SODERBERGD
Active member
I never thought the Palmetto was a rat snake . . .
For the record, Cornmorphs, I ALWAYS thought it was a corn. It bred to a corn in just a few minutes, when first introduced. Often, it can take hours or days for a corn to breed a rat snake, if you don't play the usual sniff and swap games to get them aroused. As closely related as Corns and Black Rat Snakes are, it's amazingly difficult to get them to marry sometimes. The usual pre-conjugal tactic is to put a male and female rat snake together at the same time you put a male and female corn together. Once the romance reaches a point of mutual consent, you swap males. They are so aroused, some would breed a long lizard. When Daryl put the male Palmetto with a corn, they locked up very quickly, with no hesitations. If that was not a good sign, babies only weighing only 4 grams certainly is compelling. And so on, and so on. I really can't think of one single contentious test result that pointed to him being a rat snake. I never once doubted his species, but in so much as several Europeans (and Americans) were challenging me, I was obligated to do as many key comparisons as possible. If I'm 99% certain (and that would be a fair percentage of my belief), the last 1% will be cinched by the final test I have in store for them this year. AND I'm only doing that to lay to rest all the speculations of non-legitimacy. I had to really reach and dream to come up with this last test, and I seriously doubt who there is a single other snake breeder in the world that would have thought of it. The test I will perform this breeding season is one that scientists of yesteryear would never have done, since most of their taxonomy was based on evaluations of preserved specimens. Certainly that was the case in the 1700s when it was not easy (if possible at all) to keep snakes alive on the boat trip from North America to European museums.
Suffice to say, most evaluators would be completely satisfied by the findings already described, but for that last one percent, I'm piling on one more fact/comparison. If that is not enough for the nay-sayers (and there are ALWAYS some people who challenge every large or small evidence), they'll just have to be in that group of snake keepers who will never own a Palmetto.
I'm not saying that you are in that minute percentage, but I wanted to let you know that I have NO reservations about the taxonomy of the Palmetto. It appears that people who cannot see it in person - and/or believe that it looks too bazaar to be a corn - may not ever agree with our findings. That is their prerogative, but if they base their judgement on the absence of recognizable markings and colors, they had better be prepared for some of the genetic mutations yet to be demonstrated. There seems to be no end to the varieties of mutations, as evidenced by the almost surreal appearance of the Palmetto. Even if this were a rat snake (and I seriously doubt anyone would challenge the Palmetto, were that to be the reality), it is like no other serpent I've ever seen, and therefore non-assignable to ANY other serpent species, on the basis of color and pattern (or lack of pattern). The closest reptile mutation I've seen to this one is that of a Crested Gecko that looks shockingly like the Palmetto (in the realm of color and pattern). Meet me here in 1,000 years so we can both be amused by the shocking quantity, degrees, and variations of serpent mutations. That is, if this planet is still habitable in 1,000 years??
For the record, Cornmorphs, I ALWAYS thought it was a corn. It bred to a corn in just a few minutes, when first introduced. Often, it can take hours or days for a corn to breed a rat snake, if you don't play the usual sniff and swap games to get them aroused. As closely related as Corns and Black Rat Snakes are, it's amazingly difficult to get them to marry sometimes. The usual pre-conjugal tactic is to put a male and female rat snake together at the same time you put a male and female corn together. Once the romance reaches a point of mutual consent, you swap males. They are so aroused, some would breed a long lizard. When Daryl put the male Palmetto with a corn, they locked up very quickly, with no hesitations. If that was not a good sign, babies only weighing only 4 grams certainly is compelling. And so on, and so on. I really can't think of one single contentious test result that pointed to him being a rat snake. I never once doubted his species, but in so much as several Europeans (and Americans) were challenging me, I was obligated to do as many key comparisons as possible. If I'm 99% certain (and that would be a fair percentage of my belief), the last 1% will be cinched by the final test I have in store for them this year. AND I'm only doing that to lay to rest all the speculations of non-legitimacy. I had to really reach and dream to come up with this last test, and I seriously doubt who there is a single other snake breeder in the world that would have thought of it. The test I will perform this breeding season is one that scientists of yesteryear would never have done, since most of their taxonomy was based on evaluations of preserved specimens. Certainly that was the case in the 1700s when it was not easy (if possible at all) to keep snakes alive on the boat trip from North America to European museums.
Suffice to say, most evaluators would be completely satisfied by the findings already described, but for that last one percent, I'm piling on one more fact/comparison. If that is not enough for the nay-sayers (and there are ALWAYS some people who challenge every large or small evidence), they'll just have to be in that group of snake keepers who will never own a Palmetto.
I'm not saying that you are in that minute percentage, but I wanted to let you know that I have NO reservations about the taxonomy of the Palmetto. It appears that people who cannot see it in person - and/or believe that it looks too bazaar to be a corn - may not ever agree with our findings. That is their prerogative, but if they base their judgement on the absence of recognizable markings and colors, they had better be prepared for some of the genetic mutations yet to be demonstrated. There seems to be no end to the varieties of mutations, as evidenced by the almost surreal appearance of the Palmetto. Even if this were a rat snake (and I seriously doubt anyone would challenge the Palmetto, were that to be the reality), it is like no other serpent I've ever seen, and therefore non-assignable to ANY other serpent species, on the basis of color and pattern (or lack of pattern). The closest reptile mutation I've seen to this one is that of a Crested Gecko that looks shockingly like the Palmetto (in the realm of color and pattern). Meet me here in 1,000 years so we can both be amused by the shocking quantity, degrees, and variations of serpent mutations. That is, if this planet is still habitable in 1,000 years??
