Well, here’s some cheery news for you: We are selectively breeding rattlesnakes that don’t rattle.
Yessiree. Why would someone do this? Aha. Someone wouldn’t. But it’s happening because we kill the ones that rattle. That increases the ratio of non-rattling ones, and voila! You get sneakier snakes.
You may recall that I wrote about rattlesnakes in a hilarious blog five years ago. Yes, snakes can be hilarious.
But they have clearly forgotten that we signed an agreement with them: They would rattle, and we would scream like a little girl and run away. We had a deal.
The rattlesnakes on Catalina Island have evolved not to rattle at all. Scientists think it’s because they don’t want to warn their prey (which is rather smart, if you think about it). In other areas, some have withered tails, thus they don't rattle, either.
So now, when you’re hiking or farming or just living your life, you must look for the triangular head, made so by big venom glands. That’s if you can see it against the camouflage they live in.
In all, it’s discouraging news. But, one little beam of hope is this: Rattlers don’t like to strike if they can avoid it, because they need their venom to kill prey and survive. That means about a third of all their bites are dry. See? I told you I had cheery news.
And I have hundreds of life hacks on my YoutubeMom channel. Check it out!
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