
you). It was after curfew, so there were no vehicles on the road. When the sun came out, the road started to warm up, the
cobra slid back into the bushes, and I walked the remaining mile to the base, physically shot for the day, but alive and
unpoisoned. I hate snakes...occasionally have nightmares about them. I was bitten in the abdomen by a water moccasin
while swimming in an Illinois creek as a child (nine years old). My mom was hysterically yelling at me, and I had to slap
her back into reality to get her to take me to the doctor. Water moccasins are water loving pit vipers, are about as deadly as
the common cobra or a rattlesnake, much less deadly than a mamba or a Russell's adder. But without medical attention, the bite could kill a nine year old boy in about 45 minutes. I was sick for a week. As a young man, my now deceased father saw a man die from a
coral snake bite at Fort Benning, Georgia. He immediately cut the man's ankle and tried to suck out the venom to no avail. The young
soldier was dead in five minutes. The coral snake, a colorful, beautifully banded adder, is the deadliest snake on the North
American continent. 


 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 11 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (19:11) * 1 lines
oh my God! i loved that movie (the gods must be crazy). the AM and i would watch it over and over again and laugh our butts off!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 12 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (22:37) * 2 lines
That was hilarious from the descent of the coke bottle onward...Brilliant!
Glad there are not snakes yet in Hawaii!!!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 13 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (14:10) * 37 lines
GOVERNMENT POLICY: SNAKE ATTACK
The following is from the US Government Peace Corps Manual for its
volunteers who work in the Amazon Jungle. It tells what to do in case
you are attacked by an anaconda. Now an anaconda is the largest snake
in the world. It is a relative of the boa constrictor, it grows to
thirty-five feet in length and weighs between three and four hundred
pounds at the maximum. This is what the manual said:

1. If you are attacked by an anaconda, do not run. The snake is
faster than you are.

2. Lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides,
your legs tight against one another.

3. Tuck your chin in.

4. The snake will come and begin to nudge and climb over your body.

5. Do not panic. (emphasis added)

6. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you
from the feet and - always from the end. Permit the snake to swallow
your feet and ankles. Do not panic. (emphasis added)

7. The snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must
lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.

8. When the snake has reached your knees slowly and with as little
movement as possible, reach down, take your knife and very gently
slide it into the side of the snake's mouth between the edge of its
mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upwards, severing the snake's
head.

9. Be sure you have your knife.

10. Be sure your knife is sharp. 


 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 14 of 48: Maggie  (sociolingo) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (14:15) * 1 lines
Good grief Marcia - where did you find that!!!!!!! It made me crawl just reading it. Are they really serious? I mean, this isn't a spoof is it?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 15 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (14:45) * 1 lines
Maggie, I just dug through all of my email outgoing and incoming and in mailboxes and I cannot find where I got it. But, it WAS forwarded to me without omment, so I rather think it is parody. I certainly hope it is!!!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 16 of 48: Maggie  (sociolingo) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (14:49) * 1 lines
The mind boggles if it isn't. It rather reminds me of a children's colouring book I once saw about missionary life in South America, which had one poor chap being swallowed by one of these snakes, and his friend cutting the snake open to let him out! - for children??????

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 17 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (14:59) * 2 lines
Gadzooks! Reality check for little children's survival?! Way too grim for me.
In a coloring book, yet! It would give me nightmares!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 18 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (17:37) * 1 lines
i'da panicked way before the snake even got close enough to me to think about swallowing me feet and ankles first. *yuck*

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 19 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (18:03) * 1 lines
That cool only Indiana Jones can muster. I am NOT Indy anything! How about dying of fright first?!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 20 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (09:09) * 1 lines
speaking of indy jones, supposedly another movie is in the works. don't have specifics, just heard of it....

