Sneaky Sidewinders
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
One thing cowboys who travel certain desert areas of the Southwest United States have to know about is the sidewinder. This is a kind of rattlesnake is known by several names, but "sidewinder" is popular because of its method of travel — moving sideways across the desert sand. This critter is fast at 18 MPH (29 KPH), and only two parts of its body touch the sand at one time, which is a big advantage in the heat. Amazingly, it doesn't need to drink water.
No need to keep yourself up at night worrying about being chased down, though. This rattler doesn't see you as a food source, and doesn't use its speed for hunting. Also, it prefers to be active at night. The sidewinder wiggles itself under the surface of the sand (camouflage) near a food source (the young 'uns prefer lizards, and older ones want rodents). Then it pops out, sinks its venomous fangs in its prey and has supper. Although the venom is not as potent as its larger rattler cousins, fatalities have been reported, so don't mess around with one, savvy?
I mentioned that it has several names. One is the horned rattlesnake because it has elevated scales that protect its eyes while digging itself into the sand for ambush and cool-down.
There is a very similar sidewinder in Namibia and southern Angola, Peringuey's adder. These bad boys look and act very similar to the North American versions, but are on the other side of the world. One fact-free Darwinoid said, "Though the two species live on opposite sides of the globe, they evolved in similar ways because they have a similar environment". If someone is going to tout evolutionism, some evidence, mechanisms, and more would be mighty interesting. Snake evolution is a serious puzzler for evolutionists, as the fossil record is mighty poor in providing clear transitional forms. Explaining why there aren't more of them in similar conditions elsewhere is also problematic for evolutionists. So statements about how they evolved originate only from faith, and nothing more.
When you study on it, it's readily apparent that the Creator gave special design features for the sidewinder for its unique habitat.
There is a spiritual application here as well. False teachers of evolutionism disguise themselves as confident purveyors of science (including some who pose as Christians), laying in wait, then injecting their venom of evolutionary pseudoscience into unsuspecting people. Just like the reptiles, these false teachers should be avoided. In addition, getting a good working knowledge of what creation science proponents actually believe and teach, from the sources, can go a long way to prevent spiritual and scientific poisoning.
Further reading on sidewinders is below, followed by a nifty short video of one of the critters in action:
One thing cowboys who travel certain desert areas of the Southwest United States have to know about is the sidewinder. This is a kind of rattlesnake is known by several names, but "sidewinder" is popular because of its method of travel — moving sideways across the desert sand. This critter is fast at 18 MPH (29 KPH), and only two parts of its body touch the sand at one time, which is a big advantage in the heat. Amazingly, it doesn't need to drink water.
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| Image credit: NPS Photo by Kristen Lalumiere |
I mentioned that it has several names. One is the horned rattlesnake because it has elevated scales that protect its eyes while digging itself into the sand for ambush and cool-down.
There is a very similar sidewinder in Namibia and southern Angola, Peringuey's adder. These bad boys look and act very similar to the North American versions, but are on the other side of the world. One fact-free Darwinoid said, "Though the two species live on opposite sides of the globe, they evolved in similar ways because they have a similar environment". If someone is going to tout evolutionism, some evidence, mechanisms, and more would be mighty interesting. Snake evolution is a serious puzzler for evolutionists, as the fossil record is mighty poor in providing clear transitional forms. Explaining why there aren't more of them in similar conditions elsewhere is also problematic for evolutionists. So statements about how they evolved originate only from faith, and nothing more.
When you study on it, it's readily apparent that the Creator gave special design features for the sidewinder for its unique habitat.
There is a spiritual application here as well. False teachers of evolutionism disguise themselves as confident purveyors of science (including some who pose as Christians), laying in wait, then injecting their venom of evolutionary pseudoscience into unsuspecting people. Just like the reptiles, these false teachers should be avoided. In addition, getting a good working knowledge of what creation science proponents actually believe and teach, from the sources, can go a long way to prevent spiritual and scientific poisoning.
Further reading on sidewinders is below, followed by a nifty short video of one of the critters in action:
- The Sidewinder, Horned Rattlesnake at DesertUSA
- Colorado Desert Sidewinder - Crotalus cerastes laterorepens at CaliforniaHerps.com
- The Sidewinder at VenomousReptiles.org
- Peringuey's adder at The Cardboard Box
- Bitis peringueyi (Peringuey's desert or side-winding adder, Namib dwarf sand-adder) at biodiversity explorer
- Sidewinder Snake at Reptile Knowledge (this is the one that had the homage to evolutionism)