1 00:00:02,359 --> 00:00:02,759 Strange, 2 00:00:03,399 --> 00:00:03,899 animals, 3 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:05,400 podcast podcasts. 4 00:00:07,655 --> 00:00:08,155 Welcome 5 00:00:08,535 --> 00:00:10,474 to strain animals podcast. 6 00:00:11,335 --> 00:00:13,335 I'm your host, Kate Shaw. 7 00:00:13,974 --> 00:00:16,699 After today, the next 4 weeks will be 8 00:00:16,699 --> 00:00:18,230 all about invert 9 00:00:18,602 --> 00:00:20,371 or animals without a backbone 10 00:00:20,822 --> 00:00:23,043 because it's almost invert, August. 11 00:00:23,613 --> 00:00:26,160 But this week, let's learn about some animals 12 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,707 that are basically nothing but backbone bones. 13 00:00:29,423 --> 00:00:29,821 Snakes. 14 00:00:30,458 --> 00:00:33,340 Thanks to Ai, blue the chicken wing and 15 00:00:33,579 --> 00:00:36,159 Richard from North Carolina for their suggestions. 16 00:00:36,939 --> 00:00:39,979 Also, if you like enamel pins even slightly 17 00:00:39,979 --> 00:00:42,250 as much as I do I'm starting a 18 00:00:42,307 --> 00:00:43,977 kickstarter in a few weeks to make some 19 00:00:43,977 --> 00:00:45,965 more. These will be bigger than the ones 20 00:00:46,045 --> 00:00:47,953 I made a few years ago and we'll 21 00:00:47,953 --> 00:00:49,090 include an eye. 22 00:00:49,639 --> 00:00:51,633 Where else are you gonna get an eye 23 00:00:51,633 --> 00:00:53,388 and I'm will pin. There's a link in 24 00:00:53,388 --> 00:00:54,903 the show notes if you want to sign 25 00:00:54,903 --> 00:00:57,477 up for an email reminder when the campaign 26 00:00:57,535 --> 00:00:59,130 goes alive in mid August. 27 00:01:00,023 --> 00:01:02,574 Anyway, let's start with Snake island. 28 00:01:03,212 --> 00:01:04,328 Suggested by Ai. 29 00:01:04,966 --> 00:01:07,358 Snake island is off the coast of Brazil 30 00:01:07,358 --> 00:01:10,796 in South America. And it's quite small, only 31 00:01:10,796 --> 00:01:11,989 about 106 32 00:01:11,989 --> 00:01:14,637 acres total or 43 hectares 33 00:01:15,251 --> 00:01:17,498 in hill and a little over half of 34 00:01:17,498 --> 00:01:19,673 it is covered with a temperate rainforest. 35 00:01:20,210 --> 00:01:22,763 While the rest is grass or just bare 36 00:01:22,763 --> 00:01:23,082 rocks. 37 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,888 No 1 lives there these days, and it's 38 00:01:25,888 --> 00:01:28,920 a protected area the only scientists are allowed 39 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,233 to visit. With the exception of members of 40 00:01:31,233 --> 00:01:34,909 the Brazilian navy who occasionally stop by to 41 00:01:34,909 --> 00:01:38,404 maintain the lighthouse that keeps ships from smashing 42 00:01:38,404 --> 00:01:39,516 into the Rocky coast. 43 00:01:40,088 --> 00:01:42,154 Lots of birds live on the island or 44 00:01:42,154 --> 00:01:44,777 visit there, but other than that, it's mostly 45 00:01:44,777 --> 00:01:45,572 just snakes. 46 00:01:46,764 --> 00:01:47,241 Specifically, 47 00:01:47,573 --> 00:01:51,218 The critically endangered golden Lance ted pit viper 48 00:01:51,218 --> 00:01:53,833 lives on Snake island and nowhere else in 49 00:01:53,833 --> 00:01:54,387 the world. 