Emails I Get - Political / Obama Lawn Sign, well sort of an Obama sign...

A friend of mine sent me a copy of the below pic in an email this evening. I am not going to tell you for whom I think you should vote in 2012. By law, while I can voice my opinion on candidates and tell you for whom I will vote, I cannot campaign for a candidate and I do not want to come even close to that line. The reason is because I am working in the executive branch of the federal government and laws prohibit me from such activity. 

Yet, I can share things like this with you. I am merely reporting on something someone sent me in an email. I will also tell you this, I think it is, as my friend told me, the greatest lawn sign ever!

Now, after I retire at the end of this year, you very likely will see what may amount to some campaigning here on this blog.

All the best,

Glenn B



Ballseye's Gun Shots 139: Trying to Choose A Favorite Ammo Dealer - It's Not That Easy

I don't remember if I ever mentioned it in any of my blog posts but I used to have a definite favorite ammo dealer. That was SportsmansGuide.com (SG). They are, in my estimation, still a great source for ammo but I am not so sure they are my favorite. Granted, they offer a lot of ammo brands in almost every imaginable modern caliber but things have changed with their standing somewhat. First and foremost, their prices do not seem to me as competitive as they were as recently as about 6 months to a year ago. As of late, it seems to me that their prices for some ammo, mind you not all of it, are what I consider to be pretty darned high when comparing them to those of other online dealers.


It used to be that their prices were quite competitive and usually beat other ammo sellers such as CheaperThanDirt.com. Then I started to find better prices, on ammo I needed or wanted to buy, at Cheaper Than Dirt. They were not only beating SG's regular prices but also SG's Buyer's Club prices. (The SG Buyer's Club is basically a fee for price reduction deal. You pay a yearly fee, then they sell you most items at a 10% discount and ammo at a 5% discount on virtually every sale.) CTD had about the same availability of brands and calibers as did SG or so it seemed. The thing where there seemed a really big departure was that they usually did not offer ammo in bulk as often as does SG. As I said though, their prices appeared to be better. Well, I was about to proclaim them as top dog and start buying most of my ammo from them until I realized hey wait a minute, their prices were again being beat by SG in many instances depending on what ammo I was looking at. This had me flummoxed. I guess it is just the nature of competition on the free market, each company always trying to outdo the other whenever they can. I am okay with that but bear in mind - I am also better than okay with me getting the best prices. So I started shopping around more.


As you can see by the link list on the right side of my blog page, I list several ammo dealers in the Blue Zone section headed: BUY FIREARMS, AMMO, ACCESSORIES & PARTS. With the possible exception of one or two at most (an I don't really think there are any exceptions), I have made purchases at one time or another from all of them. I don't get any sort of pay, fees, discounts, or kickbacks from any of them for giving them a link on my blog page.  do it not so much to help them out but to help out folks who may be looking for a decent place to make a firearm's related purchase. Since i have had decent results when buying from them, I give them the courtesy of a link here. I used to have some others listed but removed the links when they, in my opinion, turned out to be less than reputable or had piss poor customer service or sold crap.


Yes, every now and then I shop around for new dealers I have not tried before. If I find one that has a betterprice (including shipping) on something most of them have in stock, then may try the new place just because of price. Other times, I may be looking for something that no one seems to have, then I find one place that does and I go with them. Each time I try a new place, I am looking for the one that may become my favorite. As you can see from above, I have been sort of see-sawing between two of the bigger companies that deal in ammo online. Most of the time, the best deals I have found have been with the bigger dealers like CTD and SG. Big companies though do not always offer the best deals and I sometimes found better deals, now and again, at smaller companies - sort of mom & pop online dealers. That has usually been the exception though, the big guys almost always beat the small guy's prices. The big guys usually also offer a much wider selection of ammo.


Still though, I have found a small company or two that, over the past several months, have consistently beat out those two giants, well I think they are small companies anyhow, when it comes to certain types of ammo I buy and one of those smaller companies virtually always has the best price for those ammo types whenever I have looked to them for it. That company is MilitaryShooters.com. They have had the best prices I could find on Fiocchi 9mm, Russian Surplus 7.62x54R, and on Silver Bear 7.62x39 ammo and they have had it available when I wanted it. My hat goes off to them as my favorite small ammo dealer, mostly due to price, availability and customer service relative to the types of ammo I have purchased from them. Albeit, they are a dealer that does not usually stock every brand, caliber or type of ammo I want but when they have what I want it has been at the best prices I have found. They, as do SG and CTD also offer a bunch of products other than Ammo, I think all of them related to outdoors pursuits (yes, I know shooting can be an indoor thing).


You may have noticed that I did not just call Military Shooters (MS) my favorite ammo dealer; I said they are now my favorite small ammo dealer and there is a big difference in that little distinction between my favorite ammo dealer and my favorite small ammo dealer. As you can tell from above, one of the main things I take into consideration when choosing my favorite ammo dealer is price but that surely is not the only thing nor necessarily the most important thing. While I like a good deal price wise, a deal can often be made sweeter or soured due to other considerations. Things like poor customer service, lack of availability, bait and switch, taking forever to mail out an order - can make price one of the least of my considerations - well,  within reason anyway. For a company to become one of my favorites I expect them to have products I am seeking available on a regular basis (if possible, it is just not possible sometimes), to have what they advertise for sale as actually in stock or otherwise prominently note it is not in stock, to have an easy to navigate website, to take credit cards, to get my orders right, to send out my orders within a reasonable amount of time, to give me a way to track my order, to have respectful customer service reps if something went wrong or I simply make an inquiry, to promptly correct anything they got wrong at no additional expense to me and have no doubt - to have good competitive prices. There are a couple of other things that go a long way toward making a favorite and those are the little personal touches such as an email from the company reps saying how they appreciate my business, or they apologize for something that went wrong, or that let me know they actually read and appreciated an email I sent to them complimenting them on their good business practices. Sometimes, I have even gotten service like that from the big companies, well one of them.


So, I guess if I had to pick my favorite larger online ammo dealer, out of the ones I have over in the links on the right side of the blog, I would still have to stick with the Sportsman'sGuide. They routinely have the ammo I want, often have it in bulk, usually have competitive prices at least on hunting ammo and rimfire ammo, they - if not always - sometimes have very competive prices on things like self defense ammo, they have a good return policy (most dealers will not accept returns on ammo but SG has done it when they really messed up an order), have customer service that may sometimes screw-up but always makes better and does so cheerfully, and has at least 2 customer service reps of whom I can think that went out of their way to assure I was satisfied with how foul ups got resolved. I would rather a company did not screw up in the first place but let's be realistic - doody happens. When it does they have always made it right for me at SG.


Still though, I have not nailed down who is my all time favorite online ammo dealer among both the big and little guys. Man, that is a tough decision and one I do not think  am going to decide upon for awhile. It is just too tough choosing between Sportsman's Guide and Military Shooters and who knows, tomorrow there could be Brand X that just knocks both of them out of contention. For now, let me just say, these two online ammo dealers (and as I said above, they also offer lots of other stuff) are hard to beat. Places like Cheaper Than Dirt, Ammunition To Go, SG Ammo, Natchez Shooters' Supplies and Midway USA are giving them a run for the money but for now those two are at the top of my list. Oh, if you are wondering why I give them the links and why I give them a write-up like this, when I don't get anything from them in return, it is just very old fashioned common courtesy based upon mutual respect and it is also so my readers can readily find recommended dealers of shooting supplies. (Again a common courtesy since you are nice enough to read my blog.)


