|
31-32 of 32 messages
|
Previous
Page 4 of 4
|
|
RE: What is our future
|
Reply
|
|
by FSB on January 17, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Paul's post represents the best aspects of herpetoculture - an informed, knowledgeable approach based in a sincere concern for the welfare of these animals and their conservation. Herpetology, traditionally snubbed in the larger world of academia, lends itself well to the efforts of serious amateurs [much like astronomy] and has gained much from the contributions of people like Klauber, Haast and others. To me the word "amateur" does not at all imply ineptitude - often quite the opposite. Amateurs typically maintain a vital passion for their fields that jaded professionals often lose. I have to agree, sadly enough, with Chris H., who posted that animals in private collections often receive much better care than they do in zoos. Unfortunately, the negative and unscientific baggage that centuries of human culture has attached to snakes, aligning them with the occult, etc., has attracted far too many weirdos who want to keep them for the wrong reasons. Up until 4th grade or so, I was the only kid in my school who was into reptiles, and even then I took notes, kept feeding and shed records, etc. Then it suddenly seemed like all these kids suddenly wanted boa constrictors, because of...Alice Cooper. Much later I was fired from a pet store job for refusing to sell an expensive python to a kid who only wanted it because of "Jake the Snake." The scientific, responsible aspects of our hobby have always been mowed down by the negative image of snakes [and other reptiles] in human culture. While major conservation efforts [and $$] are geared towards the marquee animals like pandas, apes, big cats and elephants, who, more than responsible keepers, are more concerned with the conservation of wild reptiles and amphibians? From educational outreach, giving reptile talks at schools, etc., to local snake removals, knowledgeable amateur hepetologists can have a very positive impact on their communities. [oops...my son's DS memory is full... more later]
|
| |
|
RE: What is our future
|
Reply
|
|
by FSB on January 17, 2010
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Randal, I have always preferred D-18's too... must be something about the "reptilian" part of our brains being more pronounced. Doug, I find it interesting that your cobras also seem to respond to the mid-range frequencies of the guitar. One of my early mentors was an otolaryngology researcher named James McCormick, a preeminent authority [along with Dr. Sam Ridgeway] on cetacean hearing. Note that whales, porpoises and dolphins also have no external ears, yet have very highly-developed auditory capabilities whereby sound waves are received [much like in snakes] by their mandibles. Dr. McCormick studied at Princeton under Wever, who wrote a definitive volume on hearing in reptiles and gave the name "sallet" to the unique helmet-shaped structure in reptiles' inner ears that makes them entirely different in form and function from the inner ears of birds and mammals. Dr. Wever even went so far as to propose that this difference indicated that birds and mammals did not in fact evolve from reptiles, but from an entirely different crossopterygian fish ancestor. I have always felt that snakes can detect more than just "vibrations" and Dr. McCormick assures me that they can indeed hear - not as we do, but much better than is generally thought. In any case, they are certainly not "deaf."
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
