I have read many of the threads, & it always makes me sad to see them degenerate into slinging matches.
Seems to me that many of us exhanged our unicorns & bigfoots, for truly horrible "Monsters" of our own, monsters that have taken up residency in the cradle of our hearts. \
I only get agitated at a few people here, and even then it's usually temporary or related only to a particular thread. I dig everyone here, even the people I seem to constantly be going around and around with.
They're still cooler and smarter than your average bear, so...
The whole war thing got a lot of us - myself included - hopped up a bit more than usual.
PScates, is your knowledge of rattlesnakes limited to encountering them in the wild? Just curious...I have liked them since I was like 8 years old. (reptiles, not just rattlesnakes)
You are right...rattlesnakes do live "deep in the woods". Mainly the Timber rattlesnake. The Eastern Diamondback is around too, but not nearly as much as the Timber (more south they are Canebrake Rattlers). Does NC have pygmie rattlers? Those were some nasties that I ran into in FL.
Probably reason for the low mortality rate from Rattlesnake bites is the fact that most people get bit on the fingers or feet/ankles. Course if you get unlucky enough to get stuck by a baby rattler, then the amount of venom could be double what an adult one would give you.
I've had a lifelong (okay, 20-25 years) fascination/interest/terror/attraction/repulsion regarding snakes in general...rattlesnakes in particular.
Next to the polar bear, probably my favorite animal. But I do harbor quite a nightmare-inducing phobia of them as well, which is odd, considering...
No formal or "schooled" training, of course. Just a longtime interest/hobby stemming from childhood: books, journals, notes, interviews, zoos, documentaries, field, searches, video, snakebite stories, folklore, etc.
My favorite episode is one centered on rattlesnakes. He was in the Southern USA and came upon an Eastern Diamondback. He was handling the snake, giving the usual informative speil when he noticed another Eastern D-back right between his legs!
He turned ash white and got the heck out of there. Turns out there were a ton of them hidden in the brush all around him.
One of the few times I've ever seen him genuinely shook!
Next to the polar bear, probably my favorite animal. But I do harbor quite a nightmare-inducing phobia of them as well, which is odd, considering...
Now this should be the direction of this thread: the strange relation between phobia and desire. Sort of like the strange relationship between love and hate. Haven't we all met that girl who we just hate, cannot stand the mere sight off at the set-off, a girl (or maybe boy for some of youns) that makes you puke vehemently, but, invariably, a few days, weeks, months later, bear a mouth-drying desire for?
Anyhow, this monster stuff is not spent on me really. I've never been that afraid, cause I'M A MONSTER MYSELF!
So I've not seen rattlers, deep in the Appalachians? The Smoky Mountains in North Carolina? Deep in the Cleveland Forest? Brush, logs, creeks, moss, WAY in the middle of nowhere?
Maybe my definition, then, of "deep forest" is off from yours?
Mine too, then. I was going to lay off this one, but I gotta comment. I've seen big mutherfunking rattlers in just about every woodland or interface condition you can imagine. They are anywhere that food is.
Another clue to the presence of rattlers, mocassins and copperheads -- king snakes. And I've seen plenty of black racers and striped kings in every different condition as well.
Anyhow, sorry to pick nits, but I had to make sure that folks didn't think the natural environment of rattlesnakes was all that limited. They live everywhere and anywhere.
So I've not seen rattlers, deep in the Appalachians? The Smoky Mountains in North Carolina? Deep in the Cleveland Forest? Brush, logs, creeks, moss, WAY in the middle of nowhere?
I don't doubt that you may have seen rattlesnakes in those places.
Of course, the Smokies and various other Appalachian ranges are mountain ranges which have a variety of habitats in (or on) them. Likewise for brush, creeks, logs and moss; all of those can be found in areas that have been clearcut after all.
A bald is just as much part of the Smokies as a forest. Even the Timber Rattlesnakes that Kentucky cites are more likely to be found on balds, bluffs, meadows, open riparian areas, talus, prairies etc than lounging on a bed of pine needles or devil's club with a Strawberry Margarita in hand.
Furthermore the Timber Rattlesnake is Endangered/Threatened/Protected in at least a dozen states because of small and declining populations. Hardly something to be scared of when you walk into a deep forest as it relates back to the original comment. I'd be more scared of other snakes anyway.
