William Pitt insults my pet kingsnakes, Aragorn and Arwen

[Ladyhawk]

I found this statement at truthout.org in William Pitt's editorial:

"Never mind that the Iraqi seat was filled at the United Nations by none other than the crawling kingsnake himself, Ahmad Chalabi."

I demand that you apologize to kingsnakes everywhere for using this comparison.

Here's Aragorn. Kiss him on the lips and say you're sorry.

[Ladyhawk]

1. Alas, another insult from the same article!

"The pitch and tenor of Bush's speech was not aimed at that body. It was directed at the mainstream American media, whose reporting on these matters has been about as sharp as a sack of wet mice."

I demand that you apologize to the sack of icy-wet mice in my freezer. To compare them with the media's reporting since Bush took power...that's a low blow, man. It's enough to make even dead mice take offense.

What other items in my household will you insult by comparing them to members of the Bush Regime and their lackeys? Must I read the whole article in order to find out???

[Ladyhawk]

2. I think people with cats may want to have a look at this.

"The Iraq-9/11 connection has been so thoroughly debunked that Bush himself was forced recently to publicly denounce it, while claiming shock that anyone would think he'd try to make such a connection. Yet there he stood before the judgment of the world, coughing up the same old hairball on their carpet."

[Cappurr]

7. HAIRBALL. Now Will is in for it

http://www.mycathatesyou.com/newlist.asp?CatName=barnacle_120802

But ladyhawke.....altho your snake is beautiful.....I'm glad he is yours. lol

[Darranar]

3. LOL!

It's a clear-cut insult to kingsnakes everywhere! We must stop Will Pitt's unfair categorizing!

[wtmusic]

4. On the lips?!

For a remark like that, he better kiss him on the butt!

(Oh yeah, he doesn't have one of those, either!)

[Padraig18]

5. *smooch*

I didn't insult him, but I LOVE king snakes, so I just HAD to kiss him anyway! God's teeth, he's GORGEOUS, Ladyhawk! :P

[WilliamPitt]

6. I abase myself before your crawling kingsnakes

The mice and the hairballs are pretty much on their own, though.

:)

[Ladyhawk]

13. I'll inform my bag of frozen mice of your decision.

I don't think they'll be too happy.

If I also owned a cat that coughed up hairballs, I might have had to challenge you to a duel.

[Zuni]

15. My cat puked up a hairball last night

and I would like to report to Mr. Pitt that I am duly offended.

[10digits]

8. Wow!

Your snake looks like an accesory on the fashion runnway. Livebelts or something.

Will was kind,he should have said cobras or sidewinders.

[WilliamPitt]

9. 'Crawling Kingsnake'

is a famous old blues reference.

[Darth_Kitten]

10. I'll play mediator here....

LadyHawk, your pet snakes are cute....and WilliamPitt knows the blues so you both are pretty cool. :evilgrin: :thumbsup:

;)

[Zuni]

14. John Lee Hooker

has a song called Crawling Kingsnake.

I love John Lee Hooker.RIP

[Ilsa]

11. That's the clearest picture of a kingsnake

I've seen in awhile, although the yellow is a little whited out.

My mother in law recently saw a snake, and she thought it was a king, but when she described it I told her it was a coral snake (very dangerous). She said the red was touching the yellow ("red on yellow, kill a fellow"), it was small (typical for coral) and had emerged after a day of rain.

Kingsnakes are our friends, Will!

Aragorn is lovely.

[Ladyhawk]

12. Actually, Aragorn's bands are whitish. (warning: pics)

They're almost cream, but mostly white. His wife, Arwen, has even whiter bands. I'm pretty sure most Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana are close to white. (After a quick look, I found a couple of that have pale yellow bands, but most have cream or white.) There is a color phase of scarlet kingsnake that has bright yellow bands. I believe those specimens are found in Florida and they look an awfully lot like coral snakes. Red on black, venom lack. (Just remember, this doesn't hold true in some Central and South American countries. I've seen coral snakes from these countries with white bands and others with red on black. The rhyme is good for the US, though.

It's a good thing coral snakes are usually pretty mellow because they pack a wallop.

In places, Arwen's white "bands" look like letters. Have a look at this:



She has a "U" on the back third of her body. It's filled in with black. Mid-body you can read the message, "Hi." Then toward her front half, you can plainly see "U" "Lambda." I think she's calling me a dyke. Not very PC, is it? ;)

BTW, Aragorn's "red" bands are more orangish. Arwen's are more "reddish." Both snakes are an attempt to breed away from black bands that get wider dorsally. In such snakes, the black bands connect and the red is in the shape of a triangle on each side of the snake. They're still very pretty.

Aragorn's black bands are very narrow. He's a top specimen. Here's a more typical-looking Arizona:



Here's one that I believe has the gene for hypomelanism. Hypo = less. Melanism = black. What you get is a beautiful mostly red and white creature. I think the guy that bred these calls them Applegate Arizona Mt. Kingsnakes. And I bet they cost a LOT of money.

[Ladyhawk]

16. Gratuitous, Shameless Kick :D

:kick:

[blondeatlast]

20. Glad I'm not the only one guilty of this shameless practice . . .

I kick for myself all the time!

[Lisa]

17. snakes are nowhere near as slimy as Chalabi!

I've handled lots of snakes ... even the ones that give off scents when they're upset don't leave the kind of stink associated with this administration's cronies.

I guess I would have to touch Chalabi too just to be sure ... but somehow that's not high on my list of priorities right now.


p.s. I dropped a (partly frozen) wet rat on my foot once, when I was fetching the owls' dinner at the wildlife clinic -- it left a bruise. So wet rodents CAN be somewhat sharp. But I do back Will up on the "hairball" analogy .... looking at one of those gives me the exact same queasy feeling as listening to a Bush speech.

[northofdenali]

18. What a gorgeous snake!

How long is s/he?

[blondeatlast]

19. Just as long as he doesn't compare them to Newts!

Couldn't resist.

[KittyWampus]

21. Ladyhawk, How Did You Come To Own Snakes?

Perhaps a facination from childhood, or did you see one somewheres and decide they "were for you"
or maybe someone bequeathed one to you?

Hope it's okay I asked... my 2 young kitties are the result of a preganant feral cat whom I captured for the local animal recue group.... some of the kittens were sick and I brought them home to get them well and ended up keeping two.

I never knew anyone who had snakes before and curious how they respond to human interaction...