I don’t like snakes. Any snakes. I know some snakes are good snakes. But, I don’t like them either. If I see a black snake, my heart stops for a few seconds. Snakes freak me out.
Sunday night, a couple of pythons were on the loose in San Luis Obispo, California. From Yahoo/AP…
It’s pretty difficult for a 23-foot, 130-pound python to hide.
The orange reticulated python, the world’s longest snake species, and a second python, measuring 13 feet, escaped from a terrarium in their owner’s home in San Luis Obispo on Sunday night.
Escaped, now I don’t like the sound of that; not one bit.
Just to put that in perspective, here is a reticulated python.
eeeeeeennnngghhhh!…gives me the willies
Police warned residents that the snakes were large enough to make meals of young children or pets.
See what I mean. What the hell are you doing with 23 foot snakes, that can eat small childrens that also….have the ability to HATCH AN ESCAPE PLAN!!???
The 23-footer was found basking in the sun in a backyard several blocks away.
The smaller python was spotted under the owner’s porch. No injuries were reported.
Well, no injuries that’s good. See, I’m pretty sure that if I’m walking along, minding my own and, I see a 23 foot reticulated python basking….I’m dropping dead from a heart attack right there,on the spot. Even if you don’t have any of this making meals of small childrens and pets going on, all it takes is someone to run up on this thing to have a victim there deader than a mackerel.
Police said the snakes’ owner will not be cited.
“There is no leash law for snakes,” said police Sgt. Kurt Hixenbaugh.
No leash laws my ass. The snake owner needs to be locked away; no, deported; send him to Borneo or something. And, this police Sgt. needs to come to his senses and get back to the business of protecting the public from evil snakes.
Remember the snake killed by guitar in the basement in the Walnut Shade house? Yeah, I had to go and collect that THANG for the trash barrel. Thanks a heap, dude.
Still, it was a funny story…
No… some of us have never heard that story… hmmmmh? Did the 23 foot python eat a guitar?
I may be accused of a swiss cheese memory, but remember this was second hand. The story goes, Jack, his friend (I think was Terry, but not certain), and brother Jim were in the basement jamming. Jim was keeping time on the drums, looked over at Jack, and without losing a beat, pointed his drumstick, said, “Snake” and kept drumming.
Jack supposedly turned round to see a large black snake preparing to drop onto him. Someone’s guitar, possibly Jack’s, became a snake killer, that beat the evil snake’s head to a pulp.
The boys came upstairs laughing and giddily related the tale and was still funny until mom said someone had to get rid of the snake.
None of the boys wanted to do it. Donning dish washing yellow rubber gloves, my coat, and my shoes, I went downstairs, peeled the icky snake (which was about four feet in length, sans head) and took it outside to this barrel where we used to throw our dog’s questionable trophies.
And that’s the story. I swear.
No guitar was used, in any way, in the killing of the snake.
It was a band rehearsal, for a power trio called The Mudsharks, early 80s.
Jim stopped in the middle of a song and said, “there’s a snake in here”. He sensed it. He has snake sense. We looked around and there was a large black snake laying up in the rafters of the garage. He was somehow wedged between these rafters and a concrete wall.
The bass player was a guy named Tim, who was from Chicago and not used to seeing snakes. Tim went over and tried to grab the snake to take it outside and the snake struck at him violently several times. Almost took a chunk out of his head. To my knowledge a black snake will do that sometimes if being attacked or, maybe this particular snake was sick or something, I don’t know. But, it was pretty scary because it was a big snake and black snakes do have teeth. So Tim kind of wigged out and grabbed something, I’m thinking a baseball bat and hit the snake in head with it.
Ahhh, yes, Tim! He was a wiggy guy. The story must have gotten some embellishments from basement to upstairs.
Warning – creepy pic of the Missouri Black (Rat) Snake
I find Jayne’s story much more entertaining… PETA gonna rap on your door for the Icky MO Black Snake Murder…
It was Tim [or Terry] the wiggy guy…
with a Gibson ES-175 electric guitar
in the basement
cleaner [big sis] covered tracks
and evidence cremated into the burn barrel
FUNK! That!
I found a good anecdote that says a lot about being able to identify “things” in the wilds… Black Snake and the Rednecks at Biochemical soul,,, a small example of the Ignorance of (some) Rednecks
We had a big couple of rat snakes out in our barn. Sometimes we slept out on the hay bales when too many relatives showed up and sleeping space filled up in the cabin. We usually saw that big old rat snake up on the top bale pile, like he was part of the slumber party. Those snakes are bigger in Texas, btw… hardiharhar…
from the link….
