2008-01-06, 01:28
#13
Jag skickade länken till en bekant som bor i sydamerika och skriver/fotar naturböcker, här är hans svar något förkortat:
"The skin looks like a type of Fer de Lance, Bothrops Atrox, which are deadly, but the head is not pointed, so it could be a Batesian mimic.
It is neither a coral snake, not false coral - they are banded black, red and yellow - they have the strongest venom but are rear fanged, so not as dangerous as the Bothrops or Bushmaster (Lachesis Muta Muta) king of the pit vipers.
I think it is potentially a harmless imitator, but would not care to hang one on my wedding tackle to find out.
When i spent 4 years in the Amazon guiding Eco tourists and handled all of the above, none were aggressive unless disturbed - though Costa Rican Bushmasters have a worse reputation for aggression through territorial protection."
"I would mail the shots to the Zoological society in London, or the Smithsonian Institution in Washington."
Jag slänger med en liten anekdot också;-)
"There was a herp guy called Rex Cockroft from the Smithsonian who used to go out at night and catch them. Used to bring them back in terrifyingly twitchy canvas sacks.
Their pits see things in infra red, which saved my ass once as I was drunkenly crawling around to give a friend a fright and came face to face with an 8 1/2 foot Bushmaster (they grow to 12 feet).
Venom is hugely protein rich and they need it to eat so don't tend to bite things they can't eat unless molested. they have such control they can even give dry bites, so as not to waste any. They can also control how much venom they shoot down either fang independently - incredible creatures - the great white shark of the jungle."
"The skin looks like a type of Fer de Lance, Bothrops Atrox, which are deadly, but the head is not pointed, so it could be a Batesian mimic.
It is neither a coral snake, not false coral - they are banded black, red and yellow - they have the strongest venom but are rear fanged, so not as dangerous as the Bothrops or Bushmaster (Lachesis Muta Muta) king of the pit vipers.
I think it is potentially a harmless imitator, but would not care to hang one on my wedding tackle to find out.
When i spent 4 years in the Amazon guiding Eco tourists and handled all of the above, none were aggressive unless disturbed - though Costa Rican Bushmasters have a worse reputation for aggression through territorial protection."
"I would mail the shots to the Zoological society in London, or the Smithsonian Institution in Washington."
Jag slänger med en liten anekdot också;-)
"There was a herp guy called Rex Cockroft from the Smithsonian who used to go out at night and catch them. Used to bring them back in terrifyingly twitchy canvas sacks.
Their pits see things in infra red, which saved my ass once as I was drunkenly crawling around to give a friend a fright and came face to face with an 8 1/2 foot Bushmaster (they grow to 12 feet).
Venom is hugely protein rich and they need it to eat so don't tend to bite things they can't eat unless molested. they have such control they can even give dry bites, so as not to waste any. They can also control how much venom they shoot down either fang independently - incredible creatures - the great white shark of the jungle."
