NE Off-Topic (Catching you bench on fire and other randomness)

[Dr_Jones]

Originally Posted by ML

Get used to it. Seems like its getting harder to turn on HD Theater without it being on.

...or maybe its just the ad that runs all the freaking time.

i don think i can...Dennis hopper making his Apocalypse Now type comments (although his pictures were the best part of the wholething). does the whole thing remind anyone else of Maude Lewbowski flying through the air flailing her brushes?

They could have done such a better job with a lot more action and a lot less choreography (something more interesting than a white backdrop)...end rant

[ML]

Saw this the other day:


Unfortunately. it was on the back of this:


Somebody should see if GOT 1 is available.

[ML]

Would anybody like to identify this:


It has made its home in the planter box in front of my house and is very welcome to stay.

[m_thompson]

I am in Germany for two weeks on business. There are 1s everywhere, but they are all 5 door hatches. I haven't seen a single coupe or cabrio. A bunch of 116 hatches.

[Rachel]

Originally Posted by ML

Would anybody like to identify this:
It has made its home in the planter box in front of my house and is very welcome to stay.

He's a cutie! I don't know what kind he is though.

btw, I had a REALLY chilly motorcycle ride to work today. Couldn't feel my hands for an hour. However, the ride home was way better

[ML]

Originally Posted by Rachel

He's a cutie! I don't know what kind he is though.

It's a test. I know what it is.

[Dr_Jones]

garter snake

what do i win

[ML]

Originally Posted by Dr_Jones

garter snake

what do i win

Nothing! Close, but incorrect.

[larryn]

Close.. that's obviously your common variety garden snake. They bite, and it hurts, but not poisonous. I almost drove over one on Saturday, mowing the lawn. Instead, I brought it in the house and watched people scream.

[ML]

Its an Eastern Ribbon Snake

The ribbon snake is a very slender, striped snake, similar in appearance to the garter snake but with a much longer tail. Tail length for the ribbon snake generally accounts for one third or more of total body length. It is boldly patterned with three yellow stripes on a reddish-brown background. A distinct dark band separates each side stripe from the belly. The ribbon snake has keeled scales and a belly that is pale yellow or pale green.

[larryn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garter_side_view.jpg

I've always heard it refered to as a garter or garden snake. Wikipedia thinks so too. So, my vote is for the good Doc Jones.

[ML]

It is a very close relative of the common garter snake. The main difference is the thickness of the body, the spacing on the stripes and color variations in the dark scales.

Eastern Ribbon Snake:
http://www.masnakes.org/snakes/easte...bon/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ea...ibbonSnake.jpg

Common Garter Snake:
http://www.masnakes.org/snakes/common_garter/index.html

[Dr_Jones]

damn

i swear that the guy on the right is dr jones at a much younger age...i sheet you not. i guess ive lost my touch

[larryn]

The ribbon snake is below and facing right; the garter snake is above and facing left. You can see some of the differences: the narrower head and body, for example, and the cleaner pattern (ribbon snakes usually don’t have markings between their stripes).

Ribbon snakes have a pure white jaw and a stark white dot in front of their eye.

In your pic, it looks yellow:


Also, there are markings between the longitudinal stripes, which are indicative of a garter.

But when we take a closer look at their heads, you can see even more of the characteristics that tell them apart.

As you can see, the garter snake does not have a white spot in front of its eye. And take a look at its labial scales — i.e., the scales along its upper lip: dark markings between the scales that make each scale stand out.

Yours looks like this one to me.

The ribbon snake, on the other hand, clearly has a white spot in front of its eye. (Racers also have this, by the way.) And there are no dark markings on its labial scales at all.

This does not look like yours to me.

I think that it’s their faces, more than anything else, that make it easier to tell these two species apart at a glance. After all, garters can be skinny and ribbons can get fat (or at least pregnant), and snakes can always lose parts of their tails, but garters won’t grow white spots in front of their eyes and ribbons won’t grow dark marks along their lips.



Source

[ML]

Dr. Jones, are you sure that the title shouldn't be:

"The Study and Identification of Leeches Found on Small Children After Playing in Stagnant Water"

[larryn]

Btw.. this about as random a thread as I've ever seen.

[ML]

Larry, now your going to make me go back to the cell phone source photo to see how clear the head actually is. Otherwise, I'll have to roust it out of the rhododendron in the next day or two.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by ML

Larry, now your going to make me go back to the cell phone source photo to see how clear the head actually is. Otherwise, I'll have to roust it out of the rhododendron in the next day or two.

Don't even ask why I'm rebutting, because I have no idea.

Funny, because my resident snake is living under some rhodys here too.

[ML]

Mine's burrowed into the mulch by a gutter downspout that is just behind the rhody. There's not enough detail in the source pic to see the needed detail in the head. I'll see if I can find it again in the next few days and get better evidence.

[m_thompson]

Originally Posted by ML

Would anybody like to identify this:


It has made its home in the planter box in front of my house and is very welcome to stay.

I would guess a Garder Snake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake

[amybang]

Originally Posted by larryn

Btw.. this about as random a thread as I've ever seen.

Well, that's the whole point. Good to be seeing more of you around here again, Larry.

amy!

[Rachel]

Originally Posted by amybang

Well, that's the whole point. Good to be seeing more of you around here again, Larry.

amy!

Seconded.