50 00:01:54,958 --> 00:01:57,425 It can grow nearly 4 feet long, or 51 00:01:57,425 --> 00:01:58,539 118 52 00:01:58,539 --> 00:01:59,039 centimeters, 53 00:01:59,574 --> 00:02:02,200 and is pale gold or golden brown in 54 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:03,871 color with darker sp. 55 00:02:04,444 --> 00:02:07,953 It's also incredibly venom, but no 1 has 56 00:02:07,953 --> 00:02:10,186 ever been bitten by 1 as far as 57 00:02:10,186 --> 00:02:13,376 we know. If somehow you were bitten by 58 00:02:13,376 --> 00:02:15,879 1 It probably wouldn't be a pleasant 59 00:02:16,253 --> 00:02:19,590 situation, but you also probably wouldn't die. That's 60 00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:22,292 mainly because the Golden Lance heads venom is 61 00:02:22,292 --> 00:02:24,540 a adapt did to kill birds and reptile, 62 00:02:24,859 --> 00:02:27,811 not mammals. And that's because there are no 63 00:02:27,811 --> 00:02:29,885 mammals living on Snake island. 64 00:02:30,536 --> 00:02:32,835 The golden lance head spends most of its 65 00:02:32,835 --> 00:02:35,531 time in trees or bushes hunting for birds. 66 00:02:36,086 --> 00:02:37,696 It mainly eats 2 67 00:02:38,401 --> 00:02:40,546 species of small bird that live on the 68 00:02:40,546 --> 00:02:43,167 island. Although it will also eat other birds, 69 00:02:43,564 --> 00:02:46,027 lizards, and invert like insects. 70 00:02:46,757 --> 00:02:49,382 Some reports say it will even eat smaller 71 00:02:49,382 --> 00:02:52,405 golden lance heads. There's another snake that lives 72 00:02:52,405 --> 00:02:53,303 on the island 73 00:02:53,693 --> 00:02:56,560 salvage snail eater, and the Golden Lance ted 74 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,869 might occasionally stack on 1 of those. 75 00:02:59,427 --> 00:03:02,077 The snail eater is also present on Mainland 76 00:03:02,310 --> 00:03:03,830 Brazil and isn't venom. 77 00:03:04,389 --> 00:03:07,110 You can probably guess that it mainly eats 78 00:03:07,110 --> 00:03:07,430 snails. 79 00:03:07,990 --> 00:03:10,884 It's small and thin lives in trees and 80 00:03:10,884 --> 00:03:13,920 is brownish yellow with darker stripes and sp. 81 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,297 The issue with snake island and its snakes 82 00:03:17,436 --> 00:03:20,009 is that there isn't that much land available 83 00:03:20,009 --> 00:03:22,090 for the snakes to live on, and the 84 00:03:22,090 --> 00:03:24,810 forest has been damaged by human activity. 85 00:03:25,289 --> 00:03:28,090 Big chunks of forest were cleared by fire 86 00:03:28,090 --> 00:03:30,891 when people decided to try growing bananas on 87 00:03:30,891 --> 00:03:33,911 the island, which didn't work very well. No 88 00:03:33,911 --> 00:03:37,171 1 lives there now, but poach do occasionally 89 00:03:37,171 --> 00:03:39,898 visit the island to catch snakes for the 90 00:03:39,898 --> 00:03:43,334 illegal wildlife trade. The golden Lance head is 91 00:03:43,334 --> 00:03:45,651 starting to show signs of in breeding and 92 00:03:45,651 --> 00:03:46,850 disease as a result. 93 00:03:47,344 --> 00:03:50,056 As if that wasn't bad enough, because the 94 00:03:50,056 --> 00:03:51,970 island is so close to the coast of 95 00:03:52,289 --> 00:03:55,479 Brazil and Mainland Brazil has its own problems 96 00:03:55,479 --> 00:03:55,979 with 97 00:03:56,676 --> 00:03:59,792 deforestation, Fewer birds are migrating through the area 98 00:03:59,792 --> 00:04:02,812 every year. That means fewer birds stop at 99 00:04:02,812 --> 00:04:05,434 snake island and the snakes have less to 100 00:04:05,434 --> 00:04:05,672 eat. 101 00:04:06,403 --> 00:04:09,024 Some reports claim that the island is so 102 00:04:09,024 --> 00:04:11,804 over overrun by snakes that you'd encounter 1 103 00:04:11,804 --> 00:04:14,346 with every step if you visited, but that's 104 00:04:14,346 --> 00:04:15,617 not actually true. 105 00:04:16,188 --> 00:04:19,051 The snakes don't live everywhere, and they spend 106 00:04:19,051 --> 00:04:20,641 almost all their time in trees. 