Thursday, 15 September 2022

Herpetologic Verse: Still More REPTILES

A follow-up to blog-posts of June 2019 , and May, 2020.





green anole, appearing gray, climbing down fencepost


same anole, 2 minutes later





Authors' Note:  'Leapin' Lizards' was a classic idiom used to express surprise, long before it was suspected that birds had evolved from reptiles! 



Authors' Note: 

ophidiophobia: an extreme or incapacitating fear of snakes

herpetophobia: a similar anxiety disorder extending to all reptiles

The reptilian suborder Serpentes was previously known as Ophidia, a term derived from ophis, Greek for 'snake'. 




Authors' Note: With four regional subspecies, the painted turtle, Chrysemus picta, has a range covering almost the entire United States and a part of Canada; it is North America's most common turtle.

  The verse's tale, based on a recent experience by the author dealt with an attractive female belonging to the eastern subspecies, although her accent was definitely southern.


 midland painted turtle (in Ontario), scurrying home









 



Authors' Note: Most commonly, we think of asymptomatic carriers as humans who can transmit a microbial infection, but have no symptoms themselves; such diseases as typhoid and salmonellosis are well-known to be transmitted by such carriers.

Similarly, pets may harbor organisms that cause human disease, although the animals themselves don't become ill. Salmonella bacteria are commonly found on the skins of certain lizards and most turtles. The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), a reptile native to the US, has attained notoriety in this regard; as children's pets they are cute, easy to care for, and inexpensive. Combined with their penchant for taking over ponds from native turtles, these traits underlie their status as an invasive species whose sale is now banned in many countries around the globe.




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