HERPETOLOGIC VERSE: REPTILES

    

        
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio (registered pseudonym) and Dr. GH, April 2019. Today's verses have been finally accepted for web-publication at OEDILF.com, an online humour dictionary that has accumulated over 100,000 carefully edited poems. 

PHOTOS: Unless otherwise noted, embedded photographs were taken with and transferred from Giorgio's cellphone, then formatted using ancient Powerpoint software. No photographic subjects were reimbursed for participating in this undertaking. 

BACKGROUND:  "herpetology" - the branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians. Readers should note that snakes have been omitted from this poetic idyll owing to the marked aversion by the editor's life-partner. 

And, for those interested here's a list of our whole collection of posts related to Nature ...

Verses about Geysers, Sep '18
Verses about Amphibians, Jan '19
Verses about Trees, Apr '19
Verses about Reptiles, Jun '19, as above,

AND, here's the lineup for future posts ... 
Verses about Waterfowl, June '19
Verses about Waterfowl (part #2), July '19
Verses about Trees (part #2), Aug '19

Verses about Insects, Sep '19

Verses about Waterfowl (part #3), Apr '20

Verses about Reptiles, (part #2), May '20

Verses about Waterfowl (part #4 - Loons), Aug '20.

Verses about Waterfowl (part #5), Dec '20. 

Authors' Note: 

clade: taxonomic term, equivalent to ‘suborder’

   The amphisbaenians are a group of reptiles named for the Greek mythological figure Amphisbaena, a two-headed serpent. Superficially resembling earthworms, but with similar markings about their tails and their small heads, they spend most of their time in a subterranean environment. Although they are  widely found in South America, the Caribbean region and Africa, their current distribution in North America and in Europe is more limited, involving only Florida and Iberia respectively.

    

   The motivation for the alleged fevered search by Slovenian crowds to find these creatures is unclear.

   The suffix -paenia, or -penia, (PEE-nyuh), not infrequently used in medical terms, indicates a lack or deficiency.

Authors' Note: 

‘The Palmetto State’: South Carolina

plenum: from the Latin for ‘full’, a deliberative meeting of a body in which all members are present, contrasted with quorum

plenumous: ad hoc neologism indicating the importance of the issue at hand

Your contributions to the BPSS, tax-free, will help us in our efforts to counter anti-social behavior in South Carolina (the palmetto state) by the following: 

eastern diamondback, timber/canebrake and pygmy rattlesnakes,

copperheads, 

cottonmouths,

coral snakes.

 

See an earlier post for Giorgio's rehash of Ogden Nash's verse (The Purist) about the important differences between crocodiles and alligators.

Nature-lovers , academic herpetologists, wordplay enthusiasts, wildlife photographers, Giorgio's relatives, and just everyday folks have united in their demand for more verses on this topic!

So, please follow this link!

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