See, I knew that. My first inclination was to let the snake be, leave te garage door open and maybe the snake will leave. This cat from Chicago had some different agenda. However, after killing the snake, he seemed to feel bad about the whole ordeal.
lol
I’m glad you found my article on snakes, Pat Darnell and Friends!
I know many people with the common snake fear and I still can’t help but wonder if it’s a hardwired fear, built by evolution – as opposed to just another irrational fear built by personal experience.
You’re wrong, Pribek, there aren’t “some” good snakes.
They’re all good from a scientific and ecological perspective.
That being said, if one has small children around, I could understand not wanting something like a rattlesnake hanging around. But in that case, all you need is a bucket and a broom and you can get rid of the problem without having unnecessary blood on your hands.
I highly recommend that you seek some exposure therapy for this irrational fear :) . For real, my wife is a psychologist and the one thing she says over and over is that phobias are among the most easily treated of psychological conditions (which it most assuredly is).
I mean c’mon…snakes are just plain cool! You don’t have to want one all up in your cheeze whiz or anything to appreciate them.
I like your writing style, e.g “See, I’m pretty sure that if I’m walking along, minding my own and, I see a 23 foot reticulated python basking….I’m dropping dead from a heart attack right there,on the spot.”
Hilarious.
Oh, and stop calling snakes EVIL!! They attack for food and self defense – what do people attack for?
Cheers!
One more thing,
I see that one of you is in Arkansas (my original home state).
You should check out the article I wrote on the Timber Rattlesnake, which lives all over the state (at least in the more hilly forested regions).
I used to radio-track these dudes in the Ozarks for ecological studies. It was AWESOME!
Irradiatus; I got a question for you. I have always hear that copperheads mate for life and travel in pairs. Old timers have told me that if you kill a copperhead and you build a fire on that spot and burn the copperhead in the fire, the other copperhead will leave the area forever. Any truth to that?
By the way, I’m on the Missouri side; Stone County.
and, oh yeah; those wood rattlers, they can spit venom in to your eye from 30 feet. That’s true too, isn’t it?
Irradiatus, excellent article, but sad. How awful for that driver to have purposefully swerved to kill the snake. Like Brother Jack, I am no fan of any snake – if they’re anywhere near me. On a blog, or tv, they’re fine.
Btw – all hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster (protector of all things great and small)!
Hey Pribek,
First, I dig your music – been listening as I do other stuff.
Second, copperheads do not mate for life. However, a female will mate with only one male in a single season (after the male inserts one of his two penises – or “hemipenes” – into her).
And no – burning a copperhead will have absolutely zero effect on any nearby copperheads.
By the way, you should not fear the copperhead. Their venom is pretty weak. Worst that usually happens is you get pretty sick if bitten (Dogs are very immune to the venom). And like any snake, they only strike a human if you step on it or get much too close for it’s comfort. And if you live in a rural area, don’t even bother with killing them – you live in snake land and theirs nothing you can do about it. They have very important roles in your ecosystem!
Also, despite another old wives tail, no North American snake will chase you (not sure about the bigger equatorial species). If a snake comes toward you, its because it’s dumb and picked the wrong direction to escape to. I’ve heard so many rural folks talking about being chased by snakes, to which I say bull****. Snakes care about 3 things: eating, surviving, and mating. They don’t want to bite big things like humans. This is why venomous snake bites are often “dry bites” – a bite intended to say “get the hell away from me” – not a bite to kill a meal. They’re not so dumb to mistake a hulking human for a meal.
Sorry – one more piece of trivia – they are also smart enough to know that if they manage to strike a bird, they can’t let go or they will lose their meal.
LOL @ Pribek
No they cannot spit venom!
The Indian Cobra can and it’s pretty wicked to see – but you’re safe with a rattler (or copperhead or cottonmouth, which are pretty much the only venomous species in MO and AR) – they’re pretty docile species. You can get pretty close to them (to take pictures or whatever) just stay more than at least 1/3 to 1/2 their body length (which is tough to judge when they’re coiled).
Another commonly held belief is that cottonmouths (sometimes falsely called moccassins) are very aggressive. It’s actually true in that they WILL hold their ground, while rattlers and copperheads often run for it. They still mean no harm and just want you to get away from them.
