You'll have to give me some poetic license on the "reasoning". I
understand that reptile reasoning is decidedly limited. :-)
Chuck Norcutt
Andrew Fildes wrote:
> That rattlesnake theory is a little too rational for my taste -
> animal behaviour is often logical but reasoning doesn't enter into it.
> We have a Pit Viper, the Death Adder (corruption of deaf adder) which
> is very venomous but small fanged so it doesn't feature much in
> statistics. The Browns and Tigers are a problem because they are
> bold, even aggressive at times - people claim that they'll actually
> chase you though I'm dubious. But they are territorial and inhabit
> dry grasslands close to housing.
> The Taipan and relatives are seen as most dangerous because they can
> reach two meters and will savage a victim - they wrap round and bite
> several times, putting a large volume of venom into you. That's a big
> and scary critter.
> Andrew Fildes
> afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> On 11/01/2009, at 12:01 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>
>> I don't know what the stats are in Oz but, in the US, about 50% of
>> venomous snake bites are dry (no venom injected). But the stats are
>> different by species. The overall average for coral snakes, water
>> moccasins and copperheads is about 40% envenomation. The average for
>> rattlesnakes is about 60% envenomation. The theory is that a venomous
>> snake is dependent on that venom for the next meal and it takes some
>> time to replenish it once it's used. Since we're obviously too big to
>> eat, better save the venom for when you really need it if you can just
>> scare this giant away. Biologist Archie Carr (U. of Florida) further
>> theorized that rattlesnakes had a higher rate of envenomation
>> since, if
>> you got close enough to be bitten, you had obviously been ignoring the
>> warning rattle but kept coming anyhow. You must mean that snake some
>> harm so you're more likely to get hit.
>
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