Jim's Pond - Exploring the Universe of Ideas
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sunday, June 8, 2003

Road Trip to Idaho

Spending the weekend in Idaho with my friends. Golfing and fishing. Cool.

Saturday evening drove with Mikey to the ranch. This is a series of private lakes in the Owyhee Mountains, about an hour drive from Boise.

I spent time on the drive reading from a book on western US snakes. It was Mikey's book. There was a big section on rattlesnakes. Not encouraging news.

I particularly liked the first section. A lengthy discussion was provided about identifying physical characteristics. It ended with the warning, "if you are working with a live specimen and are close enough to use this information then you are much to close for your own safety."

Apparently the potency of venom varies from one subspecies to another. The diamondback is describes as "large quantities of very potent venom. Bites from diamondbacks should be avoided at all costs." Sidewinders are described in these terms, "smaller amounts of potent venom. Avoid contact with these snakes. A sidewinder bite will likely not kill you but leave you with a two week reminder that you do not want to ever be bitten by these snakes."

One subspecies was described as, "venom is mildly toxic in about 20% of the population." However, there was a further warning stating that this trait is scattered randomly throughout the population and so getting bitten is still no picnic.

Bottom line, don't mess with rattlesnakes. All of them are ill tempered and most of them, the overwhelming majority, possess very nasty venom. Even though a healthy person will likely not die the experience most certainly will be memorable........
9:26:13 PM    comment []






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