Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
I am not a fan of anything that slithers, slinks, creeps, or crawls. This applies basically to all forms of land-born bugs (think centipedes, spiders, etc.) and snakes – especially snakes. Just watching them move gives me the shivers. Yuck.
I have had a few conversations of late about which are worse, spiders or snakes – I think probably spurred by news reports of the “giant venomous flying spider invasion” and the “rattlesnake found in Lake George hotel” headlines. In my mind, it’s snakes every day, all day, though spiders are definitely a close second. Given a choice, I would be absolutely fine never seeing a representative of either group ever again.
I know, I know. They both have their place in the world. In fact, snakes are very useful when it comes to pest control, as they eat small rodents, ticks, slugs, and even spiders! Two of the aforementioned four are largely to blame for the spread of Lyme disease and other illnesses, and, in the case of rodents, also damage crops.
Snakes, in turn, are themselves an important food source for a variety of birds and mammals. They are an integral part of the web of life and contribute to the biodiversity that keeps the planet healthy. Without them, pests would flourish, disease would spread unchecked, and a number of animals higher up the food chain would suffer.
Snakes, or rather their venom, has medicinal purposes. It has contributed to the development of some important treatments for diseases like diabetes, heart conditions and even cancer.
There are somewhere shy of 4,000 species of snakes in the world – all of which are cold blooded, meaning they regulate their body temperature externally, and almost all covered with scales.
The only snake-free locations on the globe are Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland, and New Zealand. A small portion – about 600 species – are venomous, and of those, just 200—seven percent – can pack a punch strong enough to injure or kill a human being.
New York is home to a relatively small number of snakes, from a species perspective – 17, to be exact, only three of which are poisonous if they bite you. The one you really have to worry about, in my opinion, is the the Timber Rattlesnake, which is described at the aforementioned link as “highly venomous and extremely dangerous.”
The Timber Rattlesnake has been spotted in the lower Hudson Valley, eastern and southern Adirondacks, and parts of Central New York.
They’re threatened – largely due to development that is encroaching on their natural habitat, but also because people often kill them on sight rather than letting them be. (FWIW, it has been illegal to kill them – among other snakes – in New York since the early 1970s).
Generally speaking, the Timber Rattler has a broad, diamond-shaped head, rattle on tail. It will either be yellow, light brown and green with dark color bands, or grey with black banding.
I’ve seen these snakes while hiking, and I always give them a VERY wide berth. Sadly, I’ve seen people get far too close to them for comfort – mostly to take their photos. In short: Stop it! Just leave them alone and they will be fine, as will you (and your dogs, and your kids).
I have penned this post in honor of World Snake Day, managing to overcome by fear and loathing of them just long enough to get these facts down. Don’t ask me to do it again for another year. Truth be told, even though I now have a slightly better understanding and appreciation for snakes, I still don’t like them. Sorry.
A heat advisory is in effect through 8 p.m. tonight. Heat index values will be up in the 100 range, though the temperatures will be in the mid-90s. There’s a potential for severe thunderstorms in the afternoon, and it will be mostly cloudy in the morning.
In the headlines…
Former President Donald Trump was greeted with cheers of “USA” and “We love Trump” from Republican National Convention delegates as he entered the hall in Milwaukee, two days after surviving an assassination attempt.
As he walked into the arena, the crowd erupted into cheering and chants, including repeatedly shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as the former president waved to the audience.
Trump named Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate, ending months of theatrical buildup and settling on a much younger partner who could help appeal to working-class voters in critical Midwest battleground states.
If Trump is elected, Vance, who turns 40 in August, would be one of the youngest vice presidents in history and one with just two years of elected experience.
Vance has undergone a dramatic — and, in the eyes of his critics, highly dubious — political transformation: from blue-collar bard and self-described “Never Trump” conservative to hard-edged MAGA loyalist and dogged defender of the former president.
Vance said late last night that he is “just overwhelmed with gratitude,” after officially being selected as Trump’s running mate.
Trump and Vance were surrounded by the Trump family. The Ohio senator also sat next to House Speaker Mike Johnson who spoke at the RNC earlier this evening. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also seen in the box in the same row.
