Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Crotalus horridus -- beautiful gem from SNP this past weekend! 9-6-14

I recently read Lynne Isbell's "The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent", in which she argues that snakes (, fear of) played a major role in primate evolution, especially with respect to vision and cognition. She says the reason we see so well (in color, pattern recognition, etc.) is so snakes don't kill us dead.

One of the things she mentions is that a lot of people who have done fieldwork in snake-infested areas have similar stories: they somehow know the snake is there before they see it. It seems like magic, but really our brains are hard-wired to see snakes at a subconscious level.

It's a fascinating book -- not too long, not too technical.

Miles






On Thursday, September 11, 2014 10:51:18 AM UTC-4, Misha Gill wrote:

Once, in Central Texas, I was descending a cliff to get down to a beautiful, green-watered limestone creek. My descent involved a lot of rock hopping. Halfway down, something in me said "look before you leap." On the next ledge lay a coiled rattlesnake. Just sunbathing in the early morning. I found another path down. 

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