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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 04/26/2005 : 17:27:05
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At the reptile expo I attended last weekend, I had a most interesting conversation with another SHHS member concerning the sounds produced by reptiles. So, this morning, I decided to do the following, brief screed on it.
VOCALIZATIONS IN REPTILES
It lies quietly, utterly motionless in the twilight of the forest. It is scarcely betrayed by it's tongue, which flickers lightly but only occasionally for scent particles. The directional heat sensing organs on the sides of it's snout imprint the slight temperature differences surrounding it on the vision centers of it's brain. It can easily ‘see' in the infrared, and these organs will be more likely to sense and pinpoint-locate it's prey than either it's eyes or the highly sensitive Jacobson's organ in the roof of it's mouth; that organ which receives those particles collected by the tongue. It might lay in that spot for days, knowing in it's endless patience that prey will come along. Did not it's scent receptors tell it that the prey used this all but invisible path regularly? The scent of urine was quite strong and not very old. The reward for it's patience will surely present itself soon.....
The herpetologist folk call it Crotalus (little bell) horridus (horrible). It is a Timber Rattlesnake, one of the worlds premier, ambush predators.
Everyone above an age requiring diapers knows that rattlesnakes can be noisy creatures when alarmed, and most have an idea of what makes the high frequency racket, but only the obsessed know how the snake does it. The tail of a rattlesnake contains one of the most remarkable muscles in the world, that vibrates it with extremely rapid contractions. This muscle, unique to these snakes, has a huge blood supply, larger than any other, single part of the snake nor indeed any muscle in any other animal, allowing it to ‘buzz' for as long as two or three hours, or even more if necessary, without rest.
The rattle itself is a sort of a chain of loosely but strongly jointed segments of hard, dry skin. These form from a modified scale at the tip on the tail called the ‘button.' Each time the snake sheds, from two to four times a year, a new segment appears from the button, lengthening the rattle. As the snake shakes it's tail, the segments click together causing the noise. The loudest rattles are usually between 10 and 15 segments long. When much longer, inertia affects it; shorter and there are fewer segments to vibrate. And this is in the range of average due to the longer rattles often getting broken in the course of the snake‘s movements about.
The longest rattle I have ever seen was on a quite old, captive Red Diamond Rattler (Crotalus ruber): 39 segments. The longest that has ever graced my digs was a Timber with 24.
Current thought has it that the rattles evolved in the ancestors of our Timber and it's far-flung cousins due to an extended plague of Gross Malapropos Bovinitis -- that is, to convince herds of large, clumsy grazers not to step on it in their travels across the grasslands. Some hint of this can be seen in snakes such as the non-venomous rat snakes. When threatened, they too will vibrate the tail. If they are on just the right surface, it sounds quite like a rattler, albeit much fainter, and they cannot keep it up for nearly as long.
But let us leave our Timber Rattlesnake for the moment -- he's not going anywhere until he has fed -- and look at some other cool and really vocal reptiles: Crocodilians and Lizards.
Unlike snakes, these actually have ears, and pretty sharp ones, too. Crocodilians regularly communicate with each other using various hissings, grunts, chirrups and even bellowing.
The American Alligator (Alligator mississippinsis), an old friend of mine, is highly vocal, especially during mating season. On excursions into the swam
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
 Posted - 04/27/2005 : 03:51:06 [Permalink]
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Interesting read!
Thank you filthy! |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 05:20:54 [Permalink]
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Glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 16:24:07 [Permalink]
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| Thanks Filthy! |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 16:22:51 [Permalink]
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Very nice. Good reading.
Thanks filthy.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 17:25:08 [Permalink]
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De nada, guys. I really enjoy writing these things, and kinda/sorta plan to do some more as inspiration strikes.
Hope they are as well recieved...
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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