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Blackwidow · 02-21-2008, 03:35 PM

CoMC Lesson One :: Introduction to Serpentes

You enter Care of Magical creatures classroom and find it redecorated with earthy colors and muddy green walls. Desk colors for today's lesson are in a shade of emerald green. Don't fret, its only an illusion.

A vivid yellow serpent is projected on the board behind Professor Clark. Its tongue flicks out occasionally, if you look closely its feeding on flying insects.

Professor Fabian Clark is leaning on the back wall of the classroom in his custom black robes and fluorescent waterproof boots, with his arms crossed across his chest. His hair is tied up in a neat pony tail and a booming grin plastered on his face.

ooc: Class will start at 6pm EST, please keep chatting to a minimum until lesson commences. Thanks!

noodles · 02-22-2008, 12:53 AM

Emily raised her hand "erm...most snakes have four rows of teeth on the top and two on the bottom. ..But not all snakes have fangs - only the poisonous ones do... I think"

whende · 02-22-2008, 12:54 AM

She'd pulled her rusty brown hair back into a messy ponytail on her way to class. When she'd read the board at first, she'd freaked out. What if she acquired some new pet, ready to burst into flames? No. Don't be ridiculous.

She thought about raising her hand, attempting to describe snakes. But... snakes were snakes. Her description would probably end up along the lines of scaley, long, slithery things. So instead, she flipped open her notebook, grabbed her quill.

DeathEater24601 · 02-22-2008, 12:55 AM

"Snakes have many features that define them from other species. For instance, snakes have no limbs--they use special scales on their underbellies and constriction of their stomach muscles to move around. They are also completely covered in scales, though colours vary. Serpents do not have moveable eyelids, but transparent caps called "brille" as protective eye coverings. Because of this, their eye movement is fairly limited."

Iavas gwae · 02-22-2008, 12:56 AM

After returning to his seat. Joseph raised his hand, "Snakes, are pretty much legless lizards. They can unhinge their jaws to swallow larger foods, like mice. They can be extremely dangerous, due to the wide variety of poisonous snakes in the world."

XanaSnape · 02-22-2008, 12:57 AM

"Vipers, rattlesnakes, and other members of the family of snakes known as the 'pit vipers' have special pits located between their eyes and nostrils. The pits are used to sense minute temperature changes as infrared rays, as an aid in locating warm-blooded prey such as rodents..." Xana was glad that she'd paid attention to Dia's pet now.

LadyNerd · 02-22-2008, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iavas gwae

Joseph took the girl's hand, and gently shook it. With a grand smile on his face he said, "Well, it is very nice to meet you Lyra. I hope to become close friends in our time at Hogwarts." He released her hand, and maintained his grand smile.

Lyra snorted as her eyes grew wide and looked towards Christian. She couldn't say anything more since Fabian started class. She turned her attention back to the question he was asking.

"Snakes are quite scary and iky, and some are poisonous," she answered as her elbow rammed into Christian. "Help me!" she whispered from the side of her mouth. She was not used to other boys introducing them to her but she had to do something.

beautifulmine · 02-22-2008, 01:00 AM

"All snakes are carnivorous and can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids, limbs, external ears, and vestiges of forelimbs."

jesusfr33ke2010 · 02-22-2008, 01:01 AM

Austin answered, "Snakes are carnivorous reptiles that are cold blooded."

Alohomora · 02-22-2008, 01:04 AM

Caelia heard most of the answers she was thinking of already, but raised her hand and added, "Snakes have no external ears or eyelids."

XanaSnape · 02-22-2008, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyNerd

Lyra snorted as her eyes grew wide and looked towards Christian. She couldn't say anything more since Fabian started class. She turned her attention back to the question he was asking.

"Snakes are quite scary and iky, and some are poisonous," she answered as her elbow rammed into Christian. "Help me!" she whispered from the side of her mouth. She was not used to other boys introducing them to her but she had to do something.

"Actually, few snakes are poisonous. Many are venomous, however... Which means that if they bite you you will become sick or die. But to be poisonous you'd have to ingest the snake yourself-- eat it." Xana said to the other student with a little smile.

LadyNerd · 02-22-2008, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"Actually, few snakes are poisonous. Many are venomous, however... Which means that if they bite you you will become sick or die. But to be poisonous you'd have to ingest the snake yourself-- eat it." Xana said to the other student with a little smile.

Lyra looked at the girl and blinked a couple of times. "Not planning on getting bit or eating a snake thank you. But thank you for that clear up," she spoke to the Slytherin girl. She was never interested in snakes and if she were, she wouldn't be a Hufflepuff by any means.