All the best,
Glenn B

New AK-47 On The Market?

I took my first look, in a long time, at some gun dealers' sites tonight. Over at Classic Arms,  I saw them advertising an AK-47 manufactured by Saiga. This is not the typical Saiga rifle that did not accept AK mags, this one does accept them. Pretty nice looking rifle and from what I have heard of Saiga, I am guessing that the quality should be more than acceptable. It is selling for $499.95. I have to see if these are legal in NY State. I would like to have one of these and maybe would sell my Romanian WASR to be able to afford one. Funny thing about it though, I only found it on the Classic Arms site and not on the Saiga site. Don't know if they are something new in the gun world but certainly the first time I have seen one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Weiner Lets It all Hang Out - Confesses He Sent Pics, Covered It Up Wth Lies

Representative Anthony Weiner is a bit like President Clinton. When faced with allegations that he did something improper of a somewhat sexual nature, he, like Clinton, vehemently denied it. Same as the republican who got caught in the stall tapping his foot as a form of sexual advance. At least President Clinton apparently was not a pervert seeking sex in a men's room and did not send out pictures of his bulging barely clad private parts over the Internet; Clinton kept it restricted to extramarital affairs which while not the best of things to do were not sexual perversions. I can understand a guy like Pres. Clinton even though I cannot accept his lying to the American People about his sexual exploits - he should have just fessed up. I mean, people have extra marital affairs all the time. Maybe not a good thing but usually not a perversion.

Well, Weiner has confessed, finally. The talk is that there were other pics, of him, about to be released - maybe that spurred him on, who knows. Here is a link to a video of the confession: http://www.breitbart.tv/weiner-i-lied-i-did-it/.

What Weiner did, in my opinion, was a bit perverted. My guess is that he got some sort of a thrill, not from having sex with several young women with whom he became acquainted over the Internet, but by sending out pictures of himself that were either sexually suggestive or risqué. I think it is kind of like a flasher using modern technology to flash himself. What galls me with Weiner is that he says he will not step down from his political office and that he will probably receive support from the left. My bet is that some on the left will make him out to be a martyr while others will make him out to be a hero for finally fessing up and yet others will see he gets reelected. What a shame if that happens. Not a shame because he committed what I think was a minor act of perversion, that could be easily forgiven had he admitted it and then sought out therapy. It is a shame, I think, because he apparently created a fantastic prevarication about how someone else was responsible for sending out the picture, the one he could not say with certitude was or was not of his underpants covered bulging crotch. In other words he tried to steer the blame away from himself, even if it would have been proved that the picture was indeed of him, to someone else for sending out the photo. All I can say is thank goodness there was no ready dupe on which he could lay the blame. While I don’t think it was right, I can understand him doing it, can understand him at first denying it, but have a really difficult time with him trying to blame it on a nonexistent third party. No wonder he did not call in the police, he could have been charged with making a false statement to the police had he told them his fabrication during an official investigation. I have to wonder, do we really need someone like that in Congress, I think not.

All the best,
Glenn B

Al Qaeda Reportedly Urges Muslims To Kill Americans And I Again Urge You To Buy Arms and Ammunition...

 ...for possible use in self defense. I suppose some of you may be getting sick of me telling you to do so but the battle may soon be brought closer to home than ever before. So, I am urging you to take these actions to be ready to defend against
those Muslims (or anyone) who would heed the call of Al Qaeda to purchase arms with which to kill Americans. In case you are not aware of that to which I am referring, click on the link below:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/04/al-qaeda-urges-american-muslims-to-buy-guns-for-terror-attacks/

In essence, the link is to an article that has breaking news that: "Al Qaeda has released a video urging Muslims who live in the U.S. to take advantage of the easy access to firearms and buy guns to kill Americans."

If you think I am being prejudicial or otherwise biased against Muslims, I am not. You see, Al Qaeda is not reportedly calling upon Buddhists, Christians, Druids, Hindus, Jainists, Jews, Shintoists (hope that is correct), Sikhs, Taoists, Wiccan, Atheists, Agnostics or anyone else to stock up on guns to kill Americans - they reportedly are calling only Muslims to do so and they reportedly are calling upon them to wage Holy War against us. I am willing to bet, that if there was a way to keep tabs, we would soon see an increase in sales of firearms to Muslims in the USA and I would bet it would not be because most of them, who were buying weapons, would be buying them for self defense. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not think most American Muslims will heed the call, but I do believe there potentially are enough who could make this a truly fair to large scale threat to our safety and security.

There is a way to minimize such sales, to those who may follow up on Al Qaeda's call, without restricting sales to we law abiding citizens and legally immigrated aliens whether we be Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, those of any other religion, or even atheists. The thing would be for us, us as in law abiding American citizens and legal resident aliens, of any faith or belief system, to start buying firearms and ammunition to protect ourselves and our loved ones and our neighbors. It would also be a good idea, I think, for us to let it be known that we will protect ourselves with our firearms as justified under the law - as in self defense - from any imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm (laws may vary in different states) coming from groups that are sympathetic to or conspiring with Al Qaeda to kill Americans. We should speak up about this by way of blogs, interviews with the press, letters to the editors of local newspapers, letter to politicians and such. We should make as loud an outcry as is humanly possible, a sort of shout back at Al Qaeda and to the part of the Muslim community that is sympathetic to or conspiring with Al Qaeda's evil intentions to kill Americans.

In other words, we should let them know, now, that where legal: Not only is there a gun behind every blade of grass, there is one pointing out of every window, one over every boulder, one in every store one holstered on every hip, one behind every door. We need to make them understand there is a gun, or more than one, for every law abiding U.S. Citizen and legal resident alien who are all sick and tired of all this Islamic extremism and the terrorism that it spawns. I kind of think it might be a pretty good deterrent, heck it stopped the Japanese from invading the mainland USA in WWII. If not, then at least we would be ready to defend ourselves and our neighbors (well at least the neighbors who also have guns and ammo and who are willing to defend us likewise).

You will note, I am not calling for anyone to do anything illegal. I am not telling you to harass or in any way discriminate against law abiding Muslims. I am not calling upon anyone to go out with the intention of killing anyone or even harming anyone. I am saying we should make ourselves ready to legally and ethically defend ourselves against those who would heed Al Qaeda's call to harm us or kill us. If you do buy firearms and ammunition do it legally. If you decide to carry firearms make sure you are doing so legally. Also make sure you know how to operate any firearms you own or otherwise possess and know how to handle them safely at all times. Take courses in safe firearms handling and self defense use of firearms if at all possible. In addition, know the law(s) about self defense in any area where you possess a firearm or other weapon. Then take on the mindset that you are willing to defend yourself and your loved ones and maybe even other innocents from those, whoever they are, who would seek to seriously harm or kill them.

Why am I stressing this so much? Because if it happens that enough Islamic extremists, in the USA, heed Al Qaeda's call to kill Americans with firearms, on a large scale or even a fair sized scale, law enforcement will likely be overwhelmed or just not there at the moment when your lives are at risk. In that case you may be the only one prepared to act in your own defense or in the defense of loved ones, neighbors or other innocents. Think this is not a possibility? Then just look to Israel for an example, or look to Pakistan, or to Afghanistan, or to India, or to Denmark, or to France. Still think it will never happen here? You are absolutely wrong because it already has happened here, just do some research on Ari Halberstam.