Quote:
Maybe my definition, then, of "deep forest" is off from yours?
Perhaps. I would refine mine- at least within the context of the lower 48 states- to refer to temperate old or second growth forest limited to IRAs or Wilderness Areas at least 10 miles from any road boundaries. If you wanted to be skicky I'd say it is reasonable to restict it to places where forest canopy provides at least 25%(-75%) cover but I wouldn't demand that. I would exclude alpine forests, scrubland, steppelands, etc.
No a scraggly fourth growth forest of pine in Tennessee that is three miles from Billy Bob's Dollywood Area Knick Knacks and Fireworks Store does not count as deep forest. Though it might have some (relatively speaking not that many) rattlesnakes.
So I guess if you want to put it in those terms than you could count deep forest much more easily.
I suppose the crux of the matter is whether you want to look at it in strict terms or more generally. Do rattlesnakes live in forests? Yes some do, most don't. Do rattlesnakes generally live in forests? No because some do but most don't. Do some rattlesnakes spend time in deep forests? Ye some do, almost all don't. Out of those that do live in or around deep forest, do they spend most of their time in forest cover or forest openings? The latter but not strictly so that they do not enter the former. Are rattlesnakes one of the top two things to be afeared of? Well perhaps we shouldn't be rational about fears which are an inherently irrational commodity but if we were to be afeared of some things then rattlesnakes would not be (based on stats) one of the top two things of which to be afraid.
Quote:
Yeah, they're more in the desert and scrubby areas (in my experience) and foothills, but they do exist in the places above. Did someone truck them in that morning or what? And place them there for my excitement?
More likely Shawn trucked them in in the hope that they would latch onto you like a two bit Nevada whore. He's devious like that.
Comments
Originally posted by pscates
Good one!
At last, someone else with a sense of humor.
I have read many of the threads, & it always makes me sad to see them degenerate into slinging matches.
Seems to me that many of us exhanged our unicorns & bigfoots, for truly horrible "Monsters" of our own, monsters that have taken up residency in the cradle of our hearts.
I only get agitated at a few people here, and even then it's usually temporary or related only to a particular thread. I dig everyone here, even the people I seem to constantly be going around and around with.
They're still cooler and smarter than your average bear, so...
The whole war thing got a lot of us - myself included - hopped up a bit more than usual.
You are right...rattlesnakes do live "deep in the woods". Mainly the Timber rattlesnake. The Eastern Diamondback is around too, but not nearly as much as the Timber (more south they are Canebrake Rattlers). Does NC have pygmie rattlers? Those were some nasties that I ran into in FL.
Probably reason for the low mortality rate from Rattlesnake bites is the fact that most people get bit on the fingers or feet/ankles. Course if you get unlucky enough to get stuck by a baby rattler, then the amount of venom could be double what an adult one would give you.
Next to the polar bear, probably my favorite animal. But I do harbor quite a nightmare-inducing phobia of them as well, which is odd, considering...
No formal or "schooled" training, of course. Just a longtime interest/hobby stemming from childhood: books, journals, notes, interviews, zoos, documentaries, field, searches, video, snakebite stories, folklore, etc.
Any fans of the Crocodile Hunter here?
My favorite episode is one centered on rattlesnakes. He was in the Southern USA and came upon an Eastern Diamondback. He was handling the snake, giving the usual informative speil when he noticed another Eastern D-back right between his legs!
He turned ash white and got the heck out of there. Turns out there were a ton of them hidden in the brush all around him.
One of the few times I've ever seen him genuinely shook!
Jeff
Edit-no obvious snake-between legs jokes, please!
Nearly lost my wedding tackle........."
Originally posted by pscates
Next to the polar bear, probably my favorite animal. But I do harbor quite a nightmare-inducing phobia of them as well, which is odd, considering...
Now this should be the direction of this thread: the strange relation between phobia and desire. Sort of like the strange relationship between love and hate. Haven't we all met that girl who we just hate, cannot stand the mere sight off at the set-off, a girl (or maybe boy for some of youns) that makes you puke vehemently, but, invariably, a few days, weeks, months later, bear a mouth-drying desire for?
Anyhow, this monster stuff is not spent on me really. I've never been that afraid, cause I'M A MONSTER MYSELF!