107 00:04:21,198 --> 00:04:25,515 Recent studies estimate that around 2000 to 4000 108 00:04:25,572 --> 00:04:28,133 snakes live on the island, which sounds like 109 00:04:28,133 --> 00:04:30,362 a lot until you remember that these are 110 00:04:30,362 --> 00:04:32,988 the only golden lance heads in the whole 111 00:04:32,988 --> 00:04:33,306 world. 112 00:04:33,879 --> 00:04:34,379 Fortunately, 113 00:04:34,994 --> 00:04:37,303 rumors that anyone who sets foot on the 114 00:04:37,303 --> 00:04:39,533 island is at risk of being bitten and 115 00:04:39,533 --> 00:04:42,400 dying horribly from the Golden Lance heads venom. 116 00:04:42,814 --> 00:04:45,469 Keep a lot of people away. A captive 117 00:04:45,527 --> 00:04:48,639 breeding program in Sao paulo, Brazil is also 118 00:04:48,639 --> 00:04:50,076 working to help the snakes. 119 00:04:50,808 --> 00:04:53,035 The golden lance head is a type of 120 00:04:53,035 --> 00:04:56,376 pit viper, closely related to other pit viper 121 00:04:56,376 --> 00:04:57,251 found in Brazil. 122 00:04:57,824 --> 00:05:00,625 Its ancestors were trapped on the island when 123 00:05:00,625 --> 00:05:02,705 ocean levels rose at the end of the 124 00:05:02,705 --> 00:05:05,185 p scene around 11000 125 00:05:05,185 --> 00:05:08,304 years ago. And it's been evolving separately ever 126 00:05:08,304 --> 00:05:08,622 since. 127 00:05:09,338 --> 00:05:12,120 Species in the genus both reps are also 128 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,997 called fe snakes. And that brings us to 129 00:05:14,997 --> 00:05:17,620 our next suggestion from blue the chicken wing. 130 00:05:18,018 --> 00:05:18,518 What 131 00:05:18,892 --> 00:05:19,210 name? 132 00:05:19,925 --> 00:05:22,151 Blew the chicken wing left us a nice 133 00:05:22,151 --> 00:05:24,959 review a while back. And made 2 suggestions, 134 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,000 1 of which is the fair alliance. Fair 135 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,500 alliance is a french term meaning spear 136 00:05:30,879 --> 00:05:33,920 or Lance had as in golden lance head. 137 00:05:34,397 --> 00:05:37,175 The golden lance head belongs to the genus 138 00:05:37,175 --> 00:05:40,033 both reps, pit viper that are found throughout 139 00:05:40,033 --> 00:05:42,837 much of central and America, as well as 140 00:05:42,837 --> 00:05:44,276 some Caribbean islands. 141 00:05:44,835 --> 00:05:46,992 We're only going to talk about 1 other 142 00:05:46,992 --> 00:05:49,642 species of fair alliance this week, though. Both 143 00:05:49,642 --> 00:05:50,619 reps Lance, 144 00:05:51,391 --> 00:05:54,572 also called the Martini glance head. It too 145 00:05:54,572 --> 00:05:56,878 lives on an island. In this case, the 146 00:05:57,037 --> 00:05:58,969 Caribbean island of Martini 147 00:05:59,678 --> 00:06:02,071 The martin glance head can grow up to 148 00:06:02,071 --> 00:06:04,224 5 feet long or 1 and a half 149 00:06:04,224 --> 00:06:05,761 meters with un 150 00:06:06,378 --> 00:06:08,771 reports of individuals twice that length. 151 00:06:09,343 --> 00:06:12,040 It's light brown with darker speck and a 152 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,371 pale belly. It lives in forest areas and 153 00:06:15,371 --> 00:06:18,009 spends most of its time hidden. Waiting for 154 00:06:18,009 --> 00:06:21,205 an animal to happen by, then it strikes. 155 00:06:21,765 --> 00:06:24,002 It eats pretty much anything it can catch, 156 00:06:24,641 --> 00:06:28,165 including frogs and rats. Bats and birds, rabbits, 157 00:06:28,483 --> 00:06:32,065 lizards, other snakes, and even large insect. 