Herps--reptiles and amphibians

Tim Harrell somewhere in the Fakahatchee Strand or Everglades films cottonmouth, red shouldered Hawk, and barred owl. The cottonmouth is in a tiny pool of water and seems uninterested in the fish. The hawk is eating something unidentified and watching out for the cottonmouth.

Tim Harrell in the Everglades: cottonmouth and ghost orchids--not in bloom.

Some animals of the fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Southwest Florida: alligator, barred owl, black bear, red-shouldered Hawk, white-crowned night heron, cottonmouth.

Eastern King Snake Walking Stick

"I carved this King Snake and White Oak branch with it’s leaves all out of a single piece of wood. It was a real challenge to bring all the leaves and stems together onto one branch."

Mike Stinnett

That guy is a hell of a good carver.

He's done a number of snakes, but so far the eastern kingsnake is my favorite. White oak leaves are done well. He burns the scales in one by one.

Black and white Argentine Tegu, Salvator marianae, as a pet.

I don't especially agree with this guy's choice of the five best reptiles for beginners, but this guy is very knowledgeable and pretty cool.

garter snake

Taming a pet tegu lizard:

Komodo Venom and its effects.

This is a bit off subject, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that birds are classed as Reptilia by many scientists. This is what was being pushed in my wife's university biology class this past semester. Wikipedia still shows reptiles and birds in different classes, Reptilia and Aves, respectively.

I've never seen or heard that birds and reptiles we're being placed in the same class. I don't understand that at all. I know that with DNA testing there is a lot of reclassification of species, genera, and even families, but classes? I don't understand that. I mean, one is cold-blooded and the other is warm blooded. Some dinosaurs and birds are placed together, but it's believed that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded.

I'll have to do some research on that idea. At any rate, thanks for bringing this up.

A reply to the increasingly status-filled and money-making hobby of keeping and breeding more and more decorative morphs of ball pythons e.g.:

We have to remember that snakes are symbolic of nature, the physical, and the feminine. As such they are our spiritual connection to Nature, our recognition of the physical basis of our nature and the reverence of the goddess, which is always incarnate. We have to think of of the snake not so much in terms of decoration but in terms of spirituality. These are living creatures that share their lives with us, and their importance is beyond the decorative and the status of possession especially since their natural habitats and all natural habitats are victims of cumulative assault.