>>After all, there are at least 14 common names for these creatures, all of which are based on ignorance. (Like the naming of Corn & Milk snakes, neither of which eat corn nor milk! Night Lizards are similarly misnamed; they are active during the day.)

I think the two schools of thought for naming Corns has nothing to do with what people thought they ate...but the checker pattern on the belly that looks like Indian Corn or the fact that Corns were often found near corn cribs in the early American pioneer days, catching and eating mice.

Whether ignorance comes into play or not when considering common names...I think the history of common names is neat! Common names are often a legacy of amateur naturalists and others who lived long before us, and it's cool to learn of the associations they made with animals and their habits.

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