All the best,
Glenn B

Like Father, Like Son

Tomorrow, I and the son are off to take a civil service test - together. I am taking it with an idea that I might want to take the job when I retire, sort of a second career. He is taking it with the idea of it being a possible beginning of a career. The test is for NY State Investigator. Truthfully though, once I retire later this year, I am none to sure that I will want any continued contact with the world of law enforcement other than to be retired from it then again it is good to have options. As for my son, well, it is nice to see him sort of wanting to follow in my footsteps. It is even better to know that I must have done something right as for my part in bringing him up because I usually have to give his mom, my wife, most of the credit for that. This time though, I can definitely take some of it and smile about it too. My only hope about the test is that he does as well or better than me on it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Fred Flintlock - On Comfortable Range Attire

Some Range Tips To Help Make Your Shooting Day A Nicer One - Maybe or Maybe Not!

If you shoot and do so regularly, you know there are a bunch of little things that can make for a less than great day at the range. I am not talking about your aim being off or some idiots who are disrupting things by acting rudely or unsafely. Sometimes you just have bad days when it comes to your shooting skills or when it comes to the luck of the draw as to who else will be at the range. The other annoying things, potential range day ruining things, that I am thinking about are things that are easily avoidable if you just use a little foresight. Most of these may seem like they should be no-brainers to the experienced shooter who spends a lot of time at the range. Truth be told though, not all shooters who go to the range always take the time out to think about what they are about to do before doing it. Not giving it just a few moments’ thought is where the problems can begin.

Now, since I don’t want to look like a moron, I am not going to admit that I was ever, in my shooting lifetime, guilty of one or two of the following transgressions, let alone several of them all in one day. So, the rest of this article will cover the shooting antics of a shooter named Fred, and the whole name is Fred Flintlock at that! Why Fred and not Bob or Carroll or Ted or Alice? I like the name Fred, anyway the name is reminiscent of Fred Flintstone who often had miserable days because he did not think before doing, or because he thought of a better way, even though the right way was within his grasp all along.

So, our intrepid shooter Fred is about to set out for a day of shooting at his local rifle & pistol range. Fred has been shooting now for about 30 years. He is no novice and thinks he knows what he is doing. Well, he should know by now but as you will see he has some of his own ideas on how to get lead downrange. He is the atypical shooter in the US of A. A male (not that gender has much to do with anything in the shooting world but most shooters are men as am I so I can better relate with Fred than Fredericka), middle aged to a bit older (yes age does have something to do with it because by his age he should no better), fairly set in his ways (LOL), fairly to very familiar with range etiquette and with the firearms he shoots, knowledgeable of firearms safety of sorts (or so he thinks) and thinks himself a stickler for it, and enjoys a good day of shooting over almost any other pastime he can enjoy. He owns several guns, would love to own a bazooka or twin Browning 30 cal. machine guns, has a good supply of ammo, and while not particularly impressed by gadgets - he does have some of them. He is sure to tell you that he has more than the average amount of the necessary know-how for helping you to get as much enjoyment out of the shooting sports as he can.

Now remember one thing: You can choose to take his advice or not. My advice would be this: Do not take Fred too seriously; in fact, you should take what he says with a grain of gunpowder salt as that is about all it is worth. Of course, you may get a laugh or two out of it - I hope so. Then again, if you listen to Fred closely, sort of between the shots, maybe you can figure what it is among what he says that is really worth learning in order to have a fun day shooting.

Without further ado, here is Shootist Extraordinaire - Fred Flintlock...




All the best,
Glenn B

An Amusing Set of Photos Provokes Some Insightful Thought...

...and I must say, I miss Dubya!

All the best,

Glenn B

A Tantalizing Tortoise Tale...

...all due to an alluring tortoise tail. The allure, to be sure, was the tail end of my female Hermann's Tortoise and it was alluring to my male Hermann's Tortoise. I hibernated/brumated both of them this year for about 2 months or so. A cooling period is often necessary, in reptiles, for male to produce viable sperm cells and from what I have heard may be needed to help female tortoises produce viable eggs. Then I let that little imp cupid nature take its course and take it, it did. The male tortoise is one heck of an insistent courter; this regardless of the fact that he is much smaller than is the female and thus his thingy does not reach up seemingly from behind and under her shell to mate with her. I have watched them time and time again, first last year when got the male, and then this year since hibernation - never have I seen him hit a home run. Thus, I am somewhat doubtful that the eggs will have been fertilized. Yes the female has laid eggs, 5 of them Reptiles can and do oft times lay infertile eggs, I guess just like chickens. I am keeping my fingers crossed though hoping that the little guy hit a homer at least once - after all he has been growing and he sure has been swinging his bat and getting lots of practice with consistency!

Time, and a light light held right up to the eggs, will tell. I saw no evidence of fertility when I candled them today with a very bright flashlight but then again there is little alive inside an egg, except maybe a few cells, when then are freshly laid. I expect that within a few days to a week, when I candle them again, I should be able to make out blood vessels if they are fertile. I have them in an incubator with snake eggs right now but have to set up a separate one because that one is too cool for tortoise eggs. The tortoise eggs require temperatures from just under the higher end of that which snake eggs require to a few, or even several, degrees higher than that. Those higher temps could kill snake embryos, and from what I saw the snake eggs do look fertile.

Now, what temps I use for the tortoise eggs depends upon whether or not I want to go for babies of both sexes, want all males or all females. If I want all males, I can use the temps that I know are safe for the snake eggs and thus I can keep them together. If I want all females, then I need to raise those temps by several degrees above the maximum for snake eggs. If I want both sexes or the chance of both sexes, then I still need the temps above those I would normally use for snake eggs.

I have a Hova-bator incubator that someone gave to my son. It appears unused, looks to be complete except for a few unnecessary clips (all operating parts are there), and is minus any instructions but I found the instructions for it on the manufacturer's website. I think that will be my project for the rest of the night. After that, I'll have to read up a bit more on tortoise egg incubation, I want to get it right if they actually are fertile.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 137: The Variance In Ammo Prices, What Could It Mean

Today I went shopping, online, for some 7.62x39 ammunition. I discovered that Wolf Ammunition in said caliber was out of stock at all of the dealers from whom I usually buy ammo. I mean completely out of stock! So I decided to get some Silver Bear Ammo instead of the Wolf. It is a brand I have used before and that I trust almost as much as Wolf ammo.

