>>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.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - Ameron, Tue Oct 28 23:36:06 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - Evil_Hybrid, Wed Oct 29 10:10:21 2008
• Reply - Ameron, Wed Oct 29 10:41:37 2008
• RE: Reply - Elaphefan, Wed Oct 29 18:39:54 2008
• RE: Reply - draybar, Wed Oct 29 19:50:02 2008
• RE: Reply - Evil_Hybrid, Thu Oct 30 04:49:49 2008
• RE: Reply - Trolligans, Thu Oct 30 09:45:24 2008
• They are Tree Snakes? - jyohe, Wed Oct 29 20:33:29 2008
• timing........ - jyohe, Wed Oct 29 20:48:09 2008
• RE: They are Tree Snakes? - jhnscrg, Thu Oct 30 19:14:15 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - tbrock, Wed Oct 29 21:47:45 2008
• Great Reply, Thanks - Ameron, Thu Oct 30 13:26:34 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - dustyrhoads, Wed Oct 29 23:03:16 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - tbrock, Thu Oct 30 06:55:20 2008
• common names' history - dustyrhoads, Wed Oct 29 23:13:36 2008
• Good Points, and Interesting - Ameron, Thu Oct 30 13:28:14 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - tspuckler, Thu Oct 30 08:33:41 2008
• RE: Not Rat Snakes; They are Tree Snakes - jhnscrg, Thu Oct 30 19:10:44 2008
• Ground snakes - guttersnacks, Fri Oct 31 00:12:33 2008
• How Often Do You Hunt In Trees? - Ameron, Sat Nov 1 11:48:17 2008
• RE: How Often Do You Hunt In Trees? - draybar, Sat Nov 1 14:18:53 2008
• RE: How Often Do You Hunt In Trees? - draybar, Sat Nov 1 14:20:48 2008
• And Kingsnakes don't wear crowns.... - garweft, Sun Nov 2 14:40:28 2008
• RE: And Kingsnakes don't wear crowns.... - orangudan, Mon Nov 24 21:54:44 2008