What a strange class day, she thought to herself as she looked back to Christian with a crazy look on her face. He seemed rather quiet today in class and maybe she needed to follow his actions but, she had to say her two cents.

momentai · 02-22-2008, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyNerd

Lyra snorted as her eyes grew wide and looked towards Christian. She couldn't say anything more since Fabian started class. She turned her attention back to the question he was asking.

"Snakes are quite scary and iky, and some are poisonous," she answered as her elbow rammed into Christian. "Help me!" she whispered from the side of her mouth. She was not used to other boys introducing them to her but she had to do something.

Christian left out a rather loud oof as a elbow was sent drilling into his side. He doubled over in pain and just ended up smacking his head on the desk in front of him with a subtle thud. He groaned in pain softly and clutched his forhead. "What?" he hissed softly. "Lyra...Joseph." He pointed at the first year. "It's not rocket science." Woman. Sheesh.

"Uh...snakes are...what she said," he pointed at Lyra, frowning at his failed attempt to participate in answering the question.

"Aww, does Lyra need saving from the big bad snakes?" he whispered, with a smirk on his face. That probably wasn't a good thing to say...

LadyNerd · 02-22-2008, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tailzinator

Christian left out a rather loud oof as a elbow was sent drilling into his side. He doubled over in pain and just ended up smacking his head on the desk in front of him with a subtle thud. He groaned in pain softly and clutched his forhead. "What?" he hissed softly. "Lyra...Joseph." He pointed at the first year. "It's not rocket science." Woman. Sheesh.

"Uh...snakes are...what she said," he pointed at Lyra, frowning at his failed attempt to participate in answering the question.

"Aww, does Lyra need saving from the big bad snakes?" he whispered, with a smirk on his face. That probably wasn't a good thing to say...

Lyra snapped her head in Christian's direction, narrowing her eyes. She didn't need to say a word this time and wanted to keep points in the Huffie house at the moment since they seemed to be last in points.

Lyra smiled at Joseph and then peeked back at Christian. She loved to mess with him at times. He was quite funny, even if she didn't laugh sometimes.

"Why are you going to save me from the snakes, if I need it?" she whispered, her eyes returning to their narrowness.

XanaSnape · 02-22-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyNerd

Lyra looked at the girl and blinked a couple of times. "Not planning on getting bit or eating a snake thank you. But thank you for that clear up," she spoke to the Slytherin girl. She was never interested in snakes and if she were, she wouldn't be a Hufflepuff by any means.

What a strange class day, she thought to herself as she looked back to Christian with a crazy look on her face. He seemed rather quiet today in class and maybe she needed to follow his actions but, she had to say her two cents.

Xana giggled, smiling warmly at the girl. "Me either..."

Iavas gwae · 02-22-2008, 01:26 AM

Joseph looked over at Lyra, who seemed to be messing with Christian. He smiled back at her when she looked over, but silently laughed as he watched their facial expressions. Christian, had the strangest facial expressions.

Blackwidow · 02-22-2008, 02:28 AM

"These are all regarded features, indeed, Snakes are legless creatures, don't have earlobes or lack an ear opening with scale covered skin. But that doesn't mean they can't move nor hear".

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetAussie

Agie raised her hand. "Snakes are very Sly professor. Some may say cunning. I have to admit that they have good hunting skills, and use their Venom as a good way at getting prey. Also some can use their strength to weaken prey."

"Not all snakes are venomous though" Fabian mused and winked "we'll cover their hunting skills after we cover their physical appearance".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenster

Marco raised his hand, "Well snakes have external sensors to detect heat coming off a mammal."

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"Vipers, rattlesnakes, and other members of the family of snakes known as the 'pit vipers' have special pits located between their eyes and nostrils. The pits are used to sense minute temperature changes as infrared rays, as an aid in locating warm-blooded prey such as rodents..." Xana was glad that she'd paid attention to Dia's pet now.

"Two points to both of you! Not all snakes have those chambers, only "pit viper" species of snakes have the pit chamber, hence named that way, use the pit chamber to sense minute temperature changes in their surrounding environment via infrared rays, as aid in locating warm-blooded prey".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amelie

Emily raised her hand "erm...most snakes have four rows of teeth on the top and two on the bottom. ..But not all snakes have fangs - only the poisonous ones do... I think"

"Two points! Teeth alignment and amount varies from species to species but Snake teeth are both: attached to the bone [acrodont] and able to grow back when lost [polyphydont]. They also have several sets of teeth throughout its lifetime".

