Eyes

[Garter_Gertie]

Yeah, Steven! WOW! Fascinating. I like the first paragraph as it explains "Why?" to me. So, like if we could live a million years and watch the cat-eyed snakes like up in MN, MAYBE evolution would change their eyes to round. Do alligators have cat-eyes? I'll have to check since they're found in warm zones.

Are there any warm-zoned snakes that *don't* have cat eyes? If so would they then be active during the heat of the day? But red bellies are active at nite (I think I read that here; I'm positive I did) and they have round pupils.

It's all very confusing to me. But fun and interesting and I'm sure I'll get it once I get education on boas, pythons, genus, species, locales, etc. It's just a matter of learning. Keep the info coming! This eye-thing is ssssoooo fun to learn about.

Gertie, the wannbe herpatologist

[Garter_Gertie]

P.S. So, regarding the 'turned-on-gene,' garter's don't have it turned on, Hoggies kind'a do, and vipers REALLY do. That correct?

I thought lizards evolved from snakes! That snakes wanted to get somewhere, didn't have leges and develope them. So, lizards got lazy and lost their legs?

And lizards and geckos just don't have the gene whatsoever?

[anji1971]

This is interesting stuff!
Good topic, Gertie............I'm learning a fair bit, too!

As for all the evolution, I like to think that one day when I pass on, God will be able to "show" me how everything happened, so I can finally say "Aaaahhhh.............now it all makes sense!"
If only we could go back in time...........

[Garter_Gertie]

Thanks, Anj. I so get into stuff I don't know. I've never evolved mentally from the age of two, "Why?"

There has to be a reason - to me - why things are the way they are because of survival of the fitest. I guess, for rite now until I am able to learn more, I'm just going to have to go with eye-nocturnal thingy. But I just know there's exceptions to that 'rule' and I want to know "Why?" for those expcetions!

My mother always said, "Gertie, I'm SO GLAD you were NOT twins!"

[infernalis]

If only we could go back in time...........

Where would one even begin Anj? how far back? you have entered a dimension of time and space........

[Stefan-A]

P.S. So, regarding the 'turned-on-gene,' garter's don't have it turned on,

Apparently they do have a venom production gene turned ON, considering that..

Secretion from Thamnophis had an LD50 of 33.3 micrograms/gm;

Lethal factors and enzymes in the secretion from D...[J Exp Zool. 1985] - PubMed Result

[gregmonsta]

Vertical pupils are more suited to night-time hunting are they not? ... hence the variety.

[Garter_Gertie]

I went and read the whole thing, Stefan. Like I understood any of it. Not.

Then WHY am I messing around with venomous snakes????!!! Because they're not for humans? I don't mind adding to Dave's presentation with *additional* info, but I'm not real keen on letting him know it's incorrect to say garters are nonvenomous.

I'm so confused! I won't give up or shut my eyes, but I am frustrated.

Are all, snakes, bascially "venomous" in that there's some enzyme in their saliva (if they've no channeld teeth and cannot be milked) that's an irritant in varying degrees to varying creatures?

(Gertie, running screaming into the nite) -------------------------------------->

[Stefan-A]

It's not a part of their saliva, even if it does mix with saliva because they don't inject their venom.

Well, anyway, I use the term 'harmless' to avoid the issue of whether or not they're venomous.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I would not start saying in presentations "these are garter snakes and they are venomous"

people will end up killing every garter snake they see.