Shadow Void

Venom From The Swamp

Cotton Mouth / Water Moccasin - Agkistrodon piscivorus

Welcome to Nature Weekend, today our trip into venom takes us to the swamps of our southern states. We are going to take a look a snake that gets to 2 to 6 ft long. This snake lives in marshes, swamps, river and lakes. It is a nocturnal hunter but often can be seen basking in day light. It can be distinguished from other water snakes in that this snake swims with it's head held out of the water. Like all pit vipers, they can detect the heat given off by their prey. They will feed on fish, amphibians, aquatic reptiles, birds, and mammals. When threatened, the cotton mouth may very well stand it's ground. No doubt you'll experience the reason for the name Cotton Mouth. This snake displays, the white lining of the mouth as a warning to back off. They will also imitate the rattlesnake by vibrating the tail. This snake should be considered somewhat aggressive. That being said, there are other that often get confused for Cotton-Mouths. Sadly, water snakes often get killed for looking like a venomous snake. There are three species of Cotton Mouth in the United States; Eastern Cotton Mouth ( A. piscivorus piscivorus), Florida ( A. piscivorous conanti ), and the Western ( A. piscivorus leucostoma ). They give birth in late summer. Like many other pit vipers, baby cotton mouths are venomous from day one. So let's say that you get bit, what is this venom going to do to you? Well, it's venom is stronger than a copperhead. Cotton Mouth venom is hemotoxic. Remember that means, that the venom destroys red blood cells. It also destroys other tissues. It reduces the bloods ability to coagulate. The venom can lead to tissue destruction. All I am going to say about the Cotton Mouth.

So venomous snakes, are they bad or good? Venomous snakes are good! It doesn't matter that they don't all eat rodents. What matters is that they fit into an ecosystem. They fill a niche and that makes them important. So if you kill a snake just because it might be venomous that just isn't cool. I've said it before that when you kill an organism it affects the ecosystem. It upsets the delicate balance that exists in an any ecosystem. I've pictures of people proudly displaying the rattlesnake that they've killed and quite frankly it sickens me. I can understand killing an animal if it is about to strike. I don't understand just killing them because they are there. I've lived in NW Indiana all my life and have never seen the famous Eastern Massasuaga.

My experience with snakes doesn't include venomous snakes. Most of my experience has been with garter snakes and dekay's brown snake. There aren't too many venomous snakes. Venomous snakes are wonderful additions to the world's species. I've found that reptiles do indeed have personality. One garter snake may threaten, musk, and bite while another individual may be perfectly docile. I wouldn't want to take the opportunity to find out if this holds true for their venomous cousins. Play it safe and give snakes a chance to run. Don't pick them up without knowing if they are vemonous or not.

There will be more venomous animals coming later!

Cotton Mouth Pictures

 Cotton Mouth / Water Moccasin

Eastern CottonMouth - Youtube

Over Heard; At Work

In my line of work, I hear a lot of stuff and usually I block it all out but every once in awhile, something gets stuck in my brain and it has to come out. On Tuesday, I am sitting next to a couple of my kids in current events. We start watching Channel one, television station espeically for middle schools, junior high, or high schools. It features the news and puts a teen spin on it. On Tuesday they featured a teen who is trying to break into the music scene in Nashville. He had a hairstyle that caused a few of the kids to make comments that his hairstyle made him look like a girl. One girl took it a step further and said that he looked like a fag.

 

Sometimes people don't realize how making comments or judgements can make them look foolish. It can also limit their circle of friends. Using words like "faggot" in my mind makes people look ignorant. When people use words like queer, fag, or any racial slur, they are only lowering themselves into a sty. I can only assume that this girl would be VERY offended if someone called her or used the "N" word. I say this because I've heard her make comments about how so and so needs to be beat up for using it. In my mind there is no difference saying faggot and nigger. ( I hope that I didn't offend anyone that is not my intentions. )

 

I don't normally use words like that to throw jabs at people. I said earlier that I think it makes one look stupid, well I don't want to make myself appear to be stupid. Does we a people really need to use those words to put someone else down? Should we really be putting people down to begin with? The answer is NO.

