Rattlesnake!!

Patrick W. said:

Spotted a very cute baby rattler in Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa, CA over the weekend. He
was just basking in the sun on a trail. I nearly ran him over but fortunately the trail was
wide enough that I was able to maneuver around him, then stop and grab a stick to shoo him off
the trail.

Anyone every run over a snake? This guy was too little to have gotten me if I had run him over
(well, at least I don't think he could have struck high enough). But I can imagine coming around a
blind corner fast and bopping over an adult - might be disastrous; or at least very painful for
all parties involved. Scary thought.

Seen any whipsnakes lately?

Jon Bond

"Jonathan Bond" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Patrick W. said:

Spotted a very cute baby rattler in Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa, CA over the weekend. He
was just basking in the sun on a trail. I nearly

ran

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

him over but fortunately the trail was wide enough that I was able to maneuver around him, then
stop and grab a stick to shoo him off the

trail.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Anyone every run over a snake? This guy was too little to have gotten me

if

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had run him over (well, at least I don't think he could have struck

high

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

enough). But I can imagine coming around a blind corner fast and bopping over an adult - might
be disastrous; or at least very painful for all parties involved. Scary thought.

Seen any whipsnakes lately?

Jon Bond

If you mean garter snakes, yes! But not up there. I see plenty of beautiful little guys called San
Francisco Garter Snakes (not sure the latin name). They're a brightly colored endangered species
living all over the area. I see them down around Pacifica and in the Santa Cruz mountains.

-Patrick

Patrick W. said:

Quoted message said:

Seen any whipsnakes lately?

If you mean garter snakes, yes! But not up there. I see plenty of beautiful little guys called San
Francisco Garter Snakes (not sure the latin name). They're a brightly colored endangered species
living all over the area. I see them down around Pacifica and in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Well, it looks like we need to update some of those who haven't been here awhile. Its a quaint
little tale.

Sur Vandeman of Nuttingham has proclaimed to the world that the whipsnake is endangered because of
mountain biking. He came to this odd conclusion when he found a dead whipsnake on a logging road
(frequented by trucks). When the mountain bikers didn't believe him, he cornered a "famous
herpetologist" in a bar, and he considers that ample verification. For this he deemed himself the
whipsnake's savior, and was awarded the "Looney Maroon" for his insanity.

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though the majority of us have
never seen one.

And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to which the truely old-school
will reply: "of course, I'm a famous herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit of caution, of
course. :-)

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:39:12 +0000, BB did issue forth:

Quoted message said:

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though the majority of us have
never seen one.

Until I came to AMB, I didn't even know that such a thing as a whipsnake existed. I still don't
really know what one is.

Quoted message said:

And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to which the truely
old-school will reply: "of course, I'm a famous herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit of
caution, of course. :-)

I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

--
Huw Pritchard Replace bounce with huw to reply by mail

"Stephen Baker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Patrick says:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Seen any whipsnakes lately?

Jon Bond

If you mean garter snakes, yes! But not up there. I see plenty of

beautiful

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

little guys called San Francisco Garter Snakes (not sure the latin name).

The correct answers, FYI, are:

1. "Yes, I'm a famous herpetologist!" or
2. "Yes, I squashed acouple on the way here...."

HTH,

Steve

Ahh. Some inside joke I don't get. Monte Python or something?

Patrick W. said:

"Stephen Baker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Patrick says:

Quoted message said:

> Seen any whipsnakes lately?
>
> Jon Bond
>

If you mean garter snakes, yes! But not up there. I see plenty of beautiful little guys called
San Francisco Garter Snakes (not sure the latin name).

The correct answers, FYI, are:

1. "Yes, I'm a famous herpetologist!" or
2. "Yes, I squashed acouple on the way here...."

HTH,

Steve

Ahh. Some inside joke I don't get. Monte Python or something?

oh man, you must be very new here. Maybe the moderator will explain the joke to you.

penny

Quoted message said:

oh man, you must be very new here. Maybe the moderator will explain the

joke

Quoted message said:

to you.

penny

I'm just trying to share my excitement and report an honest sighting! Oh well. Someone
explain please?

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:31:10 +0000, Patrick W. did issue forth:

Quoted message said:

I'm just trying to share my excitement and report an honest sighting! Oh well. Someone
explain please?

Stand in front of a mirror. Say Vandeman five times.

--
Huw Pritchard Replace bounce with huw to reply by mail

Huw Pritchard said:

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:31:10 +0000, Patrick W. did issue forth:

Quoted message said:

I'm just trying to share my excitement and report an honest sighting! Oh well. Someone explain
please?

Stand in front of a mirror. Say Vandeman five times.

