The other day I came home to find a small snake stretched out in front of the stairway I needed to use. Living in Florida, home of 6 species of venomous snakes , I am always cautious when a live (and sometimes dead) slithery thing is within view. This was just a little guy, but hey, a bigger one could be nearby. And the colors/pattern on this one were those of either a corn snake (harmless), a brown water snake (harmless), or a copperhead (not harmless). His head-shape didn't look triangular, but I wasn't gonna get closer. Now, most snakes don't look for an encounter with humans; they'll even run slither away as fast as they can, but this guy didn't budge, and yes, it was alive.
I wasn't about to step over the thing. I have a respectful fearfulness of them. I think they belong wherever I am not.
Luckily, a maintenance guy was in the parking lot. So I waved him over, he took a look, got on the radio, and 4 carts of more maintenance guys appeared. It was determined that the snake was harmless and one of the guys used his picker-upper-thing to pick it up and toss it over the fence into the woods from whence it probably came.
So. This got me thinking: WHY (o why o why) are there so many species of venomous snakes? Not just in Florida but world-wide. For example: there are over 20 species of rattlesnake, NOT including subspecies.
You would think that one, maybe two, species of fanged killers would suffice.
Whoever's in charge of evolution needs replacing.
I wasn't about to step over the thing. I have a respectful fearfulness of them. I think they belong wherever I am not.
Luckily, a maintenance guy was in the parking lot. So I waved him over, he took a look, got on the radio, and 4 carts of more maintenance guys appeared. It was determined that the snake was harmless and one of the guys used his picker-upper-thing to pick it up and toss it over the fence into the woods from whence it probably came.
So. This got me thinking: WHY (o why o why) are there so many species of venomous snakes? Not just in Florida but world-wide. For example: there are over 20 species of rattlesnake, NOT including subspecies.
You would think that one, maybe two, species of fanged killers would suffice.
Whoever's in charge of evolution needs replacing.
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