Just having a bit of fun with you Irradiatus. It tends to get a bit irreverent around here from time to time.
I have heard that about copperhead venom being weak. I’ve also heard that there are very few instances of people dying from a rattlesnake bite.
For the record, I don’t kill snakes, just steer clear.
Now, I don’t know what the species is, we call them racers. They raise their head up and sometimes come at you. Looks fierce.
And, water moccasin’s dropping out of trees in to the boat; that’s another one you hear about.
I appreciate your expertise and taking a little time to stop by.
Glad you like the tunes and thanks for listening!
I once tried to catch a racer through the woods (my job was also to catch any snakes I came across when I was tracking the rattlers). I ran as fast as I could dodging trees and hopping logs, but I couldn’t get him (he was about 6 feet long)! Suckers live up to their name.
Correct on the rattler deaths – it usually happens when someone turns out to be allergic to them (or doesn’t go to the hospital). If you’re allergic, you can die quite quickly from anaphylactic shock.
And yeah, I’ve definitely heard stories of cottonmouths dropping into boats (usually startled out of the tree trying to escape into the water – like I said, they’re relatively dumb animals). One crazy dude I worked with used to track cottonmouths – in rivers – wearing waders – at NIGHT. No way would I do that!
I thrive on irreverence!
Well, you should stop by more often.
By the way Irradiatus, I was just looking at your site; very cool! I added you to my Google Reader at the risk of having every biology blog on the planet show up in my “Recommended Feeds” for the next 16 months.
I got a great suggestion for a topic at your place; “Teaching Intelligent Design”
Yeah, Irradiatus: Now that we have you over here… can I call you Irrad for short?
I have three questions that I am struggling with… and I am about to go searching your archives.. maybe you could just point?
1. Colony Collapse Disorder of Honey Bees? Wednesday, August 15, 2007 Open Source: Some Follow up on Honey Bee Crisis — Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
2. White-snout phenom in dying bats of NE USA?
3. Will there be a genetic implant of pig genome into a cow, making a MooPig, someday?
I know you might be kicking yourself at this point, that you let me drag you into our knucklehead zone… but your hands-on replies are up there in the priceless category. See how I suck up when I want something??
Irradiatus – try enlightening these knuckleheads that the color has nothing to do with a snake’s demeanor. Retics are notorious face-strikers. A black racer will run for its life if exposed. If you really want to put the fear of God in them, try explaining the feeding and territorial attributes of a snake like the black mamba. PS: What do you use to “tag” the timber rattlers and how do you attach it?
Anyone ever heard of catch and release? Me neither.
Mutual fear = mutual respect
Mutual fear = ignorance – like an ostrich’s head in the sand? Mutual respect = some level of thought and understanding. Knowledge is power. Catch and release??? (Oh please…) Ever go fishing? Catch and release is returning any fish you catch back into their habitat so they can swim off and live to breed to makle more little fishies for another day. Besides, the mercury tables on most state’s wildlife management bureaus are so high that many species of fish are no longer edible like (catfish, pickeral, smaller members of the bass family – and any other long lived fish. The bottom feeders and minnows eat all the smaller thingies loaded with toxins from feeding in the muck and the fish that feed off them collect more of these toxins the longer they live. Metals do not pass through any animals digestive system, it’s stored in the fat tissue along the lateral and dorsal lines – kelation therapy is used to detox people by introducing agents into the body which bond to the metals and allow their excretion. Where’d you read your prophetic post, off a bumper sticker from some looney left winger’s Lexus?
Wow, I haven’t been here in a while…
Just noticed the new activity.
Re: Pat From February:
1) Honey Bee collapse – I haven’t been following it closely but I know it’s tragic (and agriculturally disastrous). Not sure if they’ve figured it out yet.
2) The bats – absolutely horrific – it seems to be a fungus, and it’s still spreading fast, moving slowly south. I just read a week or two ago that biologists fear it may hit Virginia in the next year. Medically disastrous (more insects = more human disease, like West Nile Virus.
3) If the genome of a cow were inserted into a pig, the cells would not be able to divide (different chromosome numbers – besides that’s not the way genetics and development works). Certain genes could be transferred though. Not sure what you’d do with that.
No MooPig, unfortunately.
Re: Dave, July
1) The snake tagging was years ago for the Uof A in Fayetteville AR. We implanted radiotransmitters in their body cavity and released them back into the wild to track and study them.