So, I searched for Silver Bear 7.62x39, 123 grain, hollow point ammo, in a lot of 500rounds or in a half case (some sell this as a case and I may refer to it as either in this article but be advised all prices below are for 500 round lots). I was pretty surprised to see the huge difference in prices among the various dealers I have used. The prices can be seen below and do not reflect any discounts for membership, or coupons:

AIM Surplus
$115.00 per case of 500 rounds (they offer it at 25 boxes @ $4.60 ea) plus shipping
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=ABS76239HP&name=Silver+Bear+7.62x39+HP+123grn+20rd+Box&groupid=39

Ammo Man
Not Offered
http://www.ammoman.com/index.htm

Centerfire Systems
Not offered
http://centerfiresystems.com/762x39.aspx

Cheaper Than Dirt
$146.29, plus shipping
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM6421-5.html

Classic Arms
Not offered
http://www.classicarms.us/ammunition.htm

J&G Sales
$144.95, plus shipping
http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/ammo-for-rifles/7-62x39mm/p/7-62x39-silver-bear-hp-500rds-/cPath/12_41/products_id/1629

Keep Shooting
Not offered
http://www.keepshooting.com/ammunition/rifle-ammunition

Military Shooters
$104.99, plus shipping (only 2 available when I checked)
http://shop.militaryshooters.com/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=140211&pid=1028166

Natchez Shooter’s Supplies
Not offered
http://www.natchezss.com/ammo.cfm?contentID=ammoGroup&ammoGroup=1&ammoSize=331&type=0&category=3

RGuns
Not Offered
http://rguns.net/ammo.shtml

SG Ammo
$109.00, plus shipping, (only 1 available when I checked)
http://www.sgammo.com/product/silver-bear/500-rds-silver-bear-762x39-123-gr-hollow-point-ammo-case

Sportsman’s Guide
$149.97, plus shipping
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/silver-bear-762x39-123-grain-hp-ammo-500-rds.aspx?a=472407&bi=147867

I also checked some dealers I have never used before. These included:

Lucky Gunner (Found the link to this site at The Breda Fallacy)
Not offered
http://www.luckygunner.com/rifle/7.62x39mm-ammo

Alamo Ammo (link to this site found on Days Of Our Trailers)
Not offered
http://alamoammo.com/cart/rifle-ammunition/7.62-x-39

Remember, all of the above inquiries were made relative to Silver Bear 7.62x39 HP ammo all because not one of the above dealers had any Wolf 7.62x39 HP ammo in stock at all! The highest price that I found for a single case of 500 rounds of the Silver Bear ammo was at Sportsman’s Guide. The lowest price I found for a single case of 500 rounds of the Silver Bear ammo was at Military Shooters. The difference between the highest and the lowest prices was $41.98. That difference amounts to an almost 28 percent off of the high price. That is one heck of a difference in prices without any coupons or sales savings being involved. So a substantial savings could be had by shopping around for all of 15 minutes. Why such a big difference? I think that it is possible, that since a couple of the smaller businesses had better prices but also had very limited stock of the Silver Bear ammo, the smaller dealers had old pricing on old stock. I am guessing that the bigger dealers had new pricing on either new higher priced stock or simply raised it on old stock in anticipation of price increases.

As I say, that is guess work on my part; I cannot be sure without more information. You may recall though, not too long ago, I wondered, here, and here, if ammo prices might soon be rising based on some info I had seen and some news worthy events round the world. A price of virtually $147.07 (the average of the high 3 dealer prices above) for a half case of 500 rounds of Silver Bear 7.62x39 HP ammo is higher than it has been at most dealers for quite awhile. So I am hedging my bet that ammo prices are rising. Acting accordingly, I can say with certainty that Military Shooters has one less 500 round case of Silver bear 7.62x39 HP ammo in stock and I can also say with certainty I wish I had had enough to have bought more of it. Next time though, I think I may have to get some of the same caliber in soft point rounds.

It's up to you if you buy more now. With things going the way they seem to be going, I can only see prices going higher in the near future.

All the best,
Glenn B

Have Fun With This One

http://funstufftosee.com/frogleaptest.html

A friend sent me this link in an email. It took me about 10 minutes or so to figure it out. In reality it is quite simple if you remember one thing...

No, of course, I am not going to tell you the one thing. Figure it out for yourself.

All the best,
GB

Remember The Fallen...

...of the United States Military Services who departed this earth during wartime. It seems that many among us do not understand the true meaning of Memorial Day and it tends to be confused with Armed Forces Day, Fleet Week, Flag Day, Veterans Day, the beginning of the summer season and party time. This day was meant to be, and is, a memorial to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation while in military service to her during war. This day was not meant as the official beginning of the summer season at the beaches and parks, a day off from work, a day to thank veterans, a day to celebrate victories, a day to honor the flag, nor a day for any other other honors of our military save to honor they who have perished protecting our great nation during war.

Sure, it is okay to honor the vet, salute the flag, praise our victories, begin summer festivities, have a BBQ, drink some beer and other things. Don't forget though the true meaning of the day. Whatever you do today, do it to honor them - our fallen military service men and women who perished during time of war. So, when you have you barbecue today, when you open the keg, when you mix the drinks, when you recall your time in service, when you thank God that your son or daughter made it through Afghanistan with no injuries, or that your husband came home from Iraq minus an arm but still came home alive, or that your friend Charlie pulled through Vietnam with a Purple Heart for severe injuries received, or that your dad made it through the Korean Conflict with only minor injuries, or when you remember that a grandfather lost his leg on Guadalcanal, or that your great grandfather fought bravely in the trenches in the War To End All Wars, or to recall a great-great grandfather who served during the Civil War - make sure to take at least a good long solemn moment to pay homage to our fallen heroes, they who gave their lives during war, so that we could carry on.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Mark Of Pepe - The Basement & Spring Cleaning

It seems that, at least once a year but more likely twice, I wind up doing a major cleaning in our basement. This includes a carpet cleaning or actually is initiated because of the need for a carpet cleaning. We have wall to wall carpeting in about 3/4 of the cellar. Luckily we have a dry basement so can have carpeting. Well, maybe I should clarify that. We have a dry basement when it rains, when it pours, after a few feet of snow rapidly thaw, when neighbors' basements get flooded. Whoever built our house made sure to arrange for great drainage around the foundation.

Still though, our basement gets wet, that is at least certain areas of it - most of them on the carpet. You see, we have 4 dogs. They sometimes have accidents or should i say the 3 females sometimes have accidents. We have 1 male; I don't think what he does is so accidental as it is territorial. We have been at a loss as how to break him of his bad habit of lifting his leg to leave his mark here and there in the house - mostly in the basement. He is a sneaky little booger when it comes to it and tries to do it when no one is looking. If I realize he has slunk down the stairs to the cellar, I immediately ask if he needs to go out. If so, he let's me know right away with a little circular dance of excitement. I try to leave him out at least 5 minutes longer than the females so he can run around the yard spritzing bushes, walls, trees or flower pots to his tiny heart's content. That way he seems much less likely to do it inside but he is still tempted from time to time. He now has a favorite spot in the rear of the basement, away from the carpet and on the concrete floor. better than on the carpet but still in the house. I have heard that if I clean the area well, then start feeding him snacks right atop the areas on which he used to pee, he will be cured of this bad habit. Sort of like not shitting where you eat - this just differs by the consistency of the leavings.

Needless to say, his bad habit, and the occasional accidents by the females (usually only the female Chihuahua - it is rare indeed for the 2 larger dogs to have an accident) cause one heck of bunch of messes. Albeit, the messes are usually small ones because most are from the Chihuahuas but it adds up even though I attend to the messes promptly once found and give the area a good cleaning. I soak up as much of the wetness with paper towels as I can, then clean the spots as best I can with some dog stain/mess remover that is supposed to get rid of stains and kill or prevent any odors. The thing is, it does not work quite as well as advertised. Warmer and more humid weather, such as mid spring, reminds us that under the carpet there is still some buildup that has not been broken down by the enzymatic action of the cleaner. Lately though, I did not need the reminder as the little guy has been more territorial than usual for some reason or another.