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 21 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (11:16) * 1 lines
Gotta had Harrison Ford or it won't fly! Round up the nasties and creepies from your most skin-crawling topics...Hollywood might just be calling you soon.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 22 of 48: Riette  (Ree) * Sat, Mar 11, 2000 (13:03) * 1 lines
What I don't get is: how do people MANAGE to get swallowed by snakes?? I mean a person can probably WALK faster than such a huge snake. And anyway if the snake is big enough to swallow a man it can be safely assumed that one doesn't have to stand 10cm away in order to see the damned thing. So, how does it happen?? I know, they probably try to feed the things peanuts. And you know how it is ... you give it a peanut and it takes head, tits AND knees. 

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 23 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sat, Mar 11, 2000 (14:12) * 1 lines
Actually, I was hoping it was an apocryphal sort of story which makes a good tale but did not really happen - sort of like an Urban Legend. I am clueless to know how a live healthy person would get swallowed, as well. And,since you are the resident snake expert, I trust your opinion on the issue. Guess you give them an inch and they take the whole thing!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 24 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sat, Mar 11, 2000 (20:56) * 1 lines
haha!! ree, i almost sat on a copperhead as a kid (it was just a baby though)...my dad spotted it and told me to hold up whilst he took a knife to it.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 25 of 48: Riette  (Ree) * Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (05:18) * 4 lines
WOW! That's scary, Wolfie!! Brrrrrrr...
I can still understand not seeing a copperhead, but the snakes that are reputed to eat humans are Brazilian pythons - and it's not a myth either. Brazilian pythons are so huge, though, I cannot imagine a person overlooking it. I mean, God, one would have to be blind and WEARING a blind AND armless AND legless to be so totally unaware of it's presence as to invite that huge snail to gobble you up on land. And a plain imbicile to go into those snake infested waters where the pythons are in their element and rather a good deal faster than on land. 



 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 26 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (10:05) * 1 lines
i can't imagine walking through brazil and not seeing a snake that size! would definitely cause this wolf to turn tail and run!!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 27 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (11:06) * 1 lines
How about "I cannot imagine walking through Brazil. Period!" Everything there is bigger and faster and more hungry than anywhere else on earth, I think. (I wonder what it is like to be slowly digested...)

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 28 of 48: Wolf  (wolf) * Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (20:03) * 1 lines
no, don't wonder that!! you might find out, euw!!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 29 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (20:08) * 1 lines
Just what I was thinking...don't want to know...don't need to know...don't tell me!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 30 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (14:23) * 13 lines
Posting this without comment (but I am thinking of some really snippy ones)

Caught Smuggling Snake in Underpants
PARIS (Reuters) - French police on Tuesday caught a man trying to sneak
through customs at a Paris airport with a snake hidden in his underpants, an
airport spokeswoman said.
The 30-year-old Frenchman, who was trying to smuggle the 16 inch boa into
Roissy airport from Colombia, was caught out after a sniffer dog latched on to
the reptile's scent through his bulging trousers, she said.
The man told customs officials he wanted to add the snake export of which is
outlawed as an endangered species to his reptile collection.
The snake was confiscated and placed in the temporary care of airport
officials. 

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 31 of 48: Maggie  (sociolingo) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (14:26) * 1 lines
T had a ferret put down his trousers once - I had the photo to prove it but he tore it up so I couldn't send it!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 32 of 48: Cheryl  (CherylB) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:56) * 2 lines
All I can say about the snake story is -- "tres bizarre". It's too strange and really funny. 


 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 33 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:27) * 1 lines
Wonder if French egos are as large as their imaginations. He though a 16-incher would go unnoticed as part of his natural anatomy?! Yeah...sure...

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 34 of 48: Cheryl  (CherylB) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:46) * 1 lines
It would seem that Frenchmen are, no doubt, much to their mortification, not much different in that respect than their American counterparts. Must be a universal Y-chromsome linked trait.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 35 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:51) * 1 lines
Ah Yes! My resident male did not think the Frenchman was very smart. I guess it is too close to the most important Significant Other in their lives - sorta like THE best friend who's been with them since childhood and all that?! Yup! It's that "why" chromome.

