Varanus albigularis

 

The White-throated Monitor has a large and muscular body, an elongated head with a dome-shaped snout, short sturdy limbs, and a strong, thick tail. The length of the tail slightly exceeds the sum of the animals head and body lengths. Furthermore, the tail functions as a prehensile organ, a rudder, and as a weapon. The front legs are surmounted with long, sharp claws that enable this lizard to dig and climb. White-throated Monitors are adept climbers. As common to all Varanidae, they have long, forked tongues. The tongue is not only used for drinking but also in a sensory capacity. It is a common myth told to tourists that the White-throated Monitor lizards suck milk from cattle udders. The adult White-throated Monitor can attain lengths up to 120 to 150 cm (4 6 ft.) from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail. The average weight of the adult male is 8 kg (17.5 lbs). The adult female has an average mass of 6.5kg (14 lbs.) In captivity, both sexes tend to become obese, weighing up to 20 kg (44 lbs). An ivory-colored throat is the distinguishing characteristic of this monitor. Its body is covered with 110 to 140 small, beadlike scales that form reticulated and banded patterns of gray, brown, and black, intermingled with conspicuous yellow and/or white patterning.

 

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

The White-throated Monitor is found throughout Central and Southern Africa. The White-throated Monitor is both terrestrial and arboreal. It inhabits the savanna, steppe, open bush, and woodland regions. However, it is not generally found near water sources. This monitor has a large home range relative to its body size. The home ranges of males average 18.3 square kilometers (approx. 7 sq. miles), whereas the home ranges of females average 6.1 square kilometers (approx. 2.5 sq. miles). Researchers have shown that the home ranges of both sexes do indeed overlap.

 

BEHAVIOR:

The White-throated Monitors are essentially solitary individuals. They generally ignore each other until the mating season. These monitors are diurnal. Reproductive males and females will fully utilize their home range foraging during the wet season. Only the males roam their home ranges during mating season, whereas the females remain in one particular location of their home range. Throughout the remainder of the year when prey populations are low to nonexistent, both sexes limit their daily movements and remain basically sedentary so as to conserve energy. It should be noted that the White-throated Monitor will not attack humans unless provoked. When threatened, the White-throated Monitor will assume an intimidating posture by arching its neck, puffing out its throat, and hissing loudly. It will then lash out with its tail and bite violently at anything within its reach. This monitor is a formidable opponent. As a last effort, it will allow itself to be attacked. When its foe leaves it for dead, this monitor is able to survive because it is able to rapidly recuperate. White-throated Monitors have been noted to fight to the death. The main competitor of the White-throated Monitor is the black-backed jackal, as both have similar diets. Predators of this monitor are ratels, birds of prey, and most large carnivores.

 

DIET:

The White-throated Monitor is a voracious feeder between the months of January to February, also known as the wet season. It will travel long distances in search of prey. During the dry season from July to December, it fasts losing approximately 4% of its body weight per month. Research has shown that this monitor has an adaptive relationship between its feeding habits and digestive responses similar to sit-and-wait foraging snakes. This adaptation serves to conserve energy during the long interval between meals. Its diet in the wild ranges from invertebrates, small reptiles, birds and eggs to occasionally small mammals and carrion. Land snails are the favorite prey. Studies have shown that it uses visual and chemical cues in distinguishing its prey. This monitor is a selective feeder. It seeks to obtain the highest caloric intake at the least energy expense of handling time despite the availability of other prey choices. The White-throated Monitor does not chew its food, but instead swallows small prey or large pieces of prey whole by increasing the size of its mouth. This is accomplished by spreading the hyoid apparatus and dropping the lower jaw.

 

REPRODUCTION and GROWTH:

White-throated Monitors are oviparous. In the wild, females will produce one clutch of up to 50 eggs. However in captivity, females will lay multiple clutches per year. During the cool, dry season from May to August, the male will go on a tour of his home range six weeks prior to mating. He will visit the locations of reproductive females. The male exhibits the same behavior patterns as when foraging. During this period, the females remain relatively stationary, preferring to remain upon elevated sites, such as trees and rocks. During this period of touring, it appears that feeding or mating does not occur. The male seems to remember the locations of the fertile females and will return to mate with them at their optimum time. During the courtship, the male will wipe his mouth on elevated objects immediately adjacent to the female and display vent dragging. He will make exaggerated, spasmodic movements as he approaches the female. The response of the female is to flatten her body and press her head down to the ground. Before actual contact, the males will flick his tongue around the females mouth, hind legs, and the base of her tail. The female remains passive during courtship and mating; therefore, there is no aggression between the sexes. White-throated Monitors prefer to copulate in trees. Intruding males will be chased away by the resident male. Researchers did not observe any ritualistic combat between males. Both sexes will mate with multiple partners. The female lays her eggs in a nest in an abandoned ground squirrel burrow. The eggs are covered and left to hatch. Egg laying usually occurs two months prior to a significant rainfall. The eggs are turgid and possess a high water content. The hatchlings emerge throughout the rainy season and feed primarily upon invertebrates. During the next three months, they will triple their mass and double in body length. In the wild, less than half of the hatchlings will survive. White-throated Monitors are reproductive at 3 - 5 years of age. Their life expectancy is about 15 years.

 

Reptile House

Bronx Zoo NY

 

Stivan, a small settlement on Adriatic Sea island Cres in Kvarner bay, is an almost abandoned place. Incredibly stony ground, almost nonexistent arable soil, not close enough to the sea shore to be of interest for tourists, offers little to survive. Some old fig trees and olive trees and sheep, this is all one can rely on. But it is situated in a great landscape, in an open, rather flat (as the whole south part of the island) Mediterranean landscape, harsh, wind-swept and sunny, with mild spring and autumn climate and hot summers. Yet, 200 years ago men was capable not only to survive here but also to live full lives and to build large stony farmhouses like this one on my pictures. Now it is a ruin worth nothing, defeated by time and overtaken by Wulfen's Spurge (Euphorbia wulfeni).

024

Fortune Global Forum 2018

October 16th, 2018

Toronto, Canada

 

3:30 PM

THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY

The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim

Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay

Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase

Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

 

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune

This rare shower appears to be an adaptation of an 1849 patent by Ephraim Larrabee of Baltimore. It was discovered on a battlefield following the Fredericksburg Campaign. Likely used by high ranking officers from the Federal Army this shower demonstrates there were ranks in hygiene. It was compatible with hot or cold water, adjustable in heigh, and still retains some of its original canvas. In a time when indoor plumbing was nonexistent in most American homes showers were a luxury in both military and domestic environments.

 

The Luray Valley Museum, located in the the Stonyman Museum Building at the Shenandoah Heritage Village, features an impressive collection of Shenandoah Valley artifacts in chronological order from the early 1700s through the 1920s. The museum is housed in a building constructed with the original logs from the dilapidated Varner Barn, a nearby circa 1800 bank barn.

 

Shenandoah Heritage Village, located on the Luray Caverns complex, is a seven-acre re-creation of a small 19th century farming community made up of restored historic buildings, cottage style gardens, and a small vineyard with a scenic mountain backdrop.

Full Tour:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrH4AOjN23Y&t=28s

 

PDF Instructions: www.luxurybrickstore.com/

 

This is the ultimate home on wheels for your minifigure family. Not only are there two levels on this motorhome, but four separate slide outs that allow for maximum floor space possible. There’s even room for atvs, motorcycles, bicycles, and the family car in the enclosed stacker trailer to bring along as well. The original inspiration for this build was a prototype design I randomly came across on the internet. Double decker motorhomes with slide outs are pretty much nonexistent, but I figured why not put one together with Lego.

House of the Golden Well, sometimes called At the Red Chair, the house no. 175 in the Old Town of Prague on the corner of Seminary (no. 2) and Charles (no. 3), near Clementinum.

On the site today of Baroque building with Classicist elements became Romanesque building, whose walls are preserved vaulted cellar at the Seminary Street following the house čp.177 / I. The first written record of this house but it is up to the year 1354 when it cutler Vaclav Muldorfer bought from Nicholas Znojmo. The house was at the time and edited Gothic square around it was called cutlery commons (Latin Plateau cultellatorum). Also in the 15th century there were several cutlers and two Mecir. The house had already been a corner and stood against the church garden. Clement, which was about to southwest facade still nonexistent Klementinum. Its central location expressing house sign midst of the wheel.

In the early 17th century, the house was probably likely to radically rebuilt in the late Renaissance style (as evidenced by a few preserved Gothic elements). In the early 18th century, the house was connected (still recognizably) with the neighboring small Gothic house (in the 17th century, rebuilt in Baroque style) in the Seminary Street and after 1769, was rebuilt on the 3rd floor. In the 80s of the 20th century, the house was significantly modified from the original structure remained only part of the perimeter walls and interiors to the level of the first floor. In basements, ground floor and first floor are barrel vaults.

The facade is decorated with stucco reliefs Johann Ulrich Mayer from 1713. They are located in three levels. Amid under the associated window on the second floor, is in gilded medallion Palladium of Czech, ie. semifigures Stará Boleslav Virgin Mary with Jesus on the octagonal star-founded Circle. Above the star pair of angels bears the crown, under the star is on the sides of a pair of crowned Czech lion. Left stands St. Wenceslas, right there nesvatořečený John of Nepomuk. Around the windows on the first floor is dvojicemorových patrons (left St. Sebastian, right St. Roch) and the third floor of the Jesuit patrons (left about St. Ignatius and right St. Francis Xavier and Francis Borgia). Above the window on the third floor is a relief lying plague patron Saint Rosalia.

Today the building houses a hotel Aurus (www.aurushotel.cz).

cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%AFm_U_Zlat%C3%A9_studn%C4%9B_(Karlova)

This is a nonexistent Weeble that I designed

House of the Golden Well, sometimes called At the Red Chair, the house no. 175 in the Old Town of Prague on the corner of Seminary (no. 2) and Charles (no. 3), near Clementinum.

On the site today of Baroque building with Classicist elements became Romanesque building, whose walls are preserved vaulted cellar at the Seminary Street following the house čp.177 / I. The first written record of this house but it is up to the year 1354 when it cutler Vaclav Muldorfer bought from Nicholas Znojmo. The house was at the time and edited Gothic square around it was called cutlery commons (Latin Plateau cultellatorum). Also in the 15th century there were several cutlers and two Mecir. The house had already been a corner and stood against the church garden. Clement, which was about to southwest facade still nonexistent Klementinum. Its central location expressing house sign midst of the wheel.

