Posted by:
ratsnakehaven
at Wed Nov 9 10:59:29 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ratsnakehaven ]
Thanks, Rich. That was a great post.
I don't mean to beat it to death either and I thank you for responding. I'm doing the literature search because I had a point too which has been discounted considerably, as well as Phil's yesterday. I just wanted to make the citations, so people don't say we're making up this stuff. We are used to not seeing snakes for much of the winter. It takes time to change a mindset, especially for someone not experiencing other environments. Now, I'll say you AZ guys are educating us. What you are saying is pointing us in a new direction.
I understand what you're saying about snakes being active at 50-60*F, and if these temps are maintained and the snakes are healthy, I agree. I don't have any snakes that can digest at those temps, they need higher temps to do that, but I'm sure the AZ snakes can find higher temps too. In AZ I'm sure some are active and some not all winter. But here in MI, or WI, I'm not sure snakes can find places that are that warm. When the ground is frozen three ft. deep, I'm not sure there is a warm spot (50-60*). I'm not sure they can go deeper than a set number of feet that has to do with cracks or burrows. And even if they were active at those temps, how long would it be before they starve, if they couldn't digest? These are questions I'm struggling with right now.
Rich, don't think I don't believe what you guys are saying. The struggle is in getting to that higher plateau of understanding, consciousness, if you will. Think like a snake. I'm going to get to the best situation I can in winter and do what I need to do. In AZ that might mean I might be moving around looking for others of my kind. In MI I might be with others of my kind, but I might not be doing much. Sometimes I would say I'm active, but other times I would say I'm resting and not doing anything, including metabolizing. I might be active if I was moving around in my den. Other times I might stay in the same spot for months not doing anything except breathing...extreme conservation.
Thanks guys...TC
PS: We are bound by old, outdated thoughts, if that's all we have to go by. That's why we always need teachers and learners, so we can keep moving forward 
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RE: couple thoughts..... - ratsnakehaven, Wed Nov 9 10:59:29 2005