 

In closing, I think if you're using these words to assault people that you need to get a clue. Yeah...I said it! I would rather be friends with someone who respected people than to associate without someone who treats people like crap. Well, that is what I had written in my blog notebook. By my sweet readers.

Video Of The Week

Hey guys, I may have to pull the video if I'm contacted.

Venom / Poison

I'm gearing ujp for a month of week long look at venomous animals. The question is why are animals venomous or poisonous? In some cases, an animal is venomous strictly for defense while others have their venom to take food. They don't want to be messed with and in some cases, they provide some form of warning in some cases. They may use colors, displays, or a mix of color and displays. Arrow dart frogs and honey bees make use of colors and patterns to warn of their poison. The toxin produced by these animals is stored internally or it's secreted onto the skin. While some use it for defense, there are others who use their venom for tackling prey.

 

Next question, what does it mean to be venomous or poisonous? To be considered venomous, an animal must have a means to inject the venom into the body. A poisonous animal produces poison that has to be absorbed into the body or eaten. An example of that would be the fugu pufferfish or the colorful arrow dart frogs.

 

There are is true mix of toxins being secreted by the animal world. There are three main types of venom; neurotoxin, hemotoxins, and cardiotoxins. Neurotoxins attack the nervous system. Death comes from paralysis. Hemotoxins are responsible for the digestion of tissues and they can even destroy the bloodcells. Cardiotoxins directly impact the heart. Now consider this, all of these toxins can be a combined with any of the three toxins to make venoms that kill specialized prey.

 

I don't know what the numbers are for the world wide bite and sting stats. Hopefully, as advances are made in health care, the number of deaths will drop. Still, there are many people who get bite or stung every single year. While these animals might be scary and some can even kill you, still all of these animals deserve our utmost respect. Just because an animal is venomous doesn't make them evil. We need to be more aware.

 

We share the world with some amazing animals. Each of them requires us to be aware of them. In some cases, if a person were just more aware of his or her surrounding maybe they wouldn't have been bit or stung. Still, there are always those cases in which the bite or sting comes without us being aware.

 

As we move through this week, I'm going to bring you high lights of the venomous / poisonous world around us. My goal is to raise awareness. A little bit of awareness can go a very long way.

It's Dark and Dreary

No, I'm not depressed so don't worry about that. In the past five minutes, it's really got light outside. Today at 6:30, it looked more like 5:00 am or 5:30 am. It rained last night and the clouds are still hanging out. There is also this fine mist in the air. This mist is making everything inside and outside feel damp. I...ummm have a slight confession to make. I didn't get breakfast this morning. My head isn't attached and I was running around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off.

 

I didn't get to posting yesterday. I apologize for not doing so. There are no excuses. I just didn't get to it. One of my nephews called from my younger brother's house wanting me to play World of Warcraft so I did and then my younger brother took me through a dungeon with him so that I could advance my character. So yeah, that is why I didn't get to posting yesterday.

 

At church yesterday, I ran into a friend that I haven't seen since I was in my early teens. He is slightly younger than me. The little teenager that I remember has grown up to be really nice guy. We use to tease him about being bishop some day. In my church the term bishop is more like a pastor or a priest in other churches. Yeah...I just wish, well never mind no I don't want to wish that. Not every cute guy needs to be gay.

 

I don't want to be work today. I should have called off. I am not sure why I didn't other than, it doesn't feel right to call off. Usually, I am chipper but not today. Going back to bed sounds so good right now! Today is one of those days, where I dont' want to run around school doing any extra errands for the teacher. My body isn't looking forward to doing any extended walking. I feel like something is stirring inside my gut.

** The above part was written before 7:30 this morning.

By the end of the day, I was actually sweating. Something, that I almost never do at work. Mainly because, I'm usually chilled due to the air conditioning. I was also exhausted. Anyone who has worked with kids, especially those who has special needs like the kids that I work with, can tell you that it's not an easy job to do. I still had to come home and feed and water all the animals. Not the most fun in the world, but it needs to be done. Well at any rate, I am going to let you go.