In the early 17th century, the house was probably likely to radically rebuilt in the late Renaissance style (as evidenced by a few preserved Gothic elements). In the early 18th century, the house was connected (still recognizably) with the neighboring small Gothic house (in the 17th century, rebuilt in Baroque style) in the Seminary Street and after 1769, was rebuilt on the 3rd floor. In the 80s of the 20th century, the house was significantly modified from the original structure remained only part of the perimeter walls and interiors to the level of the first floor. In basements, ground floor and first floor are barrel vaults.

The facade is decorated with stucco reliefs Johann Ulrich Mayer from 1713. They are located in three levels. Amid under the associated window on the second floor, is in gilded medallion Palladium of Czech, ie. semifigures Stará Boleslav Virgin Mary with Jesus on the octagonal star-founded Circle. Above the star pair of angels bears the crown, under the star is on the sides of a pair of crowned Czech lion. Left stands St. Wenceslas, right there nesvatořečený John of Nepomuk. Around the windows on the first floor is dvojicemorových patrons (left St. Sebastian, right St. Roch) and the third floor of the Jesuit patrons (left about St. Ignatius and right St. Francis Xavier and Francis Borgia). Above the window on the third floor is a relief lying plague patron Saint Rosalia.

Today the building houses a hotel Aurus (www.aurushotel.cz).

cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%AFm_U_Zlat%C3%A9_studn%C4%9B_(Karlova)

Named for the (likely nonexistent) Monoclonius, this dinosaur-type Digimon also happens to be monochrome!

The age old 'Walkabout' mode, of hitting the bricks until their aren't any more-- via the North American method that says; 'Go West' until drawn into the Nevada Great Basin for a years rebooting and stocking of my brainpan/nuclear core/soul and whole body into a highly reflective feed back loop on the Unified Theory writ large and small 24/7/200 something days plus a lifetime hacking away at the rocks before me, to make sense of the beaches, and the seas; while (not exactly) idling on the American Outback- btw, the overland migration super-highway from Eurasia to the Americas over the repeated Ages which I know comprehend at every level of organization; historical, evolutionary, climate, anthropological,, geological-- to the present day political; and lay of the resource land; via the magic of Particle Physics and e=mc2 and the application of the core of evolutionary theory shaved to the critical mass of the top of the bell curve of every known interaction of Economics, Man, and Nature, for maxim effect and efficiency of the market of the nature of the beast/hairball shaved clean of noise from the signal w/ Occams razor technology, to wit: "Entities are not to be multiplied without necessity', or 'It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer'. That is to say, if everything in some science can be interpreted without assuming a complicated hypothesis, there is no ground for assuming the complicated version."

Mine was a classic case and half of ;

LIVING IN THE BIG EMPTY SEG 1 : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk2gh_pWfWU

-- w/o drinking or blinking -- living to see the program and the hills in the long form, than most (full version) ; watch.knpb.org/video/1436643442/

 

Abstract as Post Script to this work in progress so as to be semi coherent pardon the 'form factor' while the prose is random dynamically re-stacked as rhetorical revisions to this photo essay that attempts to form then finesse the logical thread through the Eye of the Needle of Reality in so many ways shapes and factors so as to craft a lucid, cogent, and coherent logical and scientifically consistent airtight case that makes air for the consideration of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter as 100% presently accounted for in the form of Bacteria. Primarily the family of Bacteria know as en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria which powers the combustion chain by means of its role the natural manufacture and fixation of Nitorgen in the form of N2O that can be seen powering this photo as the Dark Matter and Energy of contained in the atomic stack of examples of reality in search of a theory that drives the expansion of the Universe and a burger chain, whereby it is possible 'Billions' are successfully 'Served' so much Bacterial Dark Matter that proves fuel as Energy as expressed as so many 'Big Macs' and or 'Happy Meals' or plates of pasta + the decision process over which to choose as dinner which results in a chain reaction of Hiesenburgian proportions rippling though the micro economics of the BTU (British and or Bacterial Thermal Units) of calories and bacteria as slow and fast food to power a world served by the billion by the 'Golden Arches' and iron skillet as examples of how my reasoning flows from the following data set and where it points after being clued into the role of bacteria and its large role in the combustion chain of N20 mfg. (c/o reading reporting in the Science News over the years and drawing conclusions from that, confirmed by) what wikipedia has condensed as the entire 'nutshell' of the case (which makes possible nutshells): "Nitrous oxide is emitted by bacteria in soils and oceans, and thus has been a part of Earth's atmosphere for millennia. ... Nitrous oxide reacts with ozone in the stratosphere. Nitrous oxide is the main naturally occurring regulator of stratospheric ozone. Nitrous oxide is a major greenhouse gas. Considered over a 100-year period, it has 298 times more impact per unit weight than carbon dioxide. Thus, despite its low concentration, nitrous oxide is the fourth largest contributor to these greenhouse gases. It ranks behind water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. Control of nitrous oxide is part of efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. " - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide . In addition there is the world of undersea Bacteria which seems to be massive as source of gasses, energy and life as explored in; moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/some-it-very-hot?pa...

 

Thus, in the quest to complete the Dark Energy and Matter puzzle the need to grab the 'keys to the car' of conceptually understooding of the 'bits of information' scooped up on the million miles of the road 'less traveled' at high and low speed on the highway of life in a peddle to the metal race to complete the General Unified Theory I am thinking presently of the 'the need for speed' in completing a thought started terms of Talladaga Nights Logic and following the theoretical chain of combustion command and control like a hawk from the suns moving the matter of their food like the balls in the early en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko machines so noting their spin and path right through the conceptual food chain with zen like concentration to plumb the answer to the riddle so as to stoke and keep the self sustaining bacterial fire in my belly burning with the bizzaro thought;

 

"If you ain't first, you're last!"

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talladega_Nights:_The_Ballad_of_Ric...

 

Note; phys.org/news/2012-12-dark.html "The excitement now is that we are closing in on an answer, and only once in the history of humans will someone discover it. There will be some student or postdoc or experimentalist someplace who is going to look in the next 10 years at their data, and of the seven or so billion people in the world that person will discover what galaxies are mostly made of. It's only going to happen once."

 

One more time with meaning; It is hypothesised here that the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phylogenetic_tree.svg whose branches are gaseous and or part of the combustion/food chain as discovered/understood ('t

“Imagine walking out in the countryside and not being able to tell a snake from a cow from a mouse from a blade of grass,” he said. “That’s been the level of our ignorance.” on the subject as understood best ' by the late great Carl Woese ( www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/science/carl-woese-dies-discov... ) who was able to "prove that all life on earth was related.” It is suggested here (again) that light and thus life is made possible by single celled life running the combustion chain by means nitrous oxide manufacture without which combustion is not possible is the singular candidate for being Dark Matter begets Dark Energy due to its immutable nature of the nuclear core of the nucleus of Bacteria.

 

Accordingly every angle of a drop of salsa in the micro should bend light by the same 'dark material/energy' means of 'economic activity of biological growth drawn from the Sun and the field by the roots reaching for energy and drawing them to a plant to form sugar that creates the shade being cast by Phylogenetic tree as so much gas/power as a by product in the process that moves at near the speed of light as observed and made a example of the micro case of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractometry that corresponds to the macro of 'cosmic microwaves' (which act as break and limit on the speed of light [in another evolving story line located at] -->);

flic.kr/p/8zt3aQ

 

This is set of data points in process for for the best possible explanation of cosmic expansion in terms of Dark Matter and Energy being made possible by the interplay of the nuclear material of the Phylogenetic tree burning to bring the light while explaining how the grow the Universe at the variable speed of -1 which is not constant see graphic and apply this logic to the fluctuations inherent in the construct presented in conjunction with the notion of a cyclical super vast redundant Universe we are at some random point in the 'Grande Scheme of Things' as well illustrated, and described, with the Dark Matter piece well described, but alas the missing variable that my Theory here now and for all time offers up as the nuclear head of cyanobacteria on a pike as the little prick that is responsible for all N20 in nature, hence combustion. Therefore, working in conjunction with that nuclear illumination running the logic and providing a set of clues to run down the road to find every last stone that could possibly be Dark Matter and Energy in the Math of the Solar System, and find every thing we need to know according to the he words of Andrew Liddle puts it, "the cosmological principle [means that] the universe looks the same whoever and wherever you are." in Darkness on the Edge of the Universe

By BRIAN GREENE Published: January 15, 2011) www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16greene.html?scp=6&am....

 

Some disagree and say Dark Matter is nonexistent and or immaterial. I respectful disagree, and hopefully have provided additional information in order to assist with understanding how my view came to be on this subject, such that some some new common ground can be broken by bacteria being the dark energetic means and motor along with algae as the agents of the fixation and productions of the nitrogen that is the gas of the Universe.

As more data is generated in understanding how perspective can never stay the same as per the logic contained in a draconian application of the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_transformation to a unwillingness to see the shadow as being cast by the flip side of a reflection, as light is consumed by and transformed by the power of life the is the foam of space which are quarks of bacterial nuclei in repair.

 

Details in the photo captions herein.

 

That the same transformation that powers the light switch where I might find enough between my ears to communicate the understanding that the bugs have been digesting themselves into energy per this chart; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:080998_Universe_Content_240.jpg

If in the words of Bronkowski: "All science is the search for unity in hidden likeness." as being understood to be what makes the world go round in the compost heap, vineyard, farm that power a food chain, that provides a Inn and spa with the bill of fare or by the same token a Star on the other side of the Universe the power by means of 'paired quark technology' to recompose itself atomically for some more light -- to further expand our understanding by means of the power of light and dark matter to producing 'grey matter' which is consciousness. That the grass is not 'greener' or made of substantively some wonder material of a Dark Nature in another galaxy, therefore Dark Matter, and Energy 'is what it is' the immutable atomic information of 'microorganisms' cycling at relative light speed as so many 'cups of tea', or conceptual coffee, 'primordial soup' to perhaps nuts -- or maybe, just maybe, the 'hidden likeness' is before us in the form of Microorganisms nuclear core that make up the macro.

