Thank Ginny for me, whoever she may be.
No need to drop a Komodo Dragon into the AWP convention--twould only
put them out of their misery.
Mark
At 07:07 AM 5/10/2009, you wrote:
>If there is a question to be asked, there is someone from whom to
>learn an answer. This, by the way, is not the Jon Stewart Show or
>Prof. Irwin Corey: this is dead-on serious. I have trusted Ginny
>with information about my cats and dog for years. I wonder if it
>mightn't be an idea worth considering to drop a Komodo Dragon into
>the midst of the next AWP meeting in the name of herd-thinning.
>
>Ken
>
>-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: Re: [Fwd: Yet another question]
>Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 01:36:49 -0400
>From: Ginny Palmieri <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]>
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
>Most birds do not have saliva, no. There are some exceptions (most
>notably birds of prey.)
>Parrots, parakeets, canaries, etc., and most song birds have dry
>tongues (which feel really,
>really cool, like a very soft finger, btw.) Birds with wet tongues
>(saliva) don't have crops. Crops are found in those birds with dry
>tongues. The crop is an expanded area of the esophogus, and there
>is a fluid with digestive enzymes found there. It comes from a
>submaxillary gland, which is not activated until the mechanical act
>of swallowing begins.
>Essentially, that's saliva, which begins the digestive process
>through the action of the
>enzymes. The crop also use mechanical means of breaking down foods, which is
>why some birds require grit or dirt in their diets.
>I have never seen a bird drool. I don't know if those with saliva
>can or not, but I would
>assume that the possibility exists.
>
>Reptiles can and do drool. Komodo dragon saliva carries a lethal
>dose of bacteria, which
>is fast acting and disables and often kills its prey. They are
>famous for drooling great ropes
>of this toxic swill, and may rank among the most disgusting of all
>animals. However,
>like birds, most reptiles have a fairly dry tongue until the act of
>swallowing begins,
>at which point the submaxillary gland pumps fluid into the mouth to
>assist in the swallowing
>process. Given the way snakes eat, probably a good idea to get some
>lubrication into
>the act, I'd say.
>
>Normally, I think snakes have fairly dry mouths, but I know that
>drooling can be a sign
>of some kind of illness in the larger, constricting snakes. I'm no
>herpatologist, though,
>and you'd have to ask one of them if you wanted more (and more
>accurate!) detailed
>information on reptiles.
>
>Me
>
>>>>On 5/9/2009 at 1:44 PM, Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>You're my local animal expert. I never thought of this. DO any of them?
>>ken
>>-------- Original Message --------
>>Subject: Yet another question
>>Date: Sat, 9 May 2009 13:30:32 -0400
>>From: Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask] References:
>><[log in to unmask]>
>><001401c9d0c9$4691bd50$0601a8c0@shakespeare>
>><000501c9d0ca$360cceb0$a2266c10$@com>
>>
>>This time I'm taking advantage of the considerable oddity of
>>poetryetc, not to speak of the surprising erudition of its members..
>>It's Spring, so naturally my thoughts turn to saliva. In my mind's
>>eye I conjured a drooling chicken. Hence the question: do birds
>>drool? do they even salivate? What about reptiles? No jokes about
>>rabies, please--I've already run through them.
>>My mind is like a stone
>>skipping on water, which one day
>>will sink, tee hee.
>>Mark
>
>
>
>
>--
>Ken
>Wolman http://awfulrowing.wordpress.com/
>http://www.petsit.com/content317832.html
>---------------------------------
>"All writers are hunters, and parents are the most available
>prey."--Francine du Plessix Gray
|