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RE: flash.
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Anonymous post on November 8, 2003
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"Certainly we can think of better questions to ask than that!"
Cottonmouth, i want to assume that was sarcastic....but how do you know for a fact he was asking that to see if it was ok to use a flash? It can be an interesting question regarding the actual sight of a snake. But that doesnt matter, does it?
z06...sorry Im not actually sure of the answer to that question, someone should be able to help you tho. Please post the information if you find it elsewhere.
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RE: flash.
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by Buzztail1 on November 9, 2003
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Sorry Bill, I do not know the answer to your question. I do not know anyone who has done any extensive research into snake sight and the effects of lighting on it.
Jeff, how very uncharitable of you!
It must be very frustrating to know everything. Maybe he should have asked for the rod to cone ration in the eye structure of the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake? Would that have been a more suitable question?
There are lots of things about snakes that aren't known yet.
There are lots of things about snakes that are known by individuals through personal experience but are not general knowledge yet.
And there are still more things that most people know about snakes that aren't even true.
Let's try to be civil in here about the questions that do get asked. Not everyone that asks questions in here is a snake enthusiast and some questions are actually a search for knowledge. At least someone is asking a question and isn't promoting the "only good snake is a dead snake" philosophy that we run into so often.
Karl
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RE: flash.
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by Parcelmouth on November 10, 2003
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I think this is a very interesting question.In addition to the bright light of a flash photo,what about the heat generated by the flash?Boas,pythons and pit vipers all have heat sensory organs.If a pit viper can register the changes in temperature with as little diffrence as 0.003 degrees celsius(I do not know how sensetive the labial pits of boids are,but from what I have read they are not as sensetive or advanced as crotalidae),Then surely they will recieve a strange(unnatural-defined as not occurring in nature) perception of a flash.Quite possibly it could be startling to the snake or possibly scramble the I.R. receptors momentarily.This area and many others as Mr. Betz stated is still new and just being studied in detail,and biologists and scientists are finding out new info and disproving old paradigms constantly. Some studies have shown that pit vipers see in heat spectrums humans can not even generate an image for with thermal and Infra Red technologies.I can tell you that I have taken flash photos of my snakes(pythons and pit vipers included)with no ill effect other that the stress caused by the human(myself) disturbing my snakes while they were peacefully resting.They did kind of look strange or confused as I snapped pics.My cottonmouth actually put on a defensive display,something I have not seen from him in a long while(3-4 months),however not a one of my rattlesnakes buzzed once.I would however like to hear if anyone has anything else to add to this.The I.R. reception in pit vipers is very intersting to me.Has anyone ever had a bad expierience with a snake taking a flash photo?
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RE: flash.
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by Snakeman1982 on November 10, 2003
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Hello Bill,
I am pretty sure that the flash on a camera doesn't affect the snake much at all. If it does effect them I am sure that it is very slight, like a persons vision when they look at a bright light. I believe that any change in eye vision would return to normal shortly.
Obviously, snakes can't blink their eyes so they have their eyes open constantly and any light is going to penetrate through their lens. You might think that a bright light from a flash, especially at night, would have an affect on their vision and maybe even be a discomfort to them. However, I myself have photographed a multitude of snakes and use flash for about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time. I do not believe that I have ever had an incident where a snake, or any other herp, wiggled or hopped away due to an unpleasant or painful feeling from the flash. I tend to use a flash cord, hand held flash unit, and get relatively close to the snakes or other herps that I photograph with no real abnormal reactions from them because of the flash.
My most recent expedition was to southern Arizona and California. I spent 16 or so days on the road with a friend of mine. We caught close to 15 rattlesnakes at night (5 in 1 night!!!) and everyone of them we filmed and photographed at night with none of them striking or reacting towards the flash. We also used flash photography on a coral snake and other nonvenomous too with them having no regards toward the flash, but they obviously don't have pits. He uses a 105mm macro lens with a ringlight and gets right up on the herps and none of them tended to have a reaction to the flash.
There is pretty good documentation on getting pit-vipers to strike readily at a camera using certain simple electronic devices and yet I have never heard of any striking due to a flash and I often get right up on rattlesnakes using flash photography. If it did disturb them, then they wouldn't stay in the exact same position for the next shot and the one after that. I also believe that if the snakes were affected by it, someone would have wrote a journal article about it and there would be mention of it in atleast one of my herp books.
Another thought... If sudden bright lights did affect reptilian behavior then anytime you shone a light on a snake at night it would speed away as fast as it could trying to get away from the light. I have found this not true and actually snakes are usually slower when you see them at night (some of that probably due to cooler weather) because they aren't sure what you are, therefore not knowing if you are a threat. I quite often get infront of snakes to film them moving towards me and they just go in whatever direction they are heading whether I have a light pointed directly at them or not. They usually only speed away when they are scared.
Also, if sudden bright lights affected reptiles, it would be useless to spotlight for alligators in the Everglades (or wherever) because the second the light shone on its glowing red eyes then it would duck down and you would never see them again. Instead that is the easiest way to find and catch a crocodilian.
Hope this helps,
Robert Jadin
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RE: flash.
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by grappler on November 10, 2003
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Maybe true, but still I say what a silly question. If it does, then we better close the zoos or the serpents will go nuts with all those flashes. Sorry if I offended anyone.
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