158 00:06:32,622 --> 00:06:35,328 Its venom isn't as potent as the golden 159 00:06:35,408 --> 00:06:38,227 Lance heads but it's still dangerous to humans 160 00:06:38,442 --> 00:06:40,292 and unlike the golden Lance, 161 00:06:40,665 --> 00:06:43,683 it can and does occasionally bite people. 162 00:06:44,334 --> 00:06:47,048 The Martini glance had is in danger due 163 00:06:47,048 --> 00:06:48,805 to habitat loss and poaching. 164 00:06:49,283 --> 00:06:51,838 People are naturally afraid of the snake and 165 00:06:51,838 --> 00:06:54,089 we'll kill it when they can. When all 166 00:06:54,089 --> 00:06:56,410 at wants is to be left alone to 167 00:06:56,410 --> 00:06:59,209 eat animals like rats and other snakes that 168 00:06:59,209 --> 00:07:00,569 people don't want around either. 169 00:07:01,063 --> 00:07:04,082 Hospitals in Martin Inc, keep anti and in 170 00:07:04,082 --> 00:07:06,465 stock to treat the 20 or 30 people 171 00:07:06,465 --> 00:07:08,769 who are bitten by a fair alliance every 172 00:07:08,769 --> 00:07:09,007 year. 173 00:07:09,579 --> 00:07:13,086 Most people are fine after receiving treatment, but 174 00:07:13,086 --> 00:07:15,239 those who can't get to the hospital in 175 00:07:15,239 --> 00:07:17,312 time more who try to treat the bite 176 00:07:17,312 --> 00:07:19,163 at home. Sometimes die. 177 00:07:19,802 --> 00:07:22,679 The martini lance head gives birth to live 178 00:07:22,679 --> 00:07:25,236 young as is the case for other freighter 179 00:07:25,236 --> 00:07:25,875 land snakes. 180 00:07:26,448 --> 00:07:29,157 The eggs remain inside the mother until the 181 00:07:29,157 --> 00:07:32,104 baby's hatch, at which point the mother delivers 182 00:07:32,104 --> 00:07:34,414 them and they slit their away to live 183 00:07:34,414 --> 00:07:35,052 on their own. 184 00:07:36,024 --> 00:07:39,225 Speaking of snakes having babies, let's finish with 185 00:07:39,225 --> 00:07:41,725 a suggestion by Richard from North Carolina 186 00:07:42,185 --> 00:07:44,185 who sent me an article that was only 187 00:07:44,185 --> 00:07:47,456 published Literally 2 days ago as this episode 188 00:07:47,456 --> 00:07:48,328 goes live. 189 00:07:48,883 --> 00:07:50,787 This is not about a snake that lives 190 00:07:50,787 --> 00:07:53,590 on an island, but it's so interesting I 191 00:07:53,590 --> 00:07:56,882 wanted to include it. It's about the Louisiana 192 00:07:57,021 --> 00:07:59,175 pine snake, which is not venom, 193 00:07:59,589 --> 00:08:01,899 but which is 1 of the rarest snakes 194 00:08:01,899 --> 00:08:03,094 in North America. 195 00:08:03,651 --> 00:08:06,223 The pine snake is a type of constrict 196 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,241 and like other constrict it can grow, quite 197 00:08:09,241 --> 00:08:10,772 large. The largest 198 00:08:11,224 --> 00:08:14,079 individual ever reliably measured was over 5 and 199 00:08:14,079 --> 00:08:16,380 a half feet long or 1.8 200 00:08:16,380 --> 00:08:16,697 meters, 201 00:08:17,347 --> 00:08:19,892 It's 10 or yellowish in color with a 202 00:08:19,892 --> 00:08:21,085 darker brown pattern. 203 00:08:21,641 --> 00:08:24,345 It lives in open pine forests and grass 204 00:08:24,345 --> 00:08:25,776 lands in parts of Western 205 00:08:26,254 --> 00:08:26,651 Louisiana, 206 00:08:27,144 --> 00:08:29,778 andes east Texas, but even when it wasn't 207 00:08:29,778 --> 00:08:33,131 so rare, hardly anyone ever saw 1 because 208 00:08:33,131 --> 00:08:35,706 it spends most of its time underground 209 00:08:36,098 --> 00:08:38,642 It's specialized to eat a little rodent called 210 00:08:38,802 --> 00:08:41,903 Baird pocket Gop. And when it's not actually 211 00:08:41,903 --> 00:08:44,209 hunting the gop, it hangs out in the 212 00:08:44,288 --> 00:08:45,402 Gop old burrows. 