Look no farther, this is that 7 billionth needle in the haystack of discovery making the attempted case (long improbable form expanded in the photo gallery in great detail) that the seeds of nuclear material that keep and make us all connected as singular and a planet grade life/being/form and function -- is the Dark Energy and Matter which is the basic building blocks of life which are ID'ed here and now for all time by me - 'like I have been sayin' as the three families of Bacterial life which produce combustion gasses, as best understood by the late great Carl Woese; www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/science/carl-woese-dies-discov... which contains the seeds/strings if you will* of a expanding en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersymmetry

with the nuclei of bacteria standing in for Dark Matter in a Universe at the speed of the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_constant with enough force to power back the sun in resolution of the Faint Young Star Paradox, and bending light with enough economic activity to explain the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_transformation by dint of glare of the photons on the matter that it transforms bringing them to life as measured by growth of waters expansion in the 'foam of space' when heated by the addition of light, or measured from any given distance -- one notices a relative difference this is due to the presence of the nuclei of bacterial matter or their radiological remains as rendered as the unpaired quarks/photon gas/ of the foam of space in mid re-mix of its perpetual quantum dynamic seeking a natural release and propulsion which explains the roads to and fro, the tides, as well as both the past and presents process of quantum tunneling whereby “we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” with a eye toward the west and what that brings thus therein lays the answer to the riddle of the ages. Energy is yin and yang forward and backward moving of quarks in motion over time and space under power of the Sun that set the chain of events and matter in motion will that Sun never set as a series of consequences beating ceaselessly into the past against the current to bring the light found shining at approximately my end of the conceptual nitrogen majority atmosphere, to comprehend the fullness of the the big picture Dark Energy as the Universal glue that also acts as the agent of expansion at the local light speed limit.

 

If this hypothesis that comports with my reality jibes with that of the Universe that is my aim, and would 'rock' just fine, w/ the exception of everybody but my critic who shall remain nameless, and also perhaps act like Dark Matter is a huge mystery; which suites me perfectly. I'll be all over this limb, with more detailed answers as they become gapingly obvious. For all to see, in what better factor than buried in flickr. While I get the totality of this picture dialed, so as to relearn the ways of writing a science paper, and get the movie and record recorded. So the whole thing does not stand as a photo essay w/ captions.

 

The spoken work version with full musical accompany will also serve to work this hypothesis from the inner cores of the the earth sun stars via Black Hole radiation with total rhetorical + scientific precision deep grooved into bottomless beats.

Asia. Cambodia. Kep.

 

Fishernam and boat.

 

In Cambodia new information and communication technologies (ITCs) are almost nonexistent outside the major cities. The country's national ICT policy framework is in its formative stage, receptive to policy research and strategy development for digital inclusion of poor rural areas. This project will support collaboration between key players in government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academia and business in the design of a new approach to implementing and mainstreaming universal access to ICTs. Two e-community pilot projects will be tested in the Kep fishing community and the Kamchay Mear farming community, respectively. The pilot projects will feature innovative wireless technologies, participatory ICT service development, alternative energy use and local institutional development.

 

Project:

 

Community Driven Universal Access Solutions in Cambodia : Pilots to Policy Research

 

Project Number 103013Start Date 2006/05/01

024

Fortune Global Forum 2018

October 16th, 2018

Toronto, Canada

 

3:30 PM

THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY

The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim

Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay

Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase

Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

 

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune

I unfortunately didn't get many photos of the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish areas of New Orleans. We took a bus tour through these very hard hit areas. The glare on the bus windows made photos rather tough, but I wish I would have tried harder. This was actually across the street from the Nunez Community College that we visited. A SMALL example of the devastation of the area.

 

3 years after Katrina and Rita and it was really sad to see the level of destruction that still exists. Entire shopping centers and apartment complexes sitting empty. A patchwork of homes partially repaired, fully repaired, or nonexistent except for a cement foundation. Many people are still paying a mortgage on a home or business that no longer exists.

 

We were fortunate enough to have a college professor on our bus that lives in this neighborhood and gave us the first hand accounts of what happened and the aftermath. Very sad situation. Even more sad that three years later and people have forgotten about New Orleans and the incredible amount of assistance these folks still need. FEMA (a very bad word in N.O.) has pulled out and no longer offers assistance or trailers. Some people were living in trailers that are TINY for 3 years. Ridiculous amount of red tape to get financial assistance which ends up not being nearly enough to actually rebuild or move on with life. Actually made me really sad but also REALLY mad that this could happen in my country and that these people could just be forgotten.

 

Some of the other observations and comments by our guide that really struck me...

- Professor said they knew the storm was coming. He looked out the window and there was nothing. In 20 minutes the water was 19-20 feet high in the neighborhood.

- There were actually 4 disasters that hit this area in a few weeks time...Katrina, levee breaks, Rita, and oil spill...any one of which would have been devastating let alone all three together.

- There were 67,000 people in St. Bernard Parish area and now there is less than a third of that number living there

- everything was dead according to the professor...no bugs, no birds, no animals, just dead silence

- strange things in homes like perfectly intact crystal heirlooms, a book in the exact place it was left and perfectly dry, and water moccasins in closets. Can you imagine?

- Bodies are still being found in homes and buildings in the area

- The homes in this area were actually nice homes and in some cases REALLY nice homes and GONE

- Only ones really helping still in the area are the independent Christian groups...we saw a big group of teenagers there when we drove through gutting homes and helping with rebuilding.

- There was a brand new hospital in the area that is now gone. No one will rebuild a hospital there so a Christian group has sent up a tent hospital system to try and provide basic care...3 years later!

- The local government had just moved back into their office building the week I was there after working out of tents and trailers for the last 3 years.

024

Fortune Global Forum 2018

October 16th, 2018

Toronto, Canada

 

3:30 PM

THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY

The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim

Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay

Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase

Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

 

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune

Former Holiday Inn located at 90 Route 17-K in Newburgh,NY. The 120 room property is currently operating under the name Hudson Valley Hotel and conference center.

Note the facility appears to be catering primarily to long term and hourly guests. Its also worth noting the maintenance and general upkeep around the motel appears to be nonexistent.

Note Holiday Inn opened this property on June 1st 1962.

In this photograph, I am facing south and standing next to the denuded trees in the previous picture. The damage to trees becomes progressively less intense until it's nonexistent at roughly the location of where the truck on the road is located. The fact that these trees fell toward the east would suggest that they were hit by the southern half of the vortex as it crossed this location.

I finally got around to finding the local Salvation Army thrift store. Found some Danish modern! It seems like it got wet (Dad is convinced someone was using it for deck furniture). The wood is good but the finish is worn/nonexistent on the top and legs. I vote for stripping the whole thing and refinishing it with Tung oil.

 

And now I have to stop buying furniture. The garage is getting really full...

The abundance and diversity of succulent species in the sagebrush steppe (e.g,. Cactaceae, Crassulaceae, Portulaceae, etc.) is indicative of low levels of disturbance. Sedum lanceolatum is distinguished by its lanceolate leaves with papillose surfaces and a lack of evident venation. Axillary shoots are also nonexistent to poorly developed in this species.

artefacts from the Spanish presence in the Philippines (the Spanish East Indies) and engagement in trade with China.

Spanish interest in the (Spanish East Indies) region was primarily focused on its use as a base for trade with East Asia, and large parts of the territory were under loose or nonexistent Spanish control.

 

Museo Naval, Madrid

29 November 2012

camera Panasonic DMC ZS8

P1140797

The C-212x is loaded with double 12" LF/MF and a single high energy 3" HF driver. Each enclosure is constructed of high grade birch ply-wood and is custom fitted with steel fly hardware that has been test rated for a 7:1 static load, hanging 12 enclosures in a single array. Our user friendly hardware allows for hanging and ground stacking applications, permitting the user to stack up to six enclosures.

 

All C-212x enclosures are hand wired using premium 14 gauge wire and Neutrik brand NL8 connectors. All drivers are built with cast fame baskets for strength and longevity. Our compression drivers have replaceable titanium diaphragms for superb sound quality, performance and durability. We use a standard phase plug design to control the isophasic wave form as well as a wave guide system for smooth coverage and coupling. Our components are designed and built to a commercial standard and have a proven track record on tours ranging from stadiums to festivals of up to 30 shows per month with practically a nonexistent failure rate.

 

All C-212x enclosures are equipped with a removable back panel that can be disconnected and replaced by an internal TVi multi channel "Class D" power amplifier module. Each power amplifier has a built in multi-channel processor that has been chamber tuned for the C-212x to achieve a flat response curve with pre set limiters, DSP and crossover points. One amplified C-212x enclosure will also power one additional non-powered C-212x enclosure in tri amp mode by daisy chaining an NL8 cable.

(presumedly, my Japanese translation skills are nearly nonexistent)

 

NRT, Narita, Japan, 2019, on the way back to the US after spending several days on Guam visiting family

024

Fortune Global Forum 2018

October 16th, 2018

Toronto, Canada

 

3:30 PM

THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY

The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim

Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay

Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase

Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

 

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune

u don't know & i don't know

 

what if scenes in the movie would never happen in real life and in my life

then i'd rather see impossible / nonexistent sceneries in my eyes

I love the opportunity to be backstage at my granddaughter's dance competitions, in spite of the almost nonexistent lighting and cramped (often just plain ugly) dressing rooms. This is from one of favorite routines done by her group choreographed to "All the Best People are Crazy (Mad Hatter)".

Bah! My L is almost nonexistent. :o

On October 9, the 2006-2007 will open for King's Arm Academy. Formal education has been nearly nonexistent for the last 14 years due to the civil war. But now, the school is nearly ready, the desks are being built, and the students are excited to learn in a real school.

This is a straight point-of-view shot. The grass is six feet high and taller now. Looks fantastic, especially in evening and morning light, but the unfortunate fact is that the mosquitoes now like hanging out in the prairie (they were fairly nonexistent there when the grasses were low).

 

View On Black

What encourages the fish to decide to enter the river? - Clues on how to forecast or possibly predict your best fishing in the lower end.

-

Mother Natures Signature Clues:

Wind direction - Very Strong Wind out of the West - This can push the water in and make it a lil deeper, causing the fish to feel more comfortable and enter the River.