A cleaning was overdo so, last night I went to see Homer at the Depot. I rented a carpet cleaner and bought a bottle of carpet cleaning detergent made specifically for that type of cleaner. When got home, from Home Depot, I started moving things out of the carpeted room. This included moving out some furniture and leaving some that would simply be moved from one end of the room to the other as I would clean today. Today, I started the cleaning at about 0945. I was done with half of the room, including moving some furniture back and forth, buy about 1100. By 1115, I was upstairs waking my son up so he could give me a hand moving some of the heavier stuff I had left at one end of the room. We would move it to the other end, I would vacuum, then use the carpet cleaner and Brendan went upstairs to have coffee or whatever. As I was vacuuming, I got zapped a good one. Don't know how or why but somehow something sent a good bolt of electricity into my left wrist, up my left arm, through my torso, down my left leg and out my left ankle. I also got a zap in my right wrist but not as bad as the left. I almost fell over it was that strong. The vacuum wand had come in contact with the TV cable. I don't know if it is not shielded enough or if it was something else, maybe some of my perspiration dripped into the vacuum handle or into the wiring that runs down the wand to the power head(I think one of those more likely than something due to the TV cable) but I felt it and felt it bad! I had to stop doing what I was doing for a couple of minutes to make sure I was okay. As a matter of fact my left wrist is still painful and has a small burn hole where it went in. My left arm is still feeling it too. My left ankle has a tiny burn hole too, I guess where I grounded.

After that, things went on as planned. I cleaned the areas from which we had moved this or that, then called Brendan to move one other piece, cleaned there, then moved it back, then began to move most things back tot he TV end of the room. I only flipped out once, when the vacuum cleaner cord somehow got all wrapped around the carpet cleaner cord causing me to have a fairly severe conniption of yelling at no one in particular and tossing the vacuum cleaner across about 1/4 of the room. Luckily it landed on the sofa. Not that it mattered much if it had a soft landing, I just ordered a new vacuum cleaner yesterday - how shockingly timely - almost. Our current one is falling apart and I guess that was pretty evident when it almost lit me up like Uncle Fester with a light bulb in his mouth.

Well, once I got over myself getting shocked and then being an asshole and I apologized to my son for the brief conniption and we got to moving furniture back into its proper places. A few things, the bases of which sit flat against the floor will have to wait. All of the things we moved back have legs, that way the air blown about by our dehumidifier can circulate under them to hasten drying. I have got to say, it smells much better down here now. The trick is going to be keeping it that way. That will mean somehow keeping Pepe (named after Pepe Le Pew) from leaving his mark by brandishing his tiny squirting sword inside the house much as Zorro (translates to the Fox) used to leave his epee (no pun intended or was one) slash on the outside of houses. While both may have been less than the best of habits, at least Zorro's "Z" did not smell bad. As I said, there is supposed to be a way to accomplish this goal even in dogs that have grown accustomed to squirting here and there inside the home. I am going to give it a try now that everything is smelling like roses fresh carpeting again. After all, I'd prefer to keep it this way rather than him reverting to his old ways, even if his old ways sort of mimic those of one of my childhood heroes.

All the best,
Glenn B

Buy Guns, Buy Ammo, Buy Gun Parts, Buy Reloading Equipment & Supplies...

...BUY NOW! You may not be able to buy them as freely, as you can now, in the near future.

Our leader, the one who bowed to the Saudi King (and others) yet apparently has repeatedly insulted many of our other allies, the one under whom we have seen sky-high gasoline prices for longer than any other period, the one who has caused more debt than through the presidencies of over 40 presidents before him combined, the one who has socialized our medical system and caused prices to sky rocket before it even has been implemented fully, the one who has refused to support our allies in the Middle-East and watched them be overthrown by Islamic Extremists as he seemingly dawdles, the one who wants to implement Cap & Trade and continues to hammer us with apparently false claims of man made global warming, the one who will be responsible for a huge increase in our electric rates should he implement cap & trade, the one who is responsible for the worst economy we have seen since the 1930s, the one who hired an accused tax cheat as the head of the Dept. of Treasury, the one who hired an alleged radical as head of the Dept. of Justice, the one who followed a pastor who said God Damn America, the one who promised to end two wars but started a third while escalating at least one of the others, the one under whose administration guns were sold to gun runners an those gun runners then were allowed to smuggle them to drug cartels in Mexico resulting in the death(s) of U.S. Agent(s), did you get that - that this administration is in essence allegedly responsible for gun running to Mexico and now he wants to pass a law making it tougher for regular citizens to run guns to Mexico( what hypocrisy), the one who... do I really need to go on other than to say he is now the one who now wants to start restricting our right to keep and bear arms and to do so under the radar. Under the radar - heck, wasn't he the one who promised the most transparent government in our history! I guess though doing it under the radar should come as no surprise since when passing health care reform, not one Senator or Congressman had time to read the actual bill before voting on it. Sneakiness in passing laws or legal restrictions seems to be nothing new for this president, so why be different with an attempt to violate the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms.

Read about it here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/28/obama-administration-eyeing-gun-control-radar-groups-warn/

It seems to me, we are headed toward nothing short of a violence prone tyranny and in fact are probably under a soft tyranny right now. I wonder, how much further he can push onward in his destruction of our rights by ignoring the basis of our law and the guarantee of our rights found within the U.S. Constitution? If this goes unabated, if the Republican party does not trounce him on this, and if he is not politically defeated in 2012 or sooner, then I am afraid a revolution, probably a violent one at that, cannot be all that far in our future. I do not advocate violent revolution (except as was seen necessary within the Declaration of Independence) but I cannot imagine it not happening at the rate the current president seems, to me, to be destroying our rights and our country.

The above was my personal opinion.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Critters Are Thickening - Snake Eggs

When I got home from work this evening, I went into the back room of the basement to do a little bit of maintenance work on the turtle tank and to feed all the water critters in the tanks. I had a decent stock of Mosquito Fish and Ghost Shrimp on hand for their dinner. I thought it would be a normal feeding and a regular weekly to biweekly maintenance of the turtle tank consisting of siphoning out some water through the upright tubes of the under-gravel filter. When I tried to tug off the top section of a tube as usual, it wound up sticking and I tugged harder. It did not come apart as it usually does but brought up the whole bottom section of the filter. In other words, it made a mess inside the tank by releasing all the dirty water from under the filter into the rest of the tank. I decided to take the whole tank down and clean it. I was not happy but was okay with it, it was just a simple mistake. Wow, I must be getting better or something because I was not cursing and screaming and blaming someone else for my misfortune but was fixing it instead.

While I was doing that, the dryer started to screech or at least shrilly whistle its notice that a load was complete. I set it for another 20 minutes and ignored it. I kept at cleaning the turtle tank and then my son came down to see me. I was about half way through cleaning the tank and he says: "Hey - did she lay eggs? Holy shitoot did you see all the eggs". I had not seen anything of the sort and at first wondered if he was talking about the new female African Clawed Frog then suddenly realized he said something about the corn snakes! I simply said "No".

