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Published on 9/5/08
Sometimes blatant marketing stunts end up being pretty cool...
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The red spitting cobra of eastern Africa can shoot venom through its fangs into the eyes of predators six feet away—and rarely misses a target. “It’s incredibly painful, and can cause permanent blindness,” notes Frost. But its victims, he says, rarely die from the attack. “If you live in a world full of elephants and rhinos, you want to keep them from stepping on you. The trouble is, if you bite an elephant and it dies, it hasn’t learned anything. It’s better for the snake to have some sublethal response.”
Frost says the Gabon viper (left) and eastern green mamba, which share a single glass enclosure, are the Felix and Oscar of “Lizards & Snakes!” “These are two very poisonous snakes, but completely different in how they move: The viper sits on the floor virtually motionless for days at a time, but the mamba is a nervous, active hunter.”
The frilled lizard of Australia may not sound threatening, but its dandyish name actually refers to a thin flap of skin around the neck that expands like an umbrella to give it a more menacing visage. (When erect, the frill can measure 12 inches across.) “Much of the time they’re quiet, but all of a sudden, they’ll spread that frill out and startle anything that’s trying to approach them,” says Frost. They’ll also stand upright, open their mouths wide and hiss at intruders. Not dainty indeed.
Found on Hispaniola and other islands in the Antilles, the endangered rhinoceros iguana gets its name from the hornlike protrusions on its snout. Males, which can grow up to four and a half feet long, have a unique way of impressing potential mates: “It does this head bob and turns to one side, trying to expand its body and look bigger,” explains Frost. This ritual isn’t just used for courtship, he says, but to intimidate intruders as well. “We have only one, so [visitors] probably aren’t going to see that behavior. You would see it if you walked into his cage—he’s set up his own little territory in there.”
