Posted by:
Doug T
at Fri Jul 31 00:42:22 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Doug T ]
Let's not forget to mention that the Universe is at least 14 billion years old, Earth is at least 4 billion years old and Archaen life existed around 3.5 Billion years ago.
That is unless you live on the event horizon of a black hole. Then all this has happened in the last second.
Doug T
>>Chuck,
>>
>>You're conclusions are based on a limited sample. You're assuming all timbers from NY are small, which is not even remotely close to the truth. The average timber is typically over 3ft and males are typically closer to 4-4.5ft. Even some of the Adirondack populations contain larger specimens. It appears to be more related to level of protection and the age of the snake than anything. Fortunately, NY snakes have been able to attain larger sizes since they were legally protected back in the early 80s (Bill Brown has documented this in his studies, that the overall length and weight of timbers has increased----he even had one tracked for over 30 years!)
>>
>>This isn't limited to timbers. We've found hognose snakes well over 40inches as well, so while common sense may say "Colder climate, shorter active season, smaller snake"....that's not the case.
>>
>>Matt
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RE: Good question. - Doug T, Fri Jul 31 00:42:22 2009