I got Brendan to empty the trash and move some stuff to help make my job easier and I put it into overdrive on getting the turtle tank done. Then I attended to the eggs, which luckily looked none too dehydrated from having been laid in a tank with no egg laying box full of damp peat or other damp substrate. I was surprised she had laid eggs with no notice. The female Corn Snake had not shed, heck she had not even gone into the blue phase and there she was already done laying 11 eggs. They usually shed before laying by at least a week or so. Maybe she had gone through the pre-egg laying shed before I got her a couple of weeks ago, but still, she never showed any swelling at the rear potion of her body as they normally do, at least a few to several days, before egg laying. Oh well, the eggs looked healthy. I made up an incubator for them and got them into it, covered them in some damp long cut sphagnum peat moss and put a heater in the incubator set at 82 degrees. I did that from memory even though I have not incubated snake eggs in at least a few years. Hopefully it is the right temp. I know it is close enough to be okay, though I may have to tweak it a bit. It is better the temp is a bit low than cooking them at a bit too high. I am also hopeful they were not too cool for too long since she laid them. I did not look at her tank since last night. I imagine she laid them throughout the late afternoon today because none looked too dehydrated. Since the tank was pretty dry, with no damp egg laying spot ready for her, chances are they would have looked sunken in by the time Brendan spotted them had the female corn snake laid them last night or early this morning. They look okay and that is good.

As for the female corn snake, she looks pooped. I took the male out and left her alone to recuperate. In a couple to a few days, I will feed her a small mouse. After she gets some strength back, I will feed her larger and larger mice until she is gobbling down 1 or 2 full grown adults once per week. She may yet lay another clutch this year as the male was tending to her just last week.

It was all a bit hectic for a short while there but all seems well now. After getting done with those two unexpected chores, I went upstairs, grabbed the blender and put a cup of OJ, two bananas and three pieces of pineapple the size of bananas into it. Then I added a tray and a half of ice cubes. I gave a glass to my wife, saved a glass for my daughter, and took the other for myself. Brendan had already headed to the gym and was missing out on it. To mine, I added a coup,e to a few shots of rum. About 1/2 light rum and the other half dark rum. Mmmm, it was good and took of the edge. I usually just let the edge keep me edgy until I relax in front of the tube or while blogging but tonight the drink did the trick. Nectar of the gods it was, so to speak! After that, or while I was still at it really, we had dinner - Sushi. I am not a big fan of that stuff, just too expensive and overrated at that but it was okay especially since i was graced with the company of my two favorite gals, my wife and my daughter!

Well, that's it for now, I am going to go plop down on the couch and watch a show or three or maybe a movie if I can find a dent sci-fi movie.

All the best,
Glenn B

Croaking Critters Batman - Looks Like We've Got Us Another Frog

For quite some time now, Bill has been part of our collection of critters. Bill is an African Clawed Frog. Brendan got him somewhere, last year i guess, and put it into our large fish tank. He did well in there as did the fish, that is until he got big enough to eat one of my South American Rams. Then he got his arse transferred to the tank in which our Anderson's Underwater Salamanders are housed. He is too big to be eaten by the salamanders and too small to eat them. It is a good set-up.

Tonight, I picked up another African Clawed Frog, one much bigger than Bill. The young lady who gave it to me told me it is a female. She had to give it up because of a move to another apartment. I am guessing she was right about her frog being a female based on this new frog's size alone. Female African Clawed Frogs grow larger than the males and this one has Bill by about half his size again. When I got home, I heard Brendan moping about and called him down to the basement. He was duly impressed by the new addition. I put her in with Bill and the salamanders. Normally, I do not name my reptiles or amphibians but Bill is Brendan's and was named by him. When he saw the new female and her size he immediately gave her the moniker of Bertha. Bill & Bertha, if my mom would hear that she would get a laugh - those were the names of two of her friends a few to several years back. Oh well, I suppose the names will stick.

I can only hope that Bertha does not eat Bill (no she is not attacking him in the pic to the right but it sure looks suggestive of her considering him as a tasty morsel). These frogs have voracious appetites and often eat anything that gets close and that fits in their mouths. The salamanders are too big but Bill is of questionable size. Since the males in nature do not achieve anywhere near the size of the females though, I am guessing if I keep Bertha well fed she will not eat Bill. I mean, in nature males are smaller and could readily be eaten by the larger females yet these frogs thrive. So my guess is that adults do not cannibalize one another; well anyway, I am hoping they do not do so.

The only other concern I have about Bertha, other than that she might eat Bill, is that she possibly has an injury or growth at the point where her tail would have been as a froglet before fully turning into a tailless adult. When I picked her up earlier tonight, I only saw her through the semi-opaque top of the container she was inside. I thought she actually retained a nub of the tail into adulthood. I have seen some frogs like that before. When I got her home and opened the container, I realized it was probably an injury to her cloacal lips (yes you read that right - cloacal lips - go figure). It looks like the lips may have been torn or are possibly infected. I am pretty sure it may be a minor injury or irritation and am hoping I am right. An injury will likely heal completely within a few days to a week or two. If it is a growth or infection it could be caused by a number of things like parasites, bacteria or a virus. In that case, shame on me for not quarantining her for a couple of weeks but, in a moment of brain fart esters, I put her right in with the other critters I mentioned above. If it is an illness then I may have just spread it to the others. I hope not. It could also have been the result of a prolapsed cloaca (the cloaca is the single common opening in reptiles & amphibians for passing feces and urea and for reproduction). Whatever, time will tell and I am not going to worry about it now.

Bertha should have a good life with us. If all goes well she will enhance Bill's life and he her's and maybe they will mate. If they do, I imagine most of the eggs will be eaten by the salamanders but if I find some in there I will remove them and see if I can get them to hatch and then raise the tadpoles. That would be an interesting set of events and I can always give froglets to a pet shop (I know a decent one that takes good care of their stock) or I can give them to Long Island Herpetological Society members. Since I would only raise a relative handful, it would be no problem getting them to good homes.

All the best,

Glenn B

Soldiers' Angels - New Soldier Assigned (or is it I am assigned to the soldier)

Well, my last soldier was coming home and Soldiers' Angels told me to stop sending him packages. So I asked for another soldier to be assigned to me. I finally got round to getting some shopping done for a care package and it is now boxed and ready to go. I just need to take it to the post office, fill out the Customs declaration and mail it out. It is a good feeling to know that doing a little thing like this might be making it easier for a soldier and the others in his unit. I highly recommend it.

Once again, my soldier is in Afghanistan. This one's name is Jeffrey (all I can give is the first name) and he is in the National Guard. Hopefully the package will find him well and will help pick up his spirits. I figure I'll be sending a package once to twice a month. In another 5 months or so, I may again ask for some help for the holiday season packages - but not yet.

All the best,
Glenn B

School's Out - Grades Are In...

...and my son told me he got a B-, a B+, an A- and an A. Not too shabby, in fact pretty darned good. I told him, last semester or early this one, that he needed to buckle down and get some A's. He did just that. It may require some form of reward - maybe a few bucks for gas (well enough for a tank anyhow, so more than just a few) and a dinner and couple of beers at the restaurant of his choosing. If you read this young man, let me know where and when!

All the best,
Glenn B

Site Visits and The End Of The World As We Know It

I have to show you this, it is a chart, from SiteMeter, showing my blog's unique visits from folks over the last week (click it to big it). Last week, I blogged a lot about doom, gloom, Judgement Day and TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). That was mostly all with a preparedness undertone. People sure seemed to like it but of course I had all the hype, about May 21, 2011 having been predicted to be Judgement Day, helping me along. Now though, I am back in my old boring self and back in the groove of having about 80 or so unique site visits a day. Oh well, another day in Paradise as opposed to fighting zombies and demons.

With that said, allow me to also say thanks to those of you who remain loyal readers and welcome to any new ones.

