« Previous | Main | Next »

December 28, 2006

AT LAST

...a practical use for snakes.

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

FIRST! And why is there a picture of a frog in the article instead of a snake?

Snakes as a Vane?

The snake is leaning on the froggie's butt. Is this how they are used to predict earthquakes?

snork @ Lairbo

Snakes on a plain?
*need coffee*

Be nice! It's not the snakes' fault.


(get it? fault????)

*need coffee*

New Years' Resolution:

Find out where "comment bot" lives and kill it.

Caption under photo: "Predicting a fill stomach. Photo by Rhett Butler."

I got nuthin'.

That picture freaks me out.

And whose job is it going to be to watch the snakes. And is it a full-time job? And exactly how much would something like that pay. I'm just curious.

"Jiang reportedly said that snakes can sense an earthquake from 120 km (70 miles) away, three to five days before it happens."

China Daily didn't indicate the basis for his statement.

So I will - he's a parselmouth.

Snake farms?

About those animals running away from the tsunami... Well considering that a major earthquake occurred 15 minutes to 3 hours before the tsunami, depending on location, there was plenty of time for the animals to flee after they felt the earthquake and before the tsunami struck. It was an instinctive reaction to run from it. No special earthquake detection superpowers there. Only Humans didn't flee after the earthquake, because humans are too smart/stupid for their own good, and most unfortunately assumed the danger was over.It's stupid news reports like this that trick people into believing all kinds of nonsense

*visions of Chinese cowboys trying to calm a stampeeding herd of panicked snakes.*
*how in the h3ll do you lasso them?*

*Visions of Chinese cowboys riding ferrets to rope fivver's stampeding herd*

Bothersome quote: ... Further seismometers are more sensitive to P-waves than animals ...

Firstly, the egregious lack of proper punctuation is distracting, to say the least.

Secondly, I am usually bothered by statements such as this, that assert a thing to be true, fact or unchallengable datum, simply based on the narrowmindedness of the egocentric speaker. How do they know that the animals cannot/do not "sense" whatever is measured by the device?

I visualize a tester with the machine, and a dog, bird or snake wearing a tiny little set of earphones, as the tester changes settings on a dial:

All right, Bowser, can you feel this? And now, how about this? This?

Speakin' of narrow-minded ... should we give that appelation to snakes, 'cuz they're so slim? Merely wonderin' ...

So is the Massachusetts legislature hiding the fact that they know that earthquakes will hit the area?

Or did the Chinese sense that Dave has not blogged them in a while?

Perhaps someone can now invent a Ted Kennedy stomp-down-the-hall detector?

YIKES!

What a sight to wake up to. A two-headed frog.

Reporter: We're here at the scene of Punxatawney Python's lair, waiting for him to appear as he senses the next earthquake.

Punxatawney Python:Peekaboa!

Reporter: Gaaaah! Run for your lives - an earthquake's coming!!!

Punxatawney Python: Psyche!!!

So borrowing from Wyo's cat herder video on the other thread...when the snakes sense an earthquake, they essentially stampede.

And when ya think about it, "snake stampede" might be a good name for a country line dance.

*shrug* just thinkin' out loud

Frog: "Ah, excuse me, but has everyone failed to notice that there's a snake biting my butt!!! Don't just blog there. HELP!"

Hey frog, the best thing to do in that kind of situation, is vent gas.

Edgar-That could be the new "Never give up" poster.

(you know, the one with the frog grabbing the pelican's neck while it's getting eaten)

I guess maybe there _is_ a reason to WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES now?

/eeeEegahh!

Otis! Are you a fellow MSTie? A man after my own heart. :-)

And SNORK at "Peekaboa!"

Oh, and Lisa -- nice idea. You should write to the folks at Despair.com.

Hey it was my image. I should get a cut of the royalties.

"What IS that??" "I dunno, I woke up this morning with a little frog in my throat..."

You got it Edgar. ;-)

*snork* @ baligurl

So... when the snake senses a quake, how does it communicate this to us humans? Does it bark?

Snake: BARK! BARK!

Human: What is it girl?

Snake: BARK! BARK!

Human: Is Timmy in the well, again?

Snake: BARK!

Human: Is an earthquake imminent, girl?

Snake: BARK!BARK!BARK!BARK!BARK!

Well ... that's better than BORK!BORK!BORK! ... I guess ...

(Hi, AB ... how ya been? I'm headed back to CA next week, but dunno if I'll be in the SoCal part fer awhile ... still werkin' up around San Luis Obispo & northward, last I wuz told ...)

Hi OtheU! Nice country up north. Be ready for a lot of wind and cold. (Not NoDack cold, but cold enough.)

snakes are sensitive
snakes are kind
some went up someone's behind


high there mudstuffin
what you puffin
from you on this one i dont see nuffin

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Your Information

(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)

-
 
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright | About The Miami Herald | Advertise