You forgot the part about sticking your thumb up your butt and whacking yourself in the forehead
with a big stick. Do this enough, and you will see Vandeman.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

Huw Pritchard said:

I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

It has the added bonus that it sounds like it has more to do with social diseases than snakes.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

Huw Pritchard said:

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:39:12 +0000, BB did issue forth:

Quoted message said:

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though the majority of us
have never seen one.

Until I came to AMB, I didn't even know that such a thing as a whipsnake existed. I still don't
really know what one is.

Quoted message said:

And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to which the truely
old-school will reply: "of course, I'm a famous herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit
of caution, of course. :-)

I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

your Latin must suck, then.

any have Bomba's FAQ link to help this poor guy out?

penny

Quoted message said:

Well, it looks like we need to update some of those who haven't been here awhile. Its a quaint
little tale.

Sur Vandeman of Nuttingham has proclaimed to the world that the whipsnake is endangered because of
mountain biking. He came to this odd conclusion when he found a dead whipsnake on a logging road
(frequented by trucks). When the mountain bikers didn't believe him, he cornered a "famous
herpetologist" in a bar, and he considers that ample verification. For this he deemed himself the
whipsnake's savior, and was awarded the "Looney Maroon" for his insanity.

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though the majority of us have
never seen one.

And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to which the truely
old-school will reply: "of course, I'm a famous herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit of
caution, of course. :-)

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

Aha! Now it's crystal clear. I generally just ignore MV & related posts, so no wonder I missed it.

-Patrick

BB said:

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot

right down to having the Alameda Racer (aka "Whipsnake"😉 printed on our (extrememly limited
production) Team A.M-B headbands. I had mine sewn to my winter Patrol jersey/jacket so I couldn't
loose it ;-)

shavings.netback lg.jpgOpen ↗

Patrick W. said:

Aha! Now it's crystal clear. I generally just ignore MV & related posts, so no wonder I missed it.

This was quite a few years ago, so unless you've been around a long time you would have missed it
anyway. Occasionally Vandeman blurts out somethat that is just so plainly ludicrous that its really
funny. My favorite wasn't even on this NG - it was when he recommended the sci.environment newsgroup
that they should use roadkill for dissection experiments. You can imagine how well that went over in
a science newsgroup!

I read through literally thousands of his posts over many years, waiting for those golden moments.
But really, almost all he does is repeat dogma, so I eventually killfiled him, too.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

"Patrick W." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Spotted a very cute baby rattler in Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa, CA over the weekend. He
was just basking in the sun on a trail. I nearly ran him over but fortunately the trail was
wide enough that I was able to maneuver around him, then stop and grab a stick to shoo him off
the trail.

Anyone every run over a snake? This guy was too little to have gotten me

if

Quoted message said:

I had run him over (well, at least I don't think he could have struck high enough). But I can
imagine coming around a blind corner fast and bopping over an adult - might be disastrous; or at
least very painful for all parties involved. Scary thought.

Me and a biking bud were out taking one long 17 mile hike in the Appalachian Mountains here in VA
and nearly stepped on one. We went off trail and were on a small rock formation when I heard the
rattle and looked down to see the snake begin to coil up in between his rocks about 3 feet from my
leg (he was also out toastin' in the sun). We back-tracked back to the trail and were slightly more
careful after this encounter. He was a full adult, I can't tell for sure how large because he coiled
up and I didn't stick around, but I would estimate 3-5ft based on the fact I have no knowledge about
snakes other than rattle = bad, coil = bad, and green (in my neck of the woods) = harmless.

"Penny S." <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Huw Pritchard said:

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:39:12 +0000, BB did issue forth:

Quoted message said:

So it came to pass that the whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though the majority of us
have never seen one.

Until I came to AMB, I didn't even know that such a thing as a whipsnake existed. I still don't
really know what one is.

Quoted message said:

And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to which the truely
old-school will reply: "of course, I'm a famous herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit
of caution, of course. :-)

I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

your Latin must suck, then.

Yeah. Mine sucks too. I musta looked at a world map for a 1/2 hour and still couldn't find
that place.
--
Westie

Quoted message said:

any have Bomba's FAQ link to help this poor guy out?

penny

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 22:46:50 +0100, "Huw Pritchard"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 21:39:12 +0000, BB did issue forth: . .> So it came to pass that the
whipsnake became the a.m-b mascot, even though .> the majority of us have never seen one. . .Until
I came to AMB, I didn't even know that such a thing as a whipsnake .existed. I still don't really
know what one is.
. .> And the traditional a.m-b greeting is: "seen any whipsnakes lately?", to .> which the truely
old-school will reply: "of course, I'm a famous .> herpetologist!" That second part requires a bit
of caution, of course. :-) . .I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

See how much I've taught you?
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"😉. Want to
help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

home.pacbell.netmjvandeOpen ↗

Mike Vandeman said:

.I didn't know what a herpetologist was either.

See how much I've taught you?

Touche'