All the best,

Glenn B

A Living Jewel - The Corn Snake

A Corn Snake entwined hand, in my eyes, is more beautiful than a jewel laden hand any day. I, like most other folks, am enamored by the beauty of gemstones and of finely crafted jewelry but I think none of it can compare to the splendor to be found in a fine specimen of Corn Snake. In this current instance, I may be a bit more biased than usual, toward the mindset just expressed, in as much as pictured corn snake is mine - as is the hand (thank goodness my fingernails were clean). Click the pic to enlarge.

I got this snake, sold to me as a variety known as an Okeetee Corn Snake, a week and a half or so ago. She, yes it is a female, was accompanied by her suitor who was of quite the amorous nature when I bought them at the most recent monthly meeting of the Long Island Herpetological Society (LIHS). He is quite the different color variety being an albino or amelanistic color morph. That simply means he lacks melanin or black pigmentation seen in this female. It gives him a different look indeed but he is the same species of snake as is the female. The male reportedly is not just a regular albino corn snake but supposedly a Reverse Okeetee. Reverse Okeetees have wide contrasting white rings around the darker blotches. Regardless of the color differences though both are the same species. The variety of color morphs among corn snakes are due either to natural selection due to geographical separation thus making them color morphs and or sub-species or due to selective breeding this making them different color morphs. The species scientific classification is: Elaphe guttata guttata, sometimes also know by a newer classification as: Pantherophis guttatus.

Regardless of color variety, Corn Snakes make excellent pets (and great schoolroom studies) for those inclined to keep or study snakes/reptiles or for parents who were talked into buying one on impulse by their child(ren). Mind you, in the latter case, chances are that once the child is bored, the responsible parent will wind up taking care of the snakes (any parent getting a snake for a child needs to expect either to be the main care giver or to take a good part in the care of it). That is okay if at the same time, the parents instill a sense of responsibility about pet care to their child(ren) and thus quite possibly reignite that ember of interest within the child. I can tell you, for most parents in that situation - at least for most responsible parents - once they have been tempted by the allure of these beautiful serpents it is hard to lose all interest in them. What often happens is the parent takes up the interest where the child left off. If you are among the lucky parents who has researched the topic first and involved your child(ren) in the research in a fun way, then the chances are much greater that your kid(s) will become budding young herpetologists or at least life long pet keepers and as I said, Corn Snakes make great pets (click on the link for a care sheet). Believe me, if you like them, your children probably will grow into them in one way or another by the time they are married with kids.

So what makes them such a great pet. Well, first of all, compared to a dog or cat, they do not require daily handling or petting. In fact, daily handling is something, if not frowned upon, that should be kept to a minimum although corn snakes adapt fairly well to handling. Most of them will probably tolerate being gently handled once or twice a day for about 15 to 30 minutes each session. By handling I mean allowing them to crawl from hand to hand as you repeatedly move one hand in front of the other as the snake attempts to crawl away through your hands.

They are, in general as a species goes, a docile snake. While all snakes have recurved teeth and all can bite, corn snakes rarely bite in captivity with babies being more likely to defensively bite than adults. Since they usually quickly adapt to being handled, defensive biting usually is a rare occurrence once they become accustomed to handling. Bites when a snake anticipates feeding can be another thing so it is wise to place food animals into their enclosures using tongs. Since snakes use their sense of smell as a primary method to locate prey items, if they repeatedly smell both a hand and prey item at the same time they begin to associate the smell of the hand with their next meal and thus may bite the hand that feeds them. A bite from a corn snake can draw blood but is usually a minimal injury, and is less injurious if you just let it bite until it lets go or until you can remove it from you. What you do not want to do when a smaller sized non-venomous snake bites, and probably likewise with a big one but I would rather not be bitten by a giant python because that would be a major wound, is you do not want to jerk the bitten appendage, such as your hand, away from the snake. You may get your hand free but usually with several of those recurved teeth imbedded in the skin. As I said though, a bite from a corn snake, if you do not try to jerk away from it or out of its grip, is usually minimal. Corn Snakes, unlike many Kingsnakes, do not usually chew repeatedly when they bite and usually soon let go if they bite you instead of a mouse. Such a bite may amount to slightly broken skin to two rows of shallow pin pricks that draw a few to several beads of blood. It is almost always more a thing that people are afraid of than something that hurts a lot. Bear in mind - a dog, cat, rabbit, hamster, ferret, parrot, turtle, tortoise, brother or sister could give a bite of much more dire consequences. Well that is most of the fear factor having been taken care of but there is one more thing.

Corn Snakes are carnivores. They eat animals, usually whole animals as do all snakes in nature. Corn Snakes are, by nature, opportunistic feeders to a great extent. In the wilds they will eat: rodents, birds, bird’s eggs, lizards, frogs and possibly other snakes. Their preferred diet as adults seems to be rodents and thus one of the possible and probable origins of their name. Since they have an affinity for rodents, they are oft times found near agricultural areas and especially at places where small rodents are drawn in great numbers. One such place are corn cribs and silos. Some believe they got their name due to this attraction to places where mice and other small rodents often are found in good numbers. Of course, if you paid attention to the pic of the female corn snake, well - you may have guessed the other possible origin of the name Corn Snake. There bellies, in natural occurring varieties of Corn Snake resemble a certain type of corn - Indian Corn. Regardless of the origin of their name, they do eat rodents and therein lies the second fear factor in owning a pet Corn Snake. Some moms and dads just cannot tolerate live rodents or see little furry animals being killed by the snake before they are eaten. Even then these snakes make good pets since almost every corn snake I have ever owned readily took to eating dead mice. When I kept a large number of rodent eating snakes, I often bought frozen mice for them and thawed them out as needed for meals. (Yes, my wife is a saint to allow rodents in our freezer.) I can tell you, if I keep these two Corn Snakes, I will be buying frozen mice for them again since I can get them as low as .40 cents apiece by a 50 pack and single mice in pet shops now go for as much or more than 2.99 apiece (plus tax)!

Lest you think it very expensive to feed a corn snake, especially if you buy mice at the pet shop, you should know this: Corn Snakes can be fed on average of one mouse once per week (maybe 2 mice per feeding for a large one. Feeding them only once per week means a few good things for the keeper. First of all, even if you fed them every week during the year it would only amount to 52 feedings. If a mouse cost $3.00 then food for one corn snake for the year may only cost you $156.00. In temperate climates they will sometimes need to brumate (hibernate) for a few months and therefore not eat during that period thus saving you money. Compare that feeding bill to a dog’s or cat’s feeding bill and you will see it is much less expensive a proposition.

Another big plus of them eating only once per week is that you usually only need to do a complete enclosure clean-up once per week. You understand don't you? Yep, they eat once a week and usually only poop once a week. Since urine passes as a white chalky substance along with their stool, it is usually a single clean-up per meal. No daily walking or litter box cleanings necessary.

What they do need on a daily basis is fresh water. Supply water in a small bowl that is unlikely to be tipped over. Available clean water is a must, 24/7, even when they brumate. During brumation they are not asleep as some animals in hibernation but go through sleep and waking periods and are much less active than normal but do still require water in their enclosures.