Lake turning over

Low light, morning and evening's and stormy weather (cloudy, rainy, a very very small or nonexistent moon over night and early morning)

Higher water levels - natural rain and snow run-off. If natural run off causes the river to just rise 50-100 cfs, that might be all that it would take.

-

Man made Incentives to Enter and Run:

Those "Dam People" (yukyuk) releasing more water. Dam water releases normally coinciding with Mother Nature or following her.

-

Fish's Biological Clock - tick tick

As the days grow short'r, it helps!

Bottom Line - They will run when they are darn good and ready

-

Example - (FYI - sometimes none of the above-below happens and just like this August, we had some fish enter the river and run it)

waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/uv/?site_no=04250200

410 cfs at "live" Pineville before the rain to 470 cfs "live" Pineville after the rain. Thats a 60 cfs rise in the water level at Pineville caused by run-off.

Then, figure more water entering the river further down thru run-off and Trout Brook, which would bring the water level up even more. Probably over 100 cfs.

Then figure this into the equation - West wind around 20 mph.

Soooo, combine the wind direction and higher water flow and suzzam!!! major run or good run entering the lower end.

Now, stick with me...... lets also add into the above the fishes biological clock that is ticking daily, suggesting that they make there run into and up the river.

Next step is "low light". there are 2 low light periods everyday. Now add in an overcast, drizzly, rainy day and sometimes they will run all day.

-

If you get a combination of a couple, few or all of the above, usually (not always) it will mean a nice fresh run entering the lower end. Sometimes you roll the dice in the lower end and its just like a "Box of Chocolates".

I sincerely hope this helps you a lil more in understanding what encourages them to "first" enter the river and help you to catch a BUNCH of fish!!.

-

-

There's no Nookie like Chinookie

Linda talks to her sister Lisa, who's back on the East Coast, in New Jersey. We're in a parking lot in Pahrump, Nevada, a town of about 30,000. (Las Vegas, 65 miles away, is the nearest town with any population to speak of.)

 

We'd just had lunch at a burger place. The cell-phone reception here was incredible, the best I've ever heard. (A hundred miles away in Death Valley it was nonexistent.) Lin is saying it's hot and there aren't any trees.

Love doesn’t matter where you fall on the spectrum, whether your love life is blissful or nonexistent, it’s clear that everyone has an opinion on love and what it means in a healthy relationship. BrideGroomMatch is the leading Tamil matrimonial portal, helps you to find out your life partner from thousands of bride & groom's profiles.

 

I'm trying to decide if I am more appalled, more ashamed, or just plain ole p.o.'ed over stuff like this. First, to label any sitting president (regardless of how one feels about his policies) as "traitorous" is so far out of bounds that it isn't worth the wood it's painted on. Secondly, the birth certificate issue is so ridiculous that only those who have abandoned their logic and thinking ability to political hack, misinformation spewing blathering heads like Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, Dobbs and others could possibly believe the birth certificate is fake or nonexistent.

I would certainly hope that the people who espouse this type of idea are heavily involved in a positive way to bring about change (serving the community, reading widely and considering information thoughtfully, contacting elected representatives, and so on). Realistically and tragically for our society, I doubt any of the former.

 

Sorry for the rant. . .

This farmhouse, which was probably built for Lorenzo Campbell, is a good illustration of a variant of Flemish-bond brickwork popular in this part of the state (and rare or nonexistent elsewhere). Unlike a normal Flemish bond, which alternates between stretchers and headers, this bond—sometimes called double-stretcher Flemish bond or monk bond—has two stretchers for every header. This results in a more obvious vertical "striping" effect. The brickwork was often paired with Gothic Revival and Italianate ornamentation and seems to have been most popular in the 1850s and 1860s.

artefacts from the Spanish presence in the Philippines (the Spanish East Indies) and engagement in trade with China.

Spanish interest in the (Spanish East Indies) region was primarily focused on its use as a base for trade with East Asia, and large parts of the territory were under loose or nonexistent Spanish control.

 

Museo Naval, Madrid

29 November 2012

camera Panasonic DMC ZS8

P1140790

Asperula purpurea (L.) Ehrend, syn.: Galium purpureum L.

Purple Woodruff, DE: Purpur Meier, Purpur Meister

Slo.: škrlatna perla, škrlatna lakota

 

Dat.: July 30. 2016

Lat.: 46.35803Long.: 13.70286

Code: Bot_993/2016_DSC4167

 

Habitat: an opening in mixed Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies wood; clear cut under (local) power lines, almost flat terrain; calcareous, skeletal, colluvial ground; full sun, warm and dry place; elevation 545 m (1.790 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region.

 

Substratum: soil.

 

Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soča and Trenta, right bank of river Soča; near Matevž farmhouse, above regional road Bovec Vršič, East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC

 

Comment: Few plants known to me are more difficult to be photographed in the field as Asperula purpurea. It is small, very tender and its flowers have not much more than 1 mm in diameter. Its leaves can be less than 1 cm long and only a fraction of mm wide. Apparently, when it grows on sunny places it is specially small and tender. So, it shakes restlessly even if there is no observable wind. At the same time only macro photography can show its details. Since it is widely branched in all directions one would need considerable depth of field for sharp pictures. This is of cause nonexistent with macro work. Also focus stacking technique cannot be used, because the plant is in motion all the time.

 

This South European plant growing also on Balkan Peninsula, Carpathians and Apennines originally belonged to Galium genus, but was later repositioned to Asperula genus. All Asperula species growing in Slovenia are beautiful; however this beauty requires to be admired with a hand lens.

 

Ref.:

(1) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 348.

(2) K. Lauber and G. Wagner, Flora Helvetica, 5. Auflage, Haupt (2012), p 762.

(3) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 702.

(4) A. Martinči et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnična Založba Slovenije (2007), p 521.

Presenting the Mistral – A Gas Freighter of the Belt

 

In the weightless void of space, industrial freighters like the Mistral are built for efficiency, not aesthetics. With its reinforced truss structure, independent thruster arrays, and massive cargo tanks, it is a workhorse of the Belt, ferrying precious volatile gases across the solar system.

 

At the forefront of the vessel, what might appear to be a command module is actually a massive impact shield, designed to protect the ship from micro-meteoroids and debris traveling at deadly speeds. In the unforgiving reality of spaceflight, even a stray pebble can spell disaster, and the Mistral ensures its cargo reaches its destination intact.

 

Unlike bulk freighters that rely solely on inertia, the Mistral boasts a full set of maneuvering thrusters, three primary engines, and precise vector control, allowing it to make delicate adjustments during docking, refueling, or evasive maneuvers in high-risk zones. Positioned atop the central structure, a large access hatch provides direct entry to the ship’s systems and cargo bays, facilitating rapid maintenance and cargo transfer.

 

Recreating such an open and lightweight space structure in LEGO is a challenge in itself. The Mistral’s support framework has been carefully engineered to withstand the immense weight of its tanks, preventing structural collapse under gravity—an issue nonexistent in microgravity but crucial for terrestrial display.

 

A testament to function-first design, the Mistral captures the industrial beauty of spaceflight: a vessel built not for comfort, but for the harsh realities of deep-space logistics.

 

The ships is nearly 13 000 parts, 185 stud long (1.48 Meters) and weights nearly 11 Kg

Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene Historic District , Brooklyn

 

The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that stands today in the center of Fort Greene Park is a 1908 memorial to the 11,000 men and boys who died in horrid conditions on the British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War. The Monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after Gernal Putnam. The Monument you see today is actually the third incarnation of this sacred shrine. The story of the horrid Prison Ships – and the ghastly conditions suffered by the men and boys imprisoned on them during the Revolutionary War – is one of the most disturbing chapters in American history.

During the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the British arrested scores of soldiers, sailors, and private citizens on both land and sea. Many were apprehended simply because they would not swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Besides American civilians and resistance fighters, the British captured the crews of foreign ships on the high seas, especially Spanish vessels. The soldiers, sailors and civilians they arrested were deemed by the British to be prisoners of war and were incarcerated. When the British ran out of jail space to house their POWs they began using decommissioned or damaged war ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay as floating prisons.

 

Life was unbearable on the prison ships, the most notorious of them being the Old Jersey – which was called "Hell" by the inhabitants. Disease was rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the living conditions were horrendously overcrowded and wretched. If one had money they could purchase food from the many entrepreneurs who rowed up to the boat to sell their wares. Otherwise, the meager rations would consist of sawdust laden bread or watery soup.

 

A great number of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay. Even thought the British surrendered at Yorktown. Virginia in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783, when the British abandoned New York City. (A footnote: after the war, the British Commander in charge of the Prison Ships was brought up on war crimes charges and was subsequently hanged.)

 

The "Old Jersey"

In the years following the war the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn and Long Island. These remains were collected by Brooklynites with the hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains of the brave Prison Ship Martyrs. In the early 1880's the first Martyrs Monument monument was erected by the Tammany Society of New York. It was located on a triangular plot of land near the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront in what is now called Vinegar Hill.

 

By the 1840s, the original monument was in a state of disrepair and neglect. By 1873 a large stone crypt was constructed in the heart of what is now Fort Greene Park (then called Washington Park), and the bones were re-interred in the crypt. A small monument was erected on the hill above the crypt.

 

By the close of the 19th century, funds were finally raised for a grander more fitting monument for the Prison Ship Martyrs. The prestigious architectural firm of McKim. Meade and White was commissioned to design the large 148 ft. tower which stands today in the park. It was unveiled in 1908 with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by President-Elect Taft.

 

Sadly, over the ensuing decades the monument was severely neglected. Due to shortage of public funds, urban blight and lack of community interest both the park and the memorial fell into disrepair. The monument originally housed a staircase and elevator to the top observation deck, which featured a lighted urn with a beacon of light which could be seen for miles. The elevator was operational until the 1930s but was unfortunately removed by the city in the early 1970s.

 

Since it founding in 1998, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy has been a catalyst for the restoration and revival of both the monument and the park. In November 2008 a grand weekend event is planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the 1908 Prison Ships Martyrs Memorial.

I tuck the skirts up at the sides to add width to my nonexistent hips. The flowers, for the same reason. The flowers were originally from my sister-in-law's wedding...

Aggie Ring ’84 likes to make his own cultured butter, cheeses, and crème fraîche for various uses in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the local grocery stores don’t carry dairy products that are up to Aggie Ring standards. Aggie Ring ’84 has a buddy who is a retired Army Medic who runs a coffee and espresso business who hooked Aggie Ring up with a special bottle of heavy cream.

