Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Grammy60]

This is from last night Thought this was pretty neat!!

 

[BY Bob]

This is from last night Thought this was pretty neat!!

View attachment 2400989

That is amazing! Beautiful. Don't miss this one @Ribh

 

[Grammy60]

That is amazing! Beautiful. Don't miss this one @Ribh

Thank you every once in a while nature shares its beauty with me !! I looked out the window last night and saw this and wobbled out to get the pictures

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you every once in a while nature shares its beauty with me !! I looked out the window last night and saw this and wobbled out to get the pictures

Any good mischief done yesterday?

 

[Grammy60]

Any good mischief done yesterday?

Regrettably no I'll try harder today

 

[BY Bob]

Regrettably no I'll try harder today

There you go.

 

[Grammy60]

There you go.

What about you?? How did it go yesterday

 

[BY Bob]

What about you?? How did it go yesterday

Yesterday went very well thank you for asking. I caused some trouble in a meeting but we are mostly on track now. Finally moving forward in a constructive fashion.

 

[Kris5902]

Wow! Thanks everyone for bearing with me last night... that was all exhaustion and autocorrect errors, believe it or not.

Yes, platypus is crazy venomous... and yes, it’s the spur things on its flipper or whatever it has at the back end.

I guess maybe what I meant to ask is if there are varying levels of venomous. Can an animal be more or less venomous? It seems more like the venom is more or less toxic, if that makes sense. I am not clear on whether an animal with highly toxic venom is “more venomous” than an animal with mildly toxic venom?

Yes! There are varying levels of toxicity in different animals, and also different ways in which it effects the bitten (hopefully a prey item!) animal or person. Some venoms interact primarily with the nervous system, others on the heart and cardiovascular system. There are also venoms that work on a molecular level destroying the area around the bite. It’s quite fascinating, and these different qualities are what makes venom so useful in medications. Some venoms act in multiple ways at once as well.

Toxicity is measured by LD50, the lethal dose required for to kill 50% of the subjects in a test group. Another factor is the amount of venom injected at a bite, some snakes deliver a large amount, whereas others inject just a few drops. Rattlesnakes, and most other vipers, tend to inject fairly large amounts of venom, whereas the coral snake injects far less, but is still quite lethal. And something else super fascinating that has been happening, with climate change effecting the ranges of snakes, is different species of rattlesnakes are now interbreeding and this is effecting the qualities of the venom in the hybrid offspring. Australian snakes are primarily Elapids, with neurotoxic venoms, if I recall correctly.

 

[BY Bob]

Wow! Thanks everyone for bearing with me last night... that was all exhaustion and autocorrect errors, believe it or not.

Yes! There are varying levels of toxicity in different animals, and also different ways in which it effects the bitten (hopefully a prey item!) animal or person. Some venoms interact primarily with the nervous system, others on the heart and cardiovascular system. There are also venoms that work on a molecular level destroying the area around the bite. It’s quite fascinating, and these different qualities are what makes venom so useful in medications. Some venoms act in multiple ways at once as well.

Toxicity is measured by LD50, the lethal dose required for to kill 50% of the subjects in a test group. Another factor is the amount of venom injected at a bite, some snakes deliver a large amount, whereas others inject just a few drops. Rattlesnakes, and most other vipers, tend to inject fairly large amounts of venom, whereas the coral snake injects far less, but is still quite lethal. And something else super fascinating that has been happening, with climate change effecting the ranges of snakes, is different species of rattlesnakes are now interbreeding and this is effecting the qualities of the venom in the hybrid offspring. Australian snakes are primarily Elapids, with neurotoxic venoms, if I recall correctly.

Wow. That is fascinating! Great info Kris.