Der Kopf,
I am beginning to suspect that you were the Love child of Mary Shelley ( Frankenstein ) & Sigmund Freud.
Originally posted by aquafire
Dear Boys & Girls,
...
Please remember, that we don't just live in mountains & streams, but in the hearts & imaginations of all your children.
Love & kisses
Nessie xxx
But Puff the Magic Dragon is real, right? And his brother Bong the Effete Unicorn?
Originally posted by pscates
Besides, I saw "Deliverance".
I just bet you did.
Originally posted by pscates
So I've not seen rattlers, deep in the Appalachians? The Smoky Mountains in North Carolina? Deep in the Cleveland Forest? Brush, logs, creeks, moss, WAY in the middle of nowhere?
Maybe my definition, then, of "deep forest" is off from yours?
Mine too, then. I was going to lay off this one, but I gotta comment. I've seen big mutherfunking rattlers in just about every woodland or interface condition you can imagine. They are anywhere that food is.
Another clue to the presence of rattlers, mocassins and copperheads -- king snakes. And I've seen plenty of black racers and striped kings in every different condition as well.
Anyhow, sorry to pick nits, but I had to make sure that folks didn't think the natural environment of rattlesnakes was all that limited. They live everywhere and anywhere.
So I've not seen rattlers, deep in the Appalachians? The Smoky Mountains in North Carolina? Deep in the Cleveland Forest? Brush, logs, creeks, moss, WAY in the middle of nowhere?
I don't doubt that you may have seen rattlesnakes in those places.
Of course, the Smokies and various other Appalachian ranges are mountain ranges which have a variety of habitats in (or on) them. Likewise for brush, creeks, logs and moss; all of those can be found in areas that have been clearcut after all.
A bald is just as much part of the Smokies as a forest. Even the Timber Rattlesnakes that Kentucky cites are more likely to be found on balds, bluffs, meadows, open riparian areas, talus, prairies etc than lounging on a bed of pine needles or devil's club with a Strawberry Margarita in hand.
Furthermore the Timber Rattlesnake is Endangered/Threatened/Protected in at least a dozen states because of small and declining populations. Hardly something to be scared of when you walk into a deep forest as it relates back to the original comment. I'd be more scared of other snakes anyway.
Maybe my definition, then, of "deep forest" is off from yours?
Perhaps. I would refine mine- at least within the context of the lower 48 states- to refer to temperate old or second growth forest limited to IRAs or Wilderness Areas at least 10 miles from any road boundaries. If you wanted to be skicky I'd say it is reasonable to restict it to places where forest canopy provides at least 25%(-75%) cover but I wouldn't demand that. I would exclude alpine forests, scrubland, steppelands, etc.
No a scraggly fourth growth forest of pine in Tennessee that is three miles from Billy Bob's Dollywood Area Knick Knacks and Fireworks Store does not count as deep forest. Though it might have some (relatively speaking not that many) rattlesnakes.
So I guess if you want to put it in those terms than you could count deep forest much more easily.
I suppose the crux of the matter is whether you want to look at it in strict terms or more generally. Do rattlesnakes live in forests? Yes some do, most don't. Do rattlesnakes generally live in forests? No because some do but most don't. Do some rattlesnakes spend time in deep forests? Ye some do, almost all don't. Out of those that do live in or around deep forest, do they spend most of their time in forest cover or forest openings? The latter but not strictly so that they do not enter the former. Are rattlesnakes one of the top two things to be afeared of? Well perhaps we shouldn't be rational about fears which are an inherently irrational commodity but if we were to be afeared of some things then rattlesnakes would not be (based on stats) one of the top two things of which to be afraid.
Yeah, they're more in the desert and scrubby areas (in my experience) and foothills, but they do exist in the places above. Did someone truck them in that morning or what? And place them there for my excitement?
More likely Shawn trucked them in in the hope that they would latch onto you like a two bit Nevada whore. He's devious like that.
Absolutely,
Go ask your children, or any young child that has still a little imagination of their own dreamworld.
Besides which , there is a child inside everyone of us, wounded or otherwise happy to explore the world with you & thru you.
I can't think of a better way to bring morning dew back into our daily lives.
Never lose the child within
here
Nearly lost my wedding tackle........."
Good on ya, Aquafire!
As the Aussies on the boards
Jeff