 

The little Aggie Ring was just as pleased as a little Aggie Ring can be when he saw that it arrived in a glass bottle. “Gee!” said Aggie Ring, “This is just like when we’d buy milk back in the 80s when we were living in Bryan, Texas. “Why, yes is is.” I replied. I thought to myself that dairy products seem so much cleaner when they come in a glass container.

 

This particular bottle of heavy cream was produced by the Apple Valley Creamery in East Berlin, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 40% to 45% butterfat depending on the cows’ diet at the time of the year. Now, this particular heavy cream is pasteurized only (not ultra-pasteurized, a process that kills off most of the milk or cream’s delicious flavor). Also, it is NOT homogenized. Almost everyone in the USA these days can only buy homogenized or “homo” dairy products. When he has a choice, Aggie Ring is a “non-homo” type of ring because that’s the way he rolls.

 

Aggie Ring’s favorite thing about “non-homo” heavy cream is that the heavy butterfat separates from the milk and floats to the top of the bottle. Aggie Ring has to use a knife to break through that delicious, heavy sweat cream to get to the rest of the liquid in the bottle before he heats it up to a tepid temperature and adds the bacteria that will culture it overnight so he can make the cultured butter or crème fraîche for his culinary requirements.

 

The Aggie Ring test for a proper bottle of “non-homo” heavy cream is if he can sit on top of the butterfat that has risen to the top of the bottle for at least 30 seconds before sinking in. For “educational” purposes, Aggie Ring asked me to photograph him sitting on top of that delicious sweet cream. Unfortunately, it took me a bit longer than 30 seconds to adjust the lights and set the exposure on the camera. The last thing I heard Aggie Ring say before he began to sink into the delicious “non-homo” heavy cream was, “Oh dear, this is a kerfuffle, isn’t it?” The next thing I knew, poor Aggie Ring had broken through the butterfat and had sunk to the bottom of the bottle.

 

When I poured the delicious “non-homo” sweet whole cream into the container Aggie Ring uses to culture it overnight, I had to retrieve him with a spoon. No teeth this time. I asked Aggie Ring, “Does it remind you of an old fashioned Aggie Ring Dunking?” Aggie Ring replied, “Sort of, but there was no Shiner Bock.” I told Aggie Ring, “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

 

Aggie Ring then said, “It’s a good thing I’m a Genuine Texas A&M Aggie Ring pure of heart and in spirit and not a VMI ring. One of those heavy and fat, gaudy VMI rings would have sunk down into the bottle immediately and its lack of Aggie class would have most certainly soured the cream. Also, the artificial stone in most of the VMI rings might have poisoned it as well.” The Aggie Ring is very good at pointing things like this out.

 

Now… There’s one other type of dairy product that Aggie Ring likes the most. He didn’t want me to say anything about it because it’s very illegal in New Jersey. However, Aggie Ring allowed me to mention it if I didn’t name names because, as Aggie Ring always says, “Snitches wind up in ditches!” So, the little Aggie Ring’s favorite type of milk and cream is the “raw” stuff. Since it’s illegal to sell raw dairy in New Jersey, Aggie Ring has found “a guy” that can hook him up with the “real stuff.” The closest thing I can compare obtaining raw dairy in New Jersey to would be a “drug deal.” You see, when Aggie Ring wants the “raw stuff,” he has to call his “guy” in PA and place an order during the week. Then, on Saturday morning not long after the sunrise, Aggie Ring’s “guy” meets Aggie Ring and others in back of a local train station in a van that has been driven over from PA. Cash exchanges hands and the raw, illegal contraband gets put into Aggie Ring’s car trunk just in case he’s stopped by the dairy police on the way home.

 

Aggie Ring used to occasionally milk cows at the Texas A&M Dairy Farm in College Station, Texas back when he was a young Aggie Ring and he’d occasionally try milk directly from the cow. Aggie Ring thinks this is the best type of milk in the world.

 

Aggie Ring says, “The cows up here in PA and in New Jersey must be the happiest cows in the world. They have four wonderful seasons of weather up here and the humidity is almost nonexistent.

 

Just before I posted this, Aggie Ring said, “Don’t forget to remind them that the road goes on forever and the party never ends!”

4 varieties of Alpaca at Pumapungo Inca site Cuenca, Ecuador. Alpaca is not a Llama.

 

Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in superficial appearance.

Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Ecuador, southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Chile at an altitude of 3,500 m (11,000 ft) to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea-level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, alpacas were not bred to be beasts of burden but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, much as wool is. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru. In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas.

 

About Alpaca Fleece

Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an alpaca. It is light weight or heavy weight, depending on how it is spun. It is soft, durable, luxurious and silky natural fiber. While similar to sheep’s wool, it is warmer, not prickly, and has no lanolin which makes it hypoallergenic. Alpaca is naturally water-repellent. Huacaya, an alpaca that grows soft spongy fiber has natural crimp, thus making a naturally elastic yarn, perfect for knits. Suri has far less crimp and thus is best suited for woven goods, but is wonderfully luxurious as well.

 

In physical structure, alpaca fiber is somewhat akin to hair, being very glossy. Alpaca fiber is similar to that of merino wool fiber, and alpaca yarns tend to be stronger than wool yarns. The heel hole that appears in wool socks or in elbows of wool sweaters is nonexistent in similar alpaca garments. In processing, slivers lack fiber cohesion and single alpaca rovings lack strength. Blend these together and the durability is increased several times over. More twisting is necessary, especially in Suri, and this can reduce a yarn's softness.

 

The alpaca has a very fine and light fleece. It does not retain water, is thermal even when wet and can resist the solar radiation effectively. These characteristics guarantee the animals a permanent and appropriate coat to fight against the extreme changes of temperature. This fiber offers the same protection to humans. Alpaca is sustainable as a fiber, and is naturally organic. Alpacas as animals are soft on the environment, making alpaca a truly green textile.

 

Info re Wiki and Encyclo Brit

 

Warning: downer post. Toward the end of my trip I picked up a cold and it has since morphed into bronchitis. Since I was sick on my flight home, my ears were a wreck of pressure and my left one has still not unblocked. I'm on day 11 and cycling through all the things pictured is kind of my life right now. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Traveling always puts me behind on everything, and coming home sick has just extended that further. It's been 2.5 weeks since I've been able to work out. I only practiced singing like twice on my trip so I'm behind on that too. My focus is practically nonexistent so I've gotten almost no work done since I got back, and I was already behind. And to make things worse, since I've been trying not to get Jason sick, it's been 2.5 weeks since we've properly hugged or had any kind of real physical contact. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was supposed to go to Jacksonville today to see the musical Bandstand with my parents and my aunt, who is visiting, as well as celebrate my mom's 70th birthday. But now I have to miss that. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I know I won't be sick forever, but I'm feeling pretty discouraged about everything right now. I feel like all the things I want to do depend on a body (brain included) I can't trust. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I'm really feeling pretty close to giving up on absolutely everything again. I'm so tired of this happening over and over. I keep trying to fix things but every time I feel like I'm making progress or finding balance, as soon as work comes into the picture I start spiraling and it all falls apart. If I can't maintain a certain level of productivity (a higher one than I've been doing, which I already can't handle) then I'm never going to be able to support myself. So it kind of feels like everything is pointless. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And bonus, normally it helps my anxiety to do deep breathing but right now that just hurts and makes me cough uncontrollably. 😢😵 via Instagram ift.tt/2SIDpKN

A headlining performance by Looming at Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield, IL on January 17, 2014. Openers included Meredosia, Bad Catman, Bookmobile, and The Flips.

 

Words cannot describe how good it felt to be shooting another show at Black Sheep after so long. It doesn't have the greatest lighting and the photo pit is nonexistent, but I just feel so at home there because that community of people is just incredible. They all support each other so much and it's amazing to be a part of that and to get to photograph it every so often. And then getting to be the guest photographer for Harm House's "Record of the Night" was absolutely awesome. Honestly, when I look back, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to the Black Sheep venue and community for everything they've done for me. This was my training ground when I was really getting started, and these are the people who took me in and accepted me without question and without reservation. That, and they put on some kick-ass shows =)

Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamidae, and Pygopodidae).

 

Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, the Hawaiian archipelago, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during the Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167 Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch (c. 66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus.

 

Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction.

 

Etymology

The English word snake comes from Old English snaca, itself from Proto-Germanic *snak-an- (cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root *(s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder, as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent, is from French, ultimately from Indo-European *serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’.

 

The fossil record of snakes is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids, the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from the West Bank, dated to between 112 and 94 million years old.

 

Based on comparative anatomy, there is consensus that snakes descended from lizards. Pythons and boas—primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs, which are used to grasp during mating The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of the pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible.

 

Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes, controlling limb morphogenesis. The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution, the Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas, axis, and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only a short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species.

 

Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene, alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs. The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were a minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia, Lampropeltis, Pituophis, and Pantherophis).

 

Fossils

There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during the Cretaceous Period. An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum, and was fully terrestrial. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it also is semiaquatic). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent, fused eyelids (brille) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in the ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis, which are slightly older than Najash.

 

This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus. It has many snake-like features, is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from the Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes.

 

An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—forming the clade Pythonomorpha. According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and the external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes. In the Late Cretaceous, snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina. Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to a positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids.

 

Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis.

 

Genetic basis of snake evolution

Main article: Limb development

Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards, hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks, anguids, and other lizards.

 

In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS.

 

Distribution

There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland, Iceland, and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by the yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait).

 

Taxonomy

All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy, part of the order Squamata, though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial.

 

The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia. This separation is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia, with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes (colubrids, vipers, elapids, hydrophiids, and atractaspids) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae, a family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi.

 

There are numerous debates in the systematics within the group. For instance, many sources classify Boidae and Pythonidae as one family, while some keep the Elapidae and Hydrophiidae (sea snakes) separate for practical reasons despite their extremely close relation.

 

Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids (Cylindrophis, Anomochilus, uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians.

 

Legless lizards

Main article: Legless lizard

While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include the slowworm and glass snake.

 

Other serpentine tetrapods that are unrelated to snakes include caecilians (amphibians), amphisbaenians (near-lizard squamates), and the extinct aistopods (amphibians).