213 00:08:45,893 --> 00:08:48,827 To stay cool and safe. In winter, it 214 00:08:48,827 --> 00:08:51,681 hi in a gop burrow, and there's nothing 215 00:08:51,681 --> 00:08:54,235 that Gop can do about that to Baird 216 00:08:54,235 --> 00:08:56,305 pocket go for looks a little bit like 217 00:08:56,305 --> 00:08:58,851 a small guinea pig because of its large 218 00:08:58,851 --> 00:09:02,114 head, tiny ears and eyes, chunky body, and 219 00:09:02,114 --> 00:09:02,751 short legs. 220 00:09:03,324 --> 00:09:05,556 It has long claws that help it dig 221 00:09:05,556 --> 00:09:08,028 rapidly in the sandy ground it prefers. 222 00:09:08,586 --> 00:09:11,456 While the Louisiana pines think mostly eats the 223 00:09:11,456 --> 00:09:14,529 gop It will also be other small animals 224 00:09:14,669 --> 00:09:17,389 like frogs, rabbits, and bird eggs when it 225 00:09:17,389 --> 00:09:20,370 finds them. The snake is threatened by habitat 226 00:09:20,509 --> 00:09:20,750 loss. 227 00:09:21,401 --> 00:09:23,942 Especially the problem of roads being built through 228 00:09:23,942 --> 00:09:24,760 its habitat. 229 00:09:25,213 --> 00:09:27,199 A lot of snakes are killed by cars 230 00:09:27,199 --> 00:09:28,866 while trying to cross the road, 231 00:09:29,439 --> 00:09:32,076 Since the snake usually only lays a few 232 00:09:32,076 --> 00:09:35,032 eggs a year, rarely more than 5, it's 233 00:09:35,032 --> 00:09:36,950 hard for populations to grow. 234 00:09:37,601 --> 00:09:38,101 Fortunately, 235 00:09:38,632 --> 00:09:40,560 the Memphis zoo in Tennessee 236 00:09:40,933 --> 00:09:44,265 is headquarters for a careful captive breeding program 237 00:09:44,265 --> 00:09:47,065 of the pine snake. And a few days 238 00:09:47,065 --> 00:09:49,858 ago, a baby snake hatched and is doing 239 00:09:49,858 --> 00:09:52,490 great. Hopefully, more will hatch soon. 240 00:09:52,984 --> 00:09:55,218 The babies will be cared for until they're 241 00:09:55,218 --> 00:09:57,692 big enough to be safe for most predators, 242 00:09:58,011 --> 00:10:00,325 and then they'll be released into the wild. 243 00:10:00,977 --> 00:10:04,471 So far, around 300 captive born snakes have 244 00:10:04,471 --> 00:10:05,901 been released into the wild, 245 00:10:06,536 --> 00:10:09,969 increasing the Louisiana pine snakes, chance for long 246 00:10:09,969 --> 00:10:11,005 term survival. 247 00:10:11,881 --> 00:10:14,133 You can find strange animals podcast 248 00:10:14,509 --> 00:10:17,695 at strange animals podcast dot blueberry dot net. 249 00:10:18,189 --> 00:10:20,104 That's blueberry without any ease. 250 00:10:20,662 --> 00:10:21,859 If you have questions, 251 00:10:22,258 --> 00:10:25,130 comments, or suggestions for future episodes, 252 00:10:25,703 --> 00:10:27,954 email us at strange animals podcast 253 00:10:28,330 --> 00:10:31,276 at gmail dot com. We also have a 254 00:10:31,276 --> 00:10:35,032 patreon at patreon dot com slash strange animals 255 00:10:35,032 --> 00:10:35,532 podcast. 256 00:10:35,908 --> 00:10:37,659 If you'd like to support us for as 257 00:10:37,659 --> 00:10:39,887 little as 1 dollar a month and get 258 00:10:39,887 --> 00:10:42,934 monthly bonus episodes. Thanks for listening. 259 00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:48,513 But you also probably wouldn't die. I mean, 260 00:10:49,471 --> 00:10:51,865 maybe you would die. Let's not find out.