As the first night of the RNC unfolded, President Joe Biden sat for a new televised interview where he pushed back when asked about whether he needed to do more to convince his party that he’s got what it takes to run for a second term.
In an interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Biden at times grew combative and said he isn’t leaving the race even though some Democratic leaders have expressed fears that he can’t win.
While taking care to express how grateful he is that Trump was not seriously wounded in the shooting, Biden also blamed the former president for intensifying political rhetoric across the United States.
Biden said he should not have used the language, “put Trump in the bulls-eye,” a remark he made to donors in a private call days before the attempted assassination of the former president at a Pennsylvania rally.
A federal judge dismissed in its entirety the classified documents case against Trump yesterday, ruling that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution.
In a ruling delivered on Day One of the RNC, Judge Aileen Cannon found Smith’s appointment as special counsel was improper because it wasn’t based on a specific federal statute and he wasn’t named to the post by the president or confirmed by the Senate.
After emerging largely unscathed from an assassination attempt and getting his classified documents case thrown out, a defiant Trump dug his heels in on claims of a Democrat-led court conspiracy by calling for all his remaining legal battles to be dismissed.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Cannon’s dismissal of the felony charges accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents “breathtakingly misguided” and called for her ruling to be “appealed immediately.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith will appeal the ruling, according to Smith’s spokesman.
Video taken by a bystander shows people pointing to the man suspected of shooting at Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania and frantically warning law enforcement, just two minutes before the first burst of gunfire rang out.
The F.B.I. said that it had gained access to data on the cellphone of the man who tried to assassinate Trump, as investigators continued to search for a motive in the shooting at the former president’s weekend campaign rally.
The man who attempted to assassinate Trump should not have had a direct line of sight on the presumptive Republican nominee, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Trump’s campaign and the RNC are suing Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her voter registration efforts in the state.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who represents the North Country, will be a featured speaker at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.
In her first public event since the Trump shooting Gov. Kathy Hochul denounced political violence, while reaffirming her criticisms of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and downplaying the idea that Democratic rhetoric may have played a role in it.
Hochul kicked off a “listening tour” on how to combat harmful smartphone use in schools as she mulls a statewide ban on kids having the devices in class.
New York’s schools and teachers should not have to wrestle with what to do about student cellphone use in class, Hochul said. She prefers a statewide ban.
No decisions have been made on a policy, Hochul said. She kicked off a listening tour with a roundtable in the Capital Region to hear from educators and administrators about the issue.
Hochul is warning New Yorkers of the impending heat that is set to blanket the state once again.
The state attorney general’s office has renewed its settlement talks with Purdue Pharma after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision derailed a $4.5 billion agreement New York had made with the company three years ago.
The former board president of the National Rifle Association spent yesterday on a witness stand trying to ward off an effort by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, to have an outside monitor appointed to oversee the gun group.
While most Democrats are preoccupied with the presidential race this November, the New York City mayoral race has begun and is showing signs of being more competitive than many expected.
Adams’s campaign said it had raised more than $1 million over the last six months — bringing the total war chest, with city matching funds, above $8 million.
Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer told the Daily News he’s raised approximately $425,000 in donations for a potential primary run against Adams — an amount that could grow to about $2.1 million once matching funds are factored in.
Based on campaign finance data, Adams faces three credible threats to winning another term in City Hall — Stringer, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Comptroller Brad Lander — all of whom are amassing considerable warchests for potential runs.
Two challengers hoping to deny Adams a second term – Stringer and Myrie – say they’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for their respective campaigns, sums that will stretch into the millions once public matching funds are added.
A construction company whose office FBI agents raided last year as part of a federal investigation into Adams’ 2021 campaign illegally erected several stories of an East Village residential project without obtaining a key permit, Gothamist has found.
Adams said that local law enforcement had come a long way since the death of Eric Garner while in police custody a decade ago, and that work will continue to prevent a similar tragedy.
Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh — who confirmed she was quitting over the weekend — was pushed out after she burned too many bridges with rank-and-file Bravest, sources with knowledge of the situation told The NY Post yesterday.
New York City’s social services agency will soon begin slashing safety net benefits to the lowest