 

Biology

The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python, measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda, which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb).

 

At the other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae, with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.

 

Perception

Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas have infrared-sensitive receptors in deep grooves on the snout, allowing them to "see" the radiated heat of warm-blooded prey. In pit vipers, the grooves are located between the nostril and the eye in a large "pit" on each side of the head. Other infrared-sensitive snakes have multiple, smaller labial pits lining the upper lip, just below the nostrils.

 

A snake tracks its prey using smell, collecting airborne particles with its forked tongue, then passing them to the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ in the mouth for examination. The fork in the tongue provides a sort of directional sense of smell and taste simultaneously. The snake's tongue is constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water, analyzing the chemicals found, and determining the presence of prey or predators in the local environment. In water-dwelling snakes, such as the anaconda, the tongue functions efficiently underwater.

 

The underside of a snake is very sensitive to vibration, allowing the snake to detect approaching animals by sensing faint vibrations in the ground. Despite the lack of outer ears, they are also able to detect airborne sounds.

 

Snake vision varies greatly between species. Some have keen eyesight and others are only able to distinguish light from dark, but the important trend is that a snake's visual perception is adequate enough to track movements. Generally, vision is best in tree-dwelling snakes and weakest in burrowing snakes. Some have binocular vision, where both eyes are capable of focusing on the same point, an example of this being the Asian vine snake. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina. Diurnal snakes have round pupils and many nocturnal snakes have slit pupils. Most species possess three visual pigments and are probably able to see two primary colors in daylight. The annulated sea snake and the genus Helicops appears to have regained much of their color vision as an adaption to the marine environment they live in. It has been concluded that the last common ancestors of all snakes had UV-sensitive vision, but most snakes that depend on their eyesight to hunt in daylight have evolved lenses that act like sunglasses for filtering out the UV-light, which probably also sharpens their vision by improving the contrast.

 

Skin

The skin of a snake is covered in scales. Contrary to the popular notion of snakes being slimy (because of possible confusion of snakes with worms), snakeskin has a smooth, dry texture. Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, allowing them to grip surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales, also known as brille, which remain permanently closed.

 

The shedding of scales is called ecdysis (or in normal usage, molting or sloughing). Snakes shed the complete outer layer of skin in one piece. Snake scales are not discrete, but extensions of the epidermis—hence they are not shed separately but as a complete outer layer during each molt, akin to a sock being turned inside out.

 

Snakes have a wide diversity of skin coloration patterns which are often related to behavior, such as the tendency to have to flee from predators. Snakes that are at a high risk of predation tend to be plain, or have longitudinal stripes, providing few reference points to predators, thus allowing the snake to escape without being noticed. Plain snakes usually adopt active hunting strategies, as their pattern allows them to send little information to prey about motion. Blotched snakes usually use ambush-based strategies, likely because it helps them blend into an environment with irregularly shaped objects, like sticks or rocks. Spotted patterning can similarly help snakes to blend into their environment.

 

The shape and number of scales on the head, back, and belly are often characteristic and used for taxonomic purposes. Scales are named mainly according to their positions on the body. In "advanced" (Caenophidian) snakes, the broad belly scales and rows of dorsal scales correspond to the vertebrae, allowing these to be counted without the need for dissection.

 

Molting

Molting (or "ecdysis") serves a number of purposes. It allows old, worn skin to be replaced and it can remove parasites such as mites and ticks that live in the skin. It has also been observed in snakes that molting can be synced to mating cycles. Shedding skin can release pheromones and revitalize color and patterns of the skin to increase attraction of mates. Renewal of the skin by molting supposedly allows growth in some animals such as insects, but this has been disputed in the case of snakes.

 

Molting occurs periodically throughout the life of a snake. Before each molt, the snake stops eating and often hides or moves to a safe place. Just before shedding, the skin becomes dull and dry looking and the snake's eyes turn cloudy or blue-colored. The inner surface of the old skin liquefies, causing it to separate from the new skin beneath it. After a few days, the eyes become clear and the snake "crawls" out of its old skin, which splits close to the snake's mouth. The snake rubs its body against rough surfaces to aid in the shedding of its old skin. In many cases, the cast skin peels backward over the body from head to tail in one piece, like pulling a sock off inside-out, revealing a new, larger, brighter layer of skin which has formed underneath.

 

A young snake that is still growing may shed its skin up to four times a year, but an older snake may shed only once or twice a year. The discarded skin carries a perfect imprint of the scale pattern, so it is usually possible to identify the snake from the cast skin if it is reasonably intact. This periodic renewal has led to the snake being a symbol of healing and medicine, as pictured in the Rod of Asclepius.

 

Scale counts can sometimes be used to identify the sex of a snake when the species is not distinctly sexually dimorphic. A probe is fully inserted into the cloaca, marked at the point where it stops, then removed and measured against the subcaudal scales. The scalation count determines whether the snake is a male or female, as the hemipenes of a male will probe to a different depth (usually longer) than the cloaca of a female.

 

Skeleton

The skeletons of snakes are radically different from those of most other reptiles (as compared with the turtle here, for example), consisting almost entirely of an extended ribcage.

The skeleton of most snakes consists solely of the skull, hyoid, vertebral column, and ribs, though henophidian snakes retain vestiges of the pelvis and rear limbs.

 

The skull consists of a solid and complete neurocranium, to which many of the other bones are only loosely attached, particularly the highly mobile jaw bones, which facilitate manipulation and ingestion of large prey items. The left and right sides of the lower jaw are joined only by a flexible ligament at the anterior tips, allowing them to separate widely, and the posterior end of the lower jaw bones articulate with a quadrate bone, allowing further mobility. The mandible and quadrate bones can pick up ground-borne vibrations; because the sides of the lower jaw can move independently of one another, a snake resting its jaw on a surface has sensitive stereo auditory perception, used for detecting the position of prey. The jaw–quadrate–stapes pathway is capable of detecting vibrations on the angstrom scale, despite the absence of an outer ear and the lack of an impedance matching mechanism—provided by the ossicles in other vertebrates—for receiving vibrations from the air.

 

The hyoid is a small bone located posterior and ventral to the skull, in the 'neck' region, which serves as an attachment for the muscles of the snake's tongue, as it does in all other tetrapods.

 

The vertebral column consists of between 200 and 400 vertebrae, or sometimes more. The body vertebrae each have two ribs articulating with them. The tail vertebrae are comparatively few in number (often less than 20% of the total) and lack ribs. The vertebrae have projections that allow for strong muscle attachment, enabling locomotion without limbs.

 

Caudal autotomy (self-amputation of the tail), a feature found in some lizards, is absent in most snakes. In the rare cases where it does exist in snakes, caudal autotomy is intervertebral (meaning the separation of adjacent vertebrae), unlike that in lizards, which is intravertebral, i.e. the break happens along a predefined fracture plane present on a vertebra.

 

In some snakes, most notably boas and pythons, there are vestiges of the hindlimbs in the form of a pair of pelvic spurs. These small, claw-like protrusions on each side of the cloaca are the external portion of the vestigial hindlimb skeleton, which includes the remains of an ilium and femur.

 

Snakes are polyphyodonts with teeth that are continuously replaced

 

Snakes and other non-archosaur (crocodilians, dinosaurs + birds and allies) reptiles have a three-chambered heart that controls the circulatory system via the left and right atrium, and one ventricle. Internally, the ventricle is divided into three interconnected cavities: the cavum arteriosum, the cavum pulmonale, and the cavum venosum. The cavum venosum receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium and the cavum arteriosum receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Located beneath the cavum venosum is the cavum pulmonale, which pumps blood to the pulmonary trunk.

 

The snake's heart is encased in a sac, called the pericardium, located at the bifurcation of the bronchi. The heart is able to move around, owing to the lack of a diaphragm; this adjustment protects the heart from potential damage when large ingested prey is passed through the esophagus. The spleen is attached to the gall bladder and pancreas and filters the blood. The thymus, located in fatty tissue above the heart, is responsible for the generation of immune cells in the blood. The cardiovascular system of snakes is unique for the presence of a renal portal system in which the blood from the snake's tail passes through the kidneys before returning to the heart.

 

The vestigial left lung is often small or sometimes even absent, as snakes' tubular bodies require all of their organs to be long and thin.[71] In the majority of species, only one lung is functional. This lung contains a vascularized anterior portion and a posterior portion that does not function in gas exchange. This 'saccular lung' is used for hydrostatic purposes to adjust buoyancy in some aquatic snakes and its function remains unknown in terrestrial species. Many organs that are paired, such as kidneys or reproductive organs, are staggered within the body, one located ahead of the other.

 

Snakes have no lymph nodes.

 

Venom

Cobras, vipers, and closely related species use venom to immobilize, injure, or kill their prey. The venom is modified saliva, delivered through fangs. The fangs of 'advanced' venomous snakes like viperids and elapids are hollow, allowing venom to be injected more effectively, and the fangs of rear-fanged snakes such as the boomslang simply have a groove on the posterior edge to channel venom into the wound. Snake venoms are often prey-specific, and their role in self-defense is secondary.

 

Venom, like all salivary secretions, is a predigestant that initiates the breakdown of food into soluble compounds, facilitating proper digestion. Even nonvenomous snakebites (like any animal bite) cause tissue damage.

 

Certain birds, mammals, and other snakes (such as kingsnakes) that prey on venomous snakes have developed resistance and even immunity to certain venoms.Venomous snakes include three families of snakes, and do not constitute a formal taxonomic classification group.

 

The colloquial term "poisonous snake" is generally an incorrect label for snakes. A poison is inhaled or ingested, whereas venom produced by snakes is injected into its victim via fangs. There are, however, two exceptions: Rhabdophis sequesters toxins from the toads it eats, then secretes them from nuchal glands to ward off predators; and a small unusual population of garter snakes in the US state of Oregon retains enough toxins in their livers from ingested newts to be effectively poisonous to small local predators (such as crows and foxes).

 

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins, and are stored in venom glands at the back of the head. In all venomous snakes, these glands open through ducts into grooved or hollow teeth in the upper jaw. The proteins can potentially be a mix of neurotoxins (which attack the nervous system), hemotoxins (which attack the circulatory system), cytotoxins (which attack the cells directly), bungarotoxins (related to neurotoxins, but also directly affect muscle tissue), and many other toxins that affect the body in different ways. Almost all snake venom contains hyaluronidase, an enzyme that ensures rapid diffusion of the venom.