Since snakes can be kept in a relatively small enclosure, the largest corn snake not really needing an enclosure larger than a 20 gallon long fish tank (although larger is certainly fine and maybe better) you can see they can be a good choice for small apartment dwellers. The tank or other enclosure must be escape proof. If snakes are good at something it is at squeezing through small holes or through narrow cracks and crevices. So make sure it is secure. Any lid or door must be securable, don't just place lid atop a tank and not expect the snake to push it off or at least to loosen it enough for the snake to escape. To the enclosure, you will need to add a suitable substrate. I prefer cypress mulch or shavings. Note, I did not say cedar shavings or cedar mulch. Cedar is toxic to reptiles and amphibians. I always use something absorbent to help absorb any spilled water or any poop. Snakes poops are relatively solid but sometimes can be a bit wet to runny. This can be a once in a while thing in a healthy snake but if persistent is a sign of illness. Other than that, all that needs to be added to the inside of a Corn Snake enclosure is a hide box and maybe a climbing branch.

Snakes are ectotherms, or animals that require outside temperatures to regulate their bodily functions. This means they will almost always require a heat source for their enclosures. A heat pad, made specifically for snake tanks or enclosures, can be attached to the bottom of a glass tank. These are very low wattage and quality ones are great heat sources for snakes. Other choices are heat tape (very similar to the heat pads) heat lamps, or ceramic heat emitters that screw into lighting fixtures. In general, the basking end of the tank should reach about 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit for a Corn Snake. The other end of the enclosure should be about normal room temperatures of about 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit. Nighttime temps can drop into the upper 60s with no ill effects. I keep the heating pad on 24/7 so the snake always has a choice of warmer or cooler areas. I never place a heat emitting device, like a hot bulb or ceramic emitter, over an area also warmed by a heat pad - this is asking for trouble in the way of a fire hazard or an overheated snake. If a snake is spending virtually all of its time at one end the temps are wrong. It means the temps is too high if it stays at the cool end almost all of the time or it means the temps are too low if it stays at the warm end almost all of the time. Being ectothermal, they move back and forth from warmer to cooler temperatures as needed for functions such as digestion. They also like to hide a lot so make sure they have at least one hide box at the cooler end of the enclosure. I sometimes have one at each end.

By now, maybe you have realized another plus to keeping corn snakes. The expense, overall, is not that great. The highest costs come when you first buy the snake and the enclosure and accessories. After that there is a bit of a charge for electricity, the cost of weekly feedings and the cost of substrate. By the way, I recommend changing the substrate completely about once per week or every two weeks. Don't go beyond that even if you think you scooped out all fecal matter during weekly tank clean-ups as little bits can cause bacteria to grow. Another reason I prefer Cypress is that it retards bacterial growth from what I can tell.

There are yet a few other aspects of snake biology that make them fascinating as pets. One is how they move about. With no legs, no feet, no arms and no hands it is a trick indeed but they get around exceptionally well. In fact, Corn Snakes are great climbers as well as being able to crawl round on the ground or swim in bodies of water. They are often found in trees probably in search of birds and also are often found in the rafters of barns.

A second fascinating set of aspects about snakes, in addition to the handicap of being limbless, is their ability to sense, track, capture, overpower and eat prey animals. Imagine for a moment that your life depended upon your hunting ability and that you were extremely near sighted had no hands to catch an animal, or to hold a knife and fork to help you eat the animal once you bagged it and had no legs on which to chase it. How well would you do? A snake does just fine in that regard. How does the snake do it? First of all, they locate and follow prey using a highly developed sense of smell, or they lie in ambush after locating a likely spot with the same sense. They smell by catching air particles on their forked tongues and transferring them to the Jacobson’s Organ in the roof of their mouths. This is such a good system they can actually determine direction of travel of a prey item by it and can also detect such things as mates and water sources with it. Once they find the scent of a prey animal, they track it using the same organ or lie in wait. They use either serpentine or rectilinear motion (mostly) to move along in their pursuit of a meal. When they encounter a meal (either by tracking it down or by waiting in ambush) they strike at it and grasp it with those recurved teeth I mentioned earlier. A corn snake is a constrictor and kills its prey by wrapping coils of its body around the animal and squeezing harder each time the animal exhales. In a brief time the animal suffocates. They snake will then seemingly sniff around it before eating it - then will usually eat it head first. It has jaws that can work independently of one another, one side holding the prey in place as the other side - both being able to expand greatly - moves forward and grabs more of the animal. Each side alternates until the prey item is well into the throat or esophagus when muscle contraction takes over and moves the prey item in to the stomach. They not only successfully find, catch, dispatch and eat prey but they can eat animals wider in girth than they are themselves. After eating, they usually go into a suitable place to hide for at least several days to weeks before going on the prowl again.

As they eat, they grow; in fact snakes grow throughout their lifetimes, just slower as adults. As they grow, their outer layer of skin does not grow, at least not much. So, when they grow in girth and length, the outer skin must be replaced from time to time. Snakes, therefore, go through another amazing biological process, that of ecdysis or shedding. As they grow and the old outer layer of skin becomes too small, they begin to produce a new layer of skin under the old. In order for this new layer to become the actual new outer layer, they must shed the old outer layer. As they prepare to shed most snakes will appear to become dull, their skin looks milky or cloudy somewhat and often has a slightly subdued hazy bluish hue. Even their once very clear eye scales become cloudy. During this phase they tend to stay in hiding; captive snakes should not be handled when in this stage. After a couple to a few weeks, they again look clear and regain pretty much their usual appearance. A few to several days after this, they usually begin to shed the old layer of outer skin starting at the tip of the snout. It often comes off, like a sock being pulled of inside out, all in one piece. What emerges is a snake with a new shinier outer skin that looks absolutely stunning especially in the case of a snake like the Corn Snake. After this, they often go on the prowl for prey almost immediately.

There is a lot more to learn about them. They are interesting creatures but I will leave it to you to find out some more things on your own - that is if you have an interest in them now that I have told you something about them.

If you want to keep them as pets, there are many places to find more information about them. Many books have been published ion the subject and many websites dedicated to their care in captivity. If you decide to get one, I recommend captive bred and born specimens. Some populations of wild Corn Snakes are endangered. They are literally bred by the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in captivity each year. So, buying captive bred Corn Snakes puts no strain on wild populations. Among the best places to acquire them are from dealers at reptile expos, from breeders, from reputable online dealers or from reptile specialty shops. I do not recommend, in fact I recommend against, getting them as general pet shops, especially large chain pet shops where animal care seemingly is often not up to par.

All in all they make a great easy to care for pet, and are among the most beautiful of all snakes.

All the best,
Glenn B


Print References:

Keeping and Breeding Corn Snakes by Michael J. McEachern, 1992. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc.

A Color Guide to Corn Snakes by Michael J. McEachern, 1991. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc.

Corn Snakes and Other Rat Snakes: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual by Richard Bartlett and Patricia Bartlett, 1996. Barrons.

The Corn Snake Manual by Bill and Cathy Love, 2000. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc.

Online References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecdysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Snake

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/elagut.htm

http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/E_guttata.htm

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=AR0096

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Cornsnake.cfm

Corn Snake Forums:

In The USA:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=70

Foreign:

http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/

Places To Buy Corn Snakes (none endorsed or recommended, just some options):

http://www.reptileexpo.com/

http://www.lihs.org/files/events.htm

http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=65

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=501

I've Got A Few Things I'd Like To Blog About...

...but no time to do it, not tonight anyhow. I have to be back at work early in the morning, very early in the morning, long before the sun even starts to peek at the horizon, let alone starts to come above it. With that said, allow me to say: Goodnight.

All the best,
GB