Fabian waved a hand in the air, "So lets recap for a second. Snakes have thin, linear and limbless bodies. They are also carnivores and ectothermic [cold blooded] creatures. Due to their long bodies, their organs are arranged linearly and last but not least they are like any other vertebrate, especially us witches and wizards".

"Like most creatures, snakes have senses. Some are limited while others are beyond the norm. Who can list their senses for me? We'll go through each sense detail afterwards".

*JoshMoonson* · 02-22-2008, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mamushkaleontti

"Like most creatures, snakes have senses. Some are limited while others are beyond the norm. Who can list their senses for me? We'll go through each sense detail afterwards".
[/color]

Josh spoke up as he started, " well they use their tongue to smell the air. The take the smells from the tongue and bring it to an gland in their mouth. Its on the roof of the mouth.They also feel the vibration from the ground from their body."

LadyNerd · 02-22-2008, 02:31 AM

Lyra raised her hand to give the question a shot. "Touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste," she answered looking around to everyone else who answered as well.

SweetAussie · 02-22-2008, 02:32 AM

Agie raised her hand "snakes have senses including smell, taste, hearing, detect body heat from prey, and seeing."

Disneymaniac · 02-22-2008, 02:33 AM

"Many snakes have advanced senses, such as the receptors that detect when an animal's breathing and heartbeat stop. Many ground snakes also use receptors to alert them to nearby prey or possible danger, picking up ground vibrations from up to several metres away. Ears have been modified, too. Very few ground snakes lift their heads up high so there's not much need to detect airborne sounds. As the jaw is long and thin and often on the ground, it's the ideal device for picking up and transmitting vibrations straight to the inner ear," Marco smiled, he had listed the senses but had probably listed how they worked as well.

Deadmau5 · 02-22-2008, 02:33 AM

Hitachi raised his hand. "Professor, everybody knows that snakes have long, forked tongues. Snakes can use their tongues for tasting and even touching. But they use them mostly for smelling."

"Most of the sounds people hear are picked up by the outer ears. The sounds vibrate the eardrums, which send vibrations through the middle, and then inner, ears." he continued.

"Snakes don't have ear parts on the outside of their heads. But they do have ear parts inside. Sounds travel into the snake's body through muscle to bones in the jaws. These bones are next to the inside ear parts." he continued.

"Even in total darkness, some snakes can "see" and then capture their prey. How? They use super-sensitive heat sensors to zero in on the warmth given off by the prey's bodies. This is especially true for pit vipers such as cottonmouths, copperheads, and rattlesnakes.

A pit viper has two heat sensors, called pits, on the front of its face. Special cells inside the pits can pick up even the tiniest bit of heat. Most pythons and some boas have pits too. But theirs form a row along the lips.

A snake with these super sensors can figure out exactly where and how big a warm body is. What about camouflaged prey that hide in broad daylight by keeping very still? No problem--a snake with pits just goes for the heat." he continued.

"How good is a snake's eyesight? That depends on how the snake lives. Snakes that burrow in the ground, for example, can hardly see at all. But that's OK--they get all the information they need from their other senses." He finished.

Angie · 02-22-2008, 02:35 AM

Willow shot her hand to the air before replying, "One of her senses is the eyesight. Their vision is unremarkable, Generally vision is best in arboreal snakes and worst in burrowing snakes" She paused for a moment and then went on, "Some snakes, have binocular vision, with both eyes capable of focusing on the same point. Most snakes focus by moving the lens back and forth in relation to the retina, as opposed to the human eye in which the lens is stretched" After finishing, Willow put her hand down and waited.

SlytherinSistah · 02-22-2008, 02:36 AM

Claudian put his hand up, "Heat, scent, tactile, sight, taste, and they can sense vibrations, though I think that's related to their tactile sense."

He looked over at Marco's answer impressed and feeling like he hardly knew the man-boy. 'Who are you Marco Denver...who are you?'

noodles · 02-22-2008, 02:38 AM

Ems raised her hand, "Snakes have very poor eyesight, so their other senses need to make up for it. Some snakes can smell with their noses but ALL snakes smell with their tongues. Snakes can absorb vibrations through the ground and determine the size of the prey or danger by its movements."

momentai · 02-22-2008, 02:43 AM

Christian resumed his absentminded quill playing, while looking around the classroom again. He smirked as Lyra quickly answered the question and how proud she looked.

"Hey, you know me," he whispered, "I'm right here just in case the big bad snake comes after you. I'll protect you," he smirked slyly and scribbled some notes down onto his paper, before staring at the floor. He noticed the sides of his bag moving slightly. Shadow had woken up.

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