 

Venomous snakes that use hemotoxins usually have fangs in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. Some snakes that use neurotoxins (such as the mangrove snake) have fangs in the back of their mouths, with the fangs curled backwards. This makes it difficult both for the snake to use its venom and for scientists to milk them. Elapids, however, such as cobras and kraits are proteroglyphous—they possess hollow fangs that cannot be erected toward the front of their mouths, and cannot "stab" like a viper. They must actually bite the victim.

 

It has been suggested that all snakes may be venomous to a certain degree, with harmless snakes having weak venom and no fangs. According to this theory, most snakes that are labelled "nonvenomous" would be considered harmless because they either lack a venom delivery method or are incapable of delivering enough to endanger a human. The theory postulates that snakes may have evolved from a common lizard ancestor that was venomous, and also that venomous lizards like the gila monster, beaded lizard, monitor lizards, and the now-extinct mosasaurs, may have derived from this same common ancestor. They share this "venom clade" with various other saurian species.

 

Venomous snakes are classified in two taxonomic families:

Elapids – cobras including king cobras, kraits, mambas, Australian copperheads, sea snakes, and coral snakes.

Viperids – vipers, rattlesnakes, copperheads/cottonmouths, and bushmasters.

There is a third family containing the opistoglyphous (rear-fanged) snakes (as well as the majority of other snake species):

 

Colubrids – boomslangs, tree snakes, vine snakes, cat snakes, although not all colubrids are venomous.

 

Reproduction

Although a wide range of reproductive modes are used by snakes, all employ internal fertilization. This is accomplished by means of paired, forked hemipenes, which are stored, inverted, in the male's tail. The hemipenes are often grooved, hooked, or spined—designed to grip the walls of the female's cloaca. The clitoris of the female snake consists of two structures located between the cloaca and the scent glands.

 

Most species of snakes lay eggs which they abandon shortly after laying. However, a few species (such as the king cobra) construct nests and stay in the vicinity of the hatchlings after incubation. Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even "shiver" to generate heat to incubate the eggs.

 

Some species of snake are ovoviviparous and retain the eggs within their bodies until they are almost ready to hatch. Several species of snake, such as the boa constrictor and green anaconda, are fully viviparous, nourishing their young through a placenta as well as a yolk sac; this is highly unusual among reptiles, and normally found in requiem sharks or placental mammals. Retention of eggs and live birth are most often associated with colder environments.

 

Sexual selection in snakes is demonstrated by the 3,000 species that each use different tactics in acquiring mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to mate with includes topping, a behavior exhibited by most viperids in which one male will twist around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and force it downward. It is common for neck-biting to occur while the snakes are entwined.

 

Facultative parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Agkistrodon contortrix (copperhead) and Agkistrodon piscivorus (cottonmouth) can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, meaning that they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. The most likely type of parthenogenesis to occur is automixis with terminal fusion, a process in which two terminal products from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process leads to genome-wide homozygosity, expression of deleterious recessive alleles, and often to developmental abnormalities. Both captive-born and wild-born copperheads and cottonmouths appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.

 

Reproduction in squamate reptiles is almost exclusively sexual. Males ordinarily have a ZZ pair of sex-determining chromosomes, and females a ZW pair. However, the Colombian Rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus) can also reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, resulting in production of WW female progeny. The WW females are likely produced by terminal automixis.

 

Embryonic Development

Snake embryonic development initially follows similar steps as any vertebrate embryo. The snake embryo begins as a zygote, undergoes rapid cell division, forms a germinal disc, also called a blastodisc, then undergoes gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis. Cell division and proliferation continues until an early snake embryo develops and the typical body shape of a snake can be observed. Multiple features differentiate the embryologic development of snakes from other vertebrates, two significant factors being the elongation of the body and the lack of limb development.

 

The elongation in snake body is accompanied by a significant increase in vertebra count (mice have 60 vertebrae, whereas snakes may have over 300). This increase in vertebrae is due to an increase in somites during embryogenesis, leading to an increased number of vertebrae which develop. Somites are formed at the presomitic mesoderm due to a set of oscillatory genes that direct the somitogenesis clock. The snake somitogenesis clock operates at a frequency 4 times that of a mouse (after correction for developmental time), creating more somites, and therefore creating more vertebrae. This difference in clock speed is believed to be caused by differences in Lunatic fringe gene expression, a gene involved in the somitogenesis clock.

 

There is ample literature focusing on the limb development/lack of development in snake embryos and the gene expression associated with the different stages. In basal snakes, such as the python, embryos in early development exhibit a hind limb bud that develops with some cartilage and a cartilaginous pelvic element, however this degenerates before hatching. This presence of vestigial development suggests that some snakes are still undergoing hind limb reduction before they are eliminated. There is no evidence in basal snakes of forelimb rudiments and no examples of snake forelimb bud initiation in embryo, so little is known regarding the loss of this trait. Recent studies suggests that hind limb reduction could be due to mutations in enhancers for the SSH gene, however other studies suggested that mutations within the Hox Genes or their enhancers could contribute to snake limblessness. Since multiple studies have found evidence suggesting different genes played a role in the loss of limbs in snakes, it is likely that multiple gene mutations had an additive effect leading to limb loss in snakes.

 

Behavior

Snake coiled on a stick in Oklahoma. It was brumating in a large pile of wood chips, found by this landscaper after he bulldozed the pile in late autumn 2018.

In regions where winters are too cold for snakes to tolerate while remaining active, local species will enter a period of brumation. Unlike hibernation, in which the dormant mammals are actually asleep, brumating reptiles are awake but inactive. Individual snakes may brumate in burrows, under rock piles, or inside fallen trees, or large numbers of snakes may clump together in hibernacula.

 

Feeding and diet

All snakes are strictly carnivorous, preying on small animals including lizards, frogs, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails, worms, and insects. Snakes cannot bite or tear their food to pieces so must swallow their prey whole. The eating habits of a snake are largely influenced by body size; smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example.

 

The snake's jaw is a complex structure. Contrary to the popular belief that snakes can dislocate their jaws, they have an extremely flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in the skull, which allow the snake to open its mouth wide enough to swallow prey whole, even if it is larger in diameter than the snake itself. For example, the African egg-eating snake has flexible jaws adapted for eating eggs much larger than the diameter of its head.  This snake has no teeth, but does have bony protrusions on the inside edge of its spine, which it uses to break the shell when eating eggs.

 

The majority of snakes eat a variety of prey animals, but there is some specialization in certain species. King cobras and the Australian bandy-bandy consume other snakes. Species of the family Pareidae have more teeth on the right side of their mouths than on the left, as they mostly prey on snails and the shells usually spiral clockwise.

 

Some snakes have a venomous bite, which they use to kill their prey before eating it. Other snakes kill their prey by constriction, while some swallow their prey when it is still alive.

 

After eating, snakes become dormant to allow the process of digestion to take place; this is an intense activity, especially after consumption of large prey. In species that feed only sporadically, the entire intestine enters a reduced state between meals to conserve energy. The digestive system is then 'up-regulated' to full capacity within 48 hours of prey consumption. Being ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), the surrounding temperature plays an important role in the digestion process. The ideal temperature for snakes to digest food is 30 °C (86 °F). There is a huge amount of metabolic energy involved in a snake's digestion, for example the surface body temperature of the South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) increases by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) during the digestive process. If a snake is disturbed after having eaten recently, it will often regurgitate its prey to be able to escape the perceived threat. When undisturbed, the digestive process is highly efficient; the snake's digestive enzymes dissolve and absorb everything but the prey's hair (or feathers) and claws, which are excreted along with waste.

 

Hooding and spitting

Hooding (expansion of the neck area) is a visual deterrent, mostly seen in cobras (elapids), and is primarily controlled by rib muscles.[98] Hooding can be accompanied by spitting venom towards the threatening object,[99] and producing a specialized sound; hissing. Studies on captive cobras showed that 13 to 22% of the body length is raised during hooding.

 

Locomotion

The lack of limbs does not impede the movement of snakes. They have developed several different modes of locomotion to deal with particular environments. Unlike the gaits of limbed animals, which form a continuum, each mode of snake locomotion is discrete and distinct from the others; transitions between modes are abrupt.

 

Lateral undulation

Lateral undulation is the sole mode of aquatic locomotion, and the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion In this mode, the body of the snake alternately flexes to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving "waves". While this movement appears rapid, snakes have rarely been documented moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement has the same net cost of transport (calories burned per meter moved) as running in lizards of the same mass.

 

Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of terrestrial locomotion for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8[clarification needed] along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.

 

When swimming, the waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is generated by pushing their body against the water, resulting in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).

 

Sidewinding

Most often employed by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers) when the snake must move in an environment that lacks irregularities to push against (rendering lateral undulation impossible), such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune, sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up, resulting in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than 1⁄3 of the cost for a lizard to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.

 

Concertina

When push-points are absent, but there is not enough space to use sidewinding because of lateral constraints, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina locomotion. In this mode, the snake braces the posterior portion of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the posterior is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of locomotion is slow and very demanding, up to seven times the cost of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the necessity of using active muscular effort to brace against the tunnel walls.

 

Arboreal

The movement of snakes in arboreal habitats has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of locomotion depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina locomotion on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.

 

Gliding snakes (Chrysopelea) of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.

 

Rectilinear

The slowest mode of snake locomotion is rectilinear locomotion, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of locomotion and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.

 

Interactions with humans

Snakes do not ordinarily prey on humans. Unless startled or injured, most snakes prefer to avoid contact and will not attack humans. With the exception of large constrictors, nonvenomous snakes are not a threat to humans. The bite of a nonvenomous snake is usually harmless; their teeth are not adapted for tearing or inflicting a deep puncture wound, but rather grabbing and holding. Although the possibility of infection and tissue damage is present in the bite of a nonvenomous snake, venomous snakes present far greater hazard to humans.  The World Health Organization (WHO) lists snakebite under the "other neglected conditions" category.

