"Well, is he French or German?"

[learnedax]

A while back, when cat9, new_man, mermaidlady, and I went to Mexico, we saw a variety of interesting wildlife, including at one point the coral snake and the milk snake, which have very similar coloration. Our local guide explained, however, that the former was deadly poison and the latter was merely a mimic, and that their patterns of red, black, and yellow bands could

Comments

[baronessv]

And, perversely, I think that will be a lot easier for me to remember.

Me too!

your last point is germaine

[herooftheage]

So it turns out I did my Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk Louisiana, where, on the first day, a drill sergeant was telling us about the finer points of local herpetology, when one of the trainees asked what we should do if we run across one of these things.

His response: "You don't do nothin'. Only an idiot or a naturalist goes messin' around with snakes. Besides, though we give you rifles, we mostly don't give you bullets."

Re: your last point is germaine

[new_man]

"Besides, though we give you rifles, we mostly don't give you bullets."

...so beat the snake to death with the butt of your rifle, or use your bayonet. It was good enough for your granddad.

not the right tool for the job

[herooftheage]

Funny guy. I didn't see a bayonet once in my time in the military, and the M16 might as well be made by the Mattel Corporation, being made of plastic, weighing 7.8 lbs. Granddad, had he been in the military, would have used an M1 Garand, a much sturdier rifle, weighing in at 9.8 lbs. Much more useful for hand-to-hand combat, or even hand-to-slither. :)

[coraline]

awesome.

[matildalucet]

I kind of like snakes, but my rule of thumb is not to mess with any I haven't been formally introduced to. I rarely see one in the wild anyway, but if I do, I greet it kindly and respectfully and try to stay out of its way. Now if somebody has a boa that they'll let me pet, that's a different story, though I still try to be as respectful as I can manage given that I don't think like a snake.

[bluestocking]

It's moments like this that remind me why I adore you.

I can *totally* remember it this way.