General Chat (Non-Music-Related)

Why then does an African Spitting Cobra not spit at the offender's knees or belly etc.? Yet it...the snake ..has "reasoned" to spit the venom into the eyes to incapacitate the offender?..just instinct I guess..

Why then does an African Spitting Cobra not spit at the offender's knees or belly etc.? Yet it...the snake ..has "reasoned" to spit the venom into the eyes to incapacitate the offender?..just instinct I guess..

Instinct is correct. I think "reasoned" does belong in the quotes where you put it as this is not actually a higher function reasoning action being taken. The reptilian brain does not do reasoning very well. (go ahead and steal that for the political rant threads, lol) It is likely an evolved behavior in the context that those Cobras that had the good aim survived more often. I'm guessing the snake could be confused by masks or say a t-shirt with a face or something face-like on it.

Supposedly in parts of Indonesia people wear masks on the back of their heads assuming that Tigers won't creep up on them if they think they are being watched.

At any rate...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.


Talbot

Good story.

Thanks people for the replies.. Saw some trained cats jumping through hoops on Americas Got Talent and they were trained well..cats are hard to train and to herd..and aware they do not reason as to why..just rewarded for their efforts with a treat after each attempt to jump thru a hoop.. Doing tricks is not reasoning

Cool.

Which brings us full circle..do any of you reason before you offend others we share this forum with...?..or is my last psychotic break messing with my reason?

Bees will attack the head first on anything, human, dog, mannequin....

Would a Cobra attack a face on a shirt? I don't think so. Isn't their vision more in the realm of Infrared than ours?

DEMOCRATS!

Sparsely worded negative reactions do not prove anything except a great lack of decency.

Bees will attack the head first on anything, human, dog, mannequin....

Would a Cobra attack a face on a shirt? I don't think so. Isn't their vision more in the realm of Infrared than ours?

Good question. I just watched a natural history documentary on Youtube and they had the cobra tracking and spitting at a piece of plastic with two dots on it. (with surprising accuracy!) So I'm leaning towards yes on a cobra attacking a picture of a face.

Bees can see different wavelengths. I think reptile heat sensing is a different organ though.

But if the plastic head was one temperature and texture, with a lot of air between the background and they're both different temps.... that's how this stuff works.

But if the plastic head was one temperature and texture, with a lot of air between the background and they're both different temps.... that's how this stuff works.

No head, just an opaque piece of plastic with round dots on it. They showed how the snake was clearly tracking the movement of the two dots and anticipating where they would be when the venom reached them.

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Hmmm

Here's the show I watched.

https://youtu.be/I6mD9vfsX6o