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Ginormous Rattler
- Thread starter bachlover
- Start date
Similar but with a distinctive flavor that's unique to all cold blooded animals. Kinda hard to describe. The flavor also fades quickly since there's barely any fat on the meat.
I tried some once that was grilled, don't know how it was seasoned but it reminded me of chicken. Tried gator tail too at same event and it also reminded me of chicken, for all I know maybe it was.
"Cold blooded" is a commonly accepted colloquial term for ectothermic, so you didn't quite fix anything, but thank you anyway.
Believe me, I'm all about precision of language. I'm the guy that chimes in on a "Squire" thread only to correct the spelling.
It would indeed be incorrect to say "snakes are poisonous" without using the word "some." But "cold blooded" is still an acceptable colloquial version of "endothermic."
It's a stupid term though. Because of it, too many people think endotherm blood is actually cold.
Dear boys and girls of talk bass:
Crotalus adamanteus is the heaviest (though not longest) venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake species.
The largest recorded rattlesnake was an eastern diamondback, killed in Carteret County, North Carolina, in 1959. This monster was eight feet long weighed approx. 34lbs., and is mounted in the North Carolina Museum of Natural History in Raleigh.
Second Largest ever recorded was 7 feet 8 inches in 1946
there has long been a hefty reward offered for specimens over 8 feet it has NEVER been collected!
specimens over 7 feet are very rare
there was however a report in 2009 of a 7.3 in eastern diamondback caught in St Augustine. that was originally reported at 15 feet
The Eastern diamondback averages about 5.5 feet in length with most commonly reaching 3.5 feet
the op's picture as well as the one above are very fine examples of forced perspective
Not trying to stir anything, but the Army Aviation museum at Ft. Rucker had a (mounted) 13 foot eastern diamondback on display. It's been more than 30 years since I've been there and they've moved into a nice big new facility so I don't know if it's still on display, but it was killed on one of the stage fields there back in the 50's if memory serves.
Also, my dad has a skin from an eastern diamondback that came from a snake laying across his driveway with it's head and tail in the bushes on either side. He got out of his truck to open the gate to his place one morning and it was laying right along side the gate. He shot it with a little .25 and I skinned and stretched it. It was just over 11 feet before we skinned it out. I have also seen several examples of eastern diamondbacks in the 10 foot range. Southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia, and northwest Florida are known for producing big eastern diamondbacks, but apparently not reporting them to record keepers. As far as that goes, I've killed a couple of velvet tails on my back porch up here in north central Alabama that were just over 7 feet, and have heard stories about some big eastern diamondbacks up here as well, though the biggest I've ever seen around my place was just over 6 feet long.
I grew up in East Texas, and have worked with reptiles my entire life....and I have personally never seen a rattler over 6 feet in length
you hear these stories all the time....I suppose it's possible, but science says they top out at the 8 foot mark! I shall have to research the Ft. Rucker snake......but as far as documented scientific evidence goes the largest ON RECORD is 96 inches!
While I am by no means a professional, I was a very avid amateur snake keeper. Started early as a school kid with a big hognose and moved up the food chain to catching rattlers for a University of Alabama study on snake venom for my first (kinda sorta) job out of the USMC. I do love the taste of snake so I've always kept some hand in, but after I got my legs messed up and passed a certain age I decided I was too slow to chance messing with vipers so the only snake I get these days is if one wanders up on my back patio.
And yes I imagine my claims sound fantastic, and had I not seen those snakes with my own eyes I would feel the same way.
My nephew in Las Vegas recently sent a photo of a rattler in his garage along with a quick note stating that he read that evolution is causing rattle snakes to lose their rattles.
Stealthy.
Stealthy.
I've read that too but it's quite debatable. The argument is that humans will kill rattlesnakes, and rattlesnakes that rattle are more likely to be noticed, and therefore killed, than snakes that are less likely to rattle--thereby leaving the non-rattling versions as the survivors which will then breed. However, there is absolutely zero evidence that this is actually occurring. Without any studies to show this effect happening, it's just an interesting hypothesis.
Crotalus catalinensis
no rattle! was originally thought to be an adaption developed because the only food/ prey item on the island known were birds, but recent studies have shown that 70% of their diet consists of Deer Mice and 30% iguana and side blotched lizard...no bird scat
No Rattle!
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The terms poison and venom are often used interchangeably, but they actually have very different meanings. It is the delivery method that distinguishes one from the other.
Poison is absorbed or ingested; a poisonous animal can only deliver toxic chemicals if another animal touches or eats it. Venom, on the other hand, is always injected. Every venomous animal has a mechanism (e.g., stingers, fangs, etc.) to inject toxins directly into another animal. It is for these reasons that some species of frogs are poisonous to touch or eat, while snakes are venomous when they use their fangs to bite.
Interesting. I never thought of it that way, but that makes good sense. Thanks!