 

Documented deaths resulting from snake bites are uncommon. Nonfatal bites from venomous snakes may result in the need for amputation of a limb or part thereof. Of the roughly 725 species of venomous snakes worldwide, only 250 are able to kill a human with one bite. Australia averages only one fatal snake bite per year. In India, 250,000 snakebites are recorded in a single year, with as many as 50,000 recorded initial deaths. The WHO estimates that on the order of 100,000 people die each year as a result of snake bites, and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually.

 

The treatment for a snakebite is as variable as the bite itself. The most common and effective method is through antivenom (or antivenin), a serum made from the venom of the snake. Some antivenom is species-specific (monovalent) while some is made for use with multiple species in mind (polyvalent). In the United States for example, all species of venomous snakes are pit vipers, with the exception of the coral snake. To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse. The serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses are more likely to have an allergic reaction to antivenom. Antivenom for the more dangerous species (such as mambas, taipans, and cobras) is made in a similar manner in South Africa, Australia , and India, although these antivenoms are species-specific.

 

Snake charmers

In some parts of the world, especially in India, snake charming is a roadside show performed by a charmer. In such a show, the snake charmer carries a basket containing a snake that he seemingly charms by playing tunes with his flutelike musical instrument, to which the snake responds. The snake is in fact responding to the movement of the flute, not the sound it makes, as snakes lack external ears (though they do have internal ears).

 

The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in India technically prohibits snake charming on the grounds of reducing animal cruelty. Other types of snake charmers use a snake and mongoose show, where the two animals have a mock fight; however, this is not very common, as the animals may be seriously injured or killed. Snake charming as a profession is dying out in India because of competition from modern forms of entertainment and environment laws proscribing the practice. Many Indians have never seen snake charming and it is becoming a folktale of the past.

 

Trapping

The Irulas tribe of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India have been hunter-gatherers in the hot, dry plains forests, and have practiced the art of snake catching for generations. They have a vast knowledge of snakes in the field. They generally catch the snakes with the help of a simple stick. Earlier, the Irulas caught thousands of snakes for the snake-skin industry. After the complete ban of the snake-skin industry in India and protection of all snakes under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, they formed the Irula Snake Catcher's Cooperative and switched to catching snakes for removal of venom, releasing them in the wild after four extractions. The venom so collected is used for producing life-saving antivenom, biomedical research and for other medicinal products. The Irulas are also known to eat some of the snakes they catch and are very useful in rat extermination in the villages.

 

Despite the existence of snake charmers, there have also been professional snake catchers or wranglers. Modern-day snake trapping involves a herpetologist using a long stick with a V-shaped end. Some television show hosts, like Bill Haast, Austin Stevens, Steve Irwin, and Jeff Corwin, prefer to catch them using bare hands.

 

Consumption

Although snakes are not commonly thought of as food, their consumption is acceptable in some cultures and may even be considered a delicacy. Snake soup is popular in Cantonese cuisine, consumed by locals in the autumn to warm their bodies. Western cultures document the consumption of snakes only under extreme circumstances of hunger, with the exception of cooked rattlesnake meat, which is commonly consumed in Texas and parts of the Midwestern United States.

 

In Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, drinking the blood of a snake—particularly the cobra—is believed to increase sexual virility. When possible, the blood is drained while the cobra is still alive, and it is usually mixed with some form of liquor to improve the taste.

 

The use of snakes in alcohol is accepted in some Asian countries. In such cases, one or more snakes are left to steep in a jar or container of liquor, as this is claimed to make the liquor stronger (as well as more expensive). One example of this is the Habu snake, which is sometimes placed in the Okinawan liqueur Habushu (ハブ酒), also known as "Habu Sake".

 

Snake wine (蛇酒) is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. First recorded as being consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty, this drink is considered an important curative and is believed to reinvigorate a person according to traditional Chinese medicine

 

Pets

In the Western world, some snakes are kept as pets, especially docile species such as the ball python and corn snake. To meet the demand, a captive breeding industry has developed. Snakes bred in captivity are considered preferable to specimens caught in the wild and tend to make better pets. Compared with more traditional types of companion animal, snakes can be very low-maintenance pets; they require minimal space, as most common species do not exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length, and can be fed relatively infrequently—usually once every five to 14 days. Certain snakes have a lifespan of more than 40 years if given proper care.

 

Symbolism

In ancient Mesopotamia, Nirah, the messenger god of Ištaran, was represented as a serpent on kudurrus, or boundary stones. Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. The horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu, but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.

 

In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the gods and was also used for sinister purposes: murder of an adversary and ritual suicide (Cleopatra). The ouroboros was a well-known ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.

 

In the Bible, King Nahash of Ammon, whose name means "Snake", is depicted very negatively, as a particularly cruel and despicable enemy of the ancient Hebrews.

 

The ancient Greeks used the Gorgoneion, a depiction of a hideous face with serpents for hair, as an apotropaic symbol to ward off evil. In a Greek myth described by Pseudo-Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca, Medusa was a Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze turned all those who looked at her to stone and was slain by the hero Perseus. In the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, Medusa is said to have once been a beautiful priestess of Athena, whom Athena turned into a serpent-haired monster after she was raped by the god Poseidon in Athena's temple. In another myth referenced by the Boeotian poet Hesiod and described in detail by Pseudo-Apollodorus, the hero Heracles is said to have slain the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.

 

The legendary account of the foundation of Thebes mentioned a monster snake guarding the spring from which the new settlement was to draw its water. In fighting and killing the snake, the companions of the founder Cadmus all perished – leading to the term "Cadmean victory" (i.e. a victory involving one's own ruin).

 

Three medical symbols involving snakes that are still used today are Bowl of Hygieia, symbolizing pharmacy, and the Caduceus and Rod of Asclepius, which are symbols denoting medicine in general.

 

One of the etymologies proposed for the common female first name Linda is that it might derive from Old German Lindi or Linda, meaning a serpent.

 

India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping on a seven-headed snake or within the coils of a serpent. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called Nagraj (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility. There is a Hindu festival called Nag Panchami each year on which day snakes are venerated and prayed to. See also Nāga.

 

In India there is another mythology about snakes. Commonly known in Hindi as "Ichchhadhari" snakes. Such snakes can take the form of any living creature, but prefer human form. These mythical snakes possess a valuable gem called "Mani", which is more brilliant than diamond. There are many stories in India about greedy people trying to possess this gem and ending up getting killed.

 

The snake is one of the 12 celestial animals of Chinese zodiac, in the Chinese calendar.

 

Many ancient Peruvian cultures worshipped nature. They emphasized animals and often depicted snakes in their art.

 

Religion

Snakes are used in Hinduism as a part of ritual worship. In the annual Nag Panchami festival, participants worship either live cobras or images of Nāgas. Lord Shiva is depicted in most images with a snake coiled around his neck. Puranic literature includes various stories associated with snakes, for example Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. Other notable snakes in Hinduism are Vasuki, Takshaka, Karkotaka, and Pingala. The term Nāga is used to refer to entities that take the form of large snakes in Hinduism and Buddhism.

 

Snakes have been widely revered in many cultures, such as in ancient Greece where the serpent was seen as a healer.[148] Asclepius carried a serpent wound around his wand, a symbol seen today on many ambulances. In Judaism, the snake of brass is also a symbol of healing, of one's life being saved from imminent death.

 

In religious terms, the snake and jaguar were arguably the most important animals in ancient Mesoamerica. "In states of ecstasy, lords dance a serpent dance; great descending snakes adorn and support buildings from Chichen Itza to Tenochtitlan, and the Nahuatl word coatl meaning serpent or twin, forms part of primary deities such as Mixcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, and Coatlicue." In the Maya and Aztec calendars, the fifth day of the week was known as Snake Day.

 

In some parts of Christianity, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is compared to saving one's life through beholding the Nehushtan (serpent of brass). Snake handlers use snakes as an integral part of church worship, to demonstrate their faith in divine protection. However, more commonly in Christianity, the serpent has been depicted as a representative of evil and sly plotting, as seen in the description in Genesis of a snake tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Saint Patrick is purported to have expelled all snakes from Ireland while converting the country to Christianity in the 5th century, thus explaining the absence of snakes there.

 

In Christianity and Judaism, the snake makes its infamous appearance in the first book of the Bible when a serpent appears before Adam and Eve and tempts them with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The snake returns in the Book of Exodus when Moses turns his staff into a snake as a sign of God's power, and later when he makes the Nehushtan, a bronze snake on a pole that when looked at cured the people of bites from the snakes that plagued them in the desert. The serpent makes its final appearance symbolizing Satan in the Book of Revelation: "And he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."

 

In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the snake is seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Additionally, snakes are sometimes associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft.

 

Medicine

Several compounds from snake venoms are being researched as potential treatments or preventatives for pain, cancers, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, hemophilia, and hypertension, and to control bleeding (e.g. during surgery).

This was the tiniest baby drum i've ever seen. It was about an inch tall and could barely swim against the current which was almost nonexistent.

The Los Angeles Lakers take their warm ups and because many fans are in attendance to say goodbye to the Lakers' Kobe Bryant the normal chant of "Beat L.A." is nonexistent.

it was there in real life

just not in the pic

1. ... jupons de silènes ...!!!, 2. Hycleus duodecimpunctatus, 3. ohne Blumen fehlt Dir was, 4. Fahrt ins Ungewisse, 5. Margeriten, 6. Walking the dog (217/365), 7. True love, 8. yup. everything's just peachy., 9. Scarlet Kingdom Revisited, 10. Redderated daisery, 11. A goal is a dream with a deadline, 12. Sea sponge, 13. we all leave marks in this universe but as time is passing by they're all fading away, 14. Day 343/365 : Flowers, 15. Calm, 16. one cat, 17. PURPLE BEAUTY FOR YOU - HBWeekend, 18. all the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today, 19. Visiting the Lavenders, 20. Sun Way, 21. vintage part 2, 22. Going Postal (215/265), 23. Have a great weekend...., 24. Green Day, 25. suverajad ..., 26. i've been trying to capture this orange dirt since i got here., 27. pink rosebud, 28. European Goldfinch; Carduelis carduelis, 29. Threes a Crowd, 30. pink white reflection, 31. Market day, 32. Ready to open.., 33. By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired. (Quote by Franz Kafka), 34. Untitled, 35. ... a MP3 fruit free for you...!!! :), 36. You're a dandelion seed, That flies through the air, And lands randomly, Then disappears.