Re:Pat, July
Fear is most assuredly not the same as respect. In fact it is the opposite.
Re: Dave
Too true – many lakes have insanely high heavy metal levels that bioaccumulate in the fish. It pisses me off that I can’t eat my local catfish…
I found your last comment rather funny though, as I am most definitely a country boy/liberal leftist. :) And “mutual fear = mutual respect” seems about as far from a left-wing motto as any I’ve ever heard. Sounds the opposite.
Not sure how the Lexus fits in either. Driving a Lexus is also pretty antithetical to most left-wing mindsets. I think you might have left and right confused :)
Cheers – that was fun
I don’t get the “mutual fear = mutual respect” meaning – I must be dense. You’ll have to forgive me – I am a bit satyrical – especially when the green politicians preack ” save the planet rhetoric and criss cross the country in Gulfstreams. The post about beating the snake’s head in is so typical and really pissed me off – people fear them and don’t realize their value or contribution to controlling the rodent populations. We’ve got the Pine Snake, Eastern King Snakes, and Timber and Pygmy rattlers on the endangered list along with the Eatern Box Turtles and a whole lot of Pinelands tree frogs, The snake tagging thing is fascinating to me – heard of it with salt water fish but I couldn’t imagine how (where) you’d harpoon a snake with a tag like a shark or a bill fish. They use collars that fall off on the black bears here. Never thought about inserting it into the body cavity – that was a relief. Have to ask you – just how far do they roam territorially in search of food or mating.I’m an amateur (wanna-be) hepetologist and I’ve always loved reptiles and amphibs – especially fascinated by snakes. As per the water snakes – I’ve had them climb right into the canoe while I’ve been fishing – even the non-poisonous species are pretty agressive – especially during the mating season after the full moon in late April. They run on nature’s clock – just like the shad migration in the Delaware River. I’m a conservative, a conservationist and a hunter too. I live in the NJ Pinelands. The deer herds were so well (over) managed the last decade here, the State is making a killing on the licensing (which pays for the NJDEP and game wardens but they’re causing traffic accidents crossing roads into housing areas in search of food in the fall and winter. I don’t think i fit any of the stereo-types, I’m the guy that blocks the highway with his Civic down near the bay and pisses all of the tourists off when I’m down at the shore while i pick up diamond back terrapins and shuttle them across the road to their laying areas in the reeds and dunes inb the back bay and estuarys. Don’t know why they put the roads so darn close to the bay – Idiots I guess. Most people don’t realizes those “turtle crossingh” signs are for real. There are a lot of people here that do it on a daily basis because they live right there but there’s still a high mortality rate at night – but i guess that’s why God made seagulls and raccoons – to clean up the turtle cakes. Believe it or not – a lot of people living here do the same thing for the Eastern Box Turtles – they’re always on the move in the summers here and they aren’t real fast or too bright but the’re majestic creatures. Let me know any info on the snake travels if you can – I’m really curious. Also, who’s on the soundtrack playing here? Thanks… sorry if I offended anybody on the earlier post.
“…sorry if I offended anybody…”
Buzzzzzer !!
I thought that was the point of it all…
Hi Dave good to meet you. I thought at first you were my big brother … Dave.. South Texas Nursery Man Extraordinaire, doesn’t mean you might be my brother from another mother… eh?
That thing you and your neighbors do with the turtles is inspiring…
Here in College Station, Texas, we have a rampaging mess of feral hogs who all hold up in the day in surrounding woods and river bottoms, unseen.
At night they move around and churn up the sod, mangle the corn, and run the deer out. They like areas of turned soil, and new grass… Three litters a year at possibly fourteen little feral’s per litter, well it makes for an exponential population growth…
BTW the soundtrack is my old friend and best-man Jack Pribek… greatest guitar player on two continents.. this is his blog-site. Get you some music muscle; put a Pribek on the boom box — three sets, twelve reps — should git ‘er done.
Mr Irraditus, thanks for the look in, and new info.. I was thinking of mass producing Bat Houses for residents around here, to keep our insect population down. The hogs are known for having a multiplicity of parasites in their fur, etc.. so much so that hunters say the pig seems to keep moving afterwards due to ticks lice and who knows what crawling around in the fur… YIKES!!
any info is education… and Paranoia is the absence of thought? Don’t own, nor never would consider a Lexus… Chevy Man and Astros’ Fan.. lifetime. Thanks again for the parlay. pdnf