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 36 of 48: Marcia  (MarciaH) * Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:51) * 1 lines
...chromosome...sheesh!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 37 of 48: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (04:00) * 10 lines
Hi all

Australian snakes are deadly, dangerous, and sometimes downright aggro.
Take for example the Tiger snake. It's venom is 80 times more poisonous than a rattle snake, and it will actually attack. As in it might well make the first move.
The eastern Brown snake is poisonous and bites are fatal but you would have to disturb the nest or step on it. I saw two in a single day near the Warrumbungle National Park in 1996. Scared the hell out of me.
Coral snakes are beautiful to look at, but their colour banding is a warning that the snakes are poisonous and usually fish try to avoid them.
But the most infamous snake by a long shot would have to be the dreaded Taipan.
A snake with a 95% kill rate among untreated victims. A snake that grows to be 3-5 metres long and is absolutely ferocious in defence. It has a reputation that struck fear into the Aboriginal people who greatly respect this monster from Cape York. It is holding it's own territory comfortably and slowly expanding. The snake can also swim, so better be careful about swimming around in swampy areas.

Rob

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 38 of 48: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (04:01) * 5 lines
me again

Oh and by the way, one adult Taipan will kill a laboratory mouse 250,000 times over before running out of venom....

Rob

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 39 of 48: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (05:54) * 4 lines
Found a little snake in the pool filter at Cedar Creek yesterday.

Found a Coral Snake a while back. red 'n yeller kill a feller the saying goes.


 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 40 of 48: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (05:47) * 5 lines
Hi all

New Zealand is a safe place to live - no snakes, only a few poisonous spiders (the Katipo is officially in decline to the dismay of those who study them), and just the normal uglies in the sea (sting rays, jellyfish and blue bottles and of course JAWS!!!).

Rob

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 41 of 48: Alpha Wolf  (wolf) * Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:15) * 1 lines
no snakes at all?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 42 of 48: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:58) * 1 lines
I hear snakes are banned in Hawaii as well, is this right?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 43 of 48: Rob Glennie  (AotearoaKiwi) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (06:27) * 5 lines
Hi all

None. If you see one, note the appearance (physical characteristics)of the snake and call the Ministry of Agriculture to send out their quarantine and biosecurity team. People here tend to take extreme measure to deal with a snake - guy using a forklift to unload containers at Lyttleton port dropped his load on the snake to kill it, when one was found last year.

Rob

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 44 of 48: Alpha Wolf  (wolf) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (18:15) * 3 lines
ok, none naturally?

and on to hawaii, snakes aren't allowed but are there any to worry about?

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 45 of 48: GeoCritter  (MarciaH) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (18:21) * 1 lines
Actually, Hawaii does have a snake. It is blind and lives deep in caves and is about the size of an earthworm. No teethand very rare. Just what a snake should be!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 46 of 48: Alpha Wolf  (wolf) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (18:22) * 1 lines
exactly!!

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 47 of 48: Julie  (cascadeclimber) * Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (18:35) * 1 lines
California has some interesting species of snakes. But most of which we all worry about is those rattlers, especially the Western Diamondback. I had a frightening encounter with one about 6 years ago while away at camp. We were all hiking on a trail in the mid morning heat and I was in front of the group of about 20 people. I unknowingly hiked a few feet ahead of the advisors when suddenly I saw something long and gray in color slither out on to the trail about 5 feet in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks, but I guess the rest of the group didn't see it cause they kept walking nearly passing me. "SNAKE!" I yelled out. They all stopped just in time and some kids let out a scream as they saw it too. Thank goodness for my sharp eyesite. We could have all been in trouble that day. I have seen many Gopher snakes and King snakes around as well. King snakes eat rattlers. My mom is terrified of snakes. I don't mind them but I dont like them either. 

 Topic 32 of 58 [SpringArk]: Snakes
 Response 48 of 48: Alpha Wolf  (wolf) * Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (21:26) * 1 lines
i always try to make a racket when walking trails and stuff--scuffing my feet and all, but i tell my kids to stay right behind me and not to run off. i don't want an accidental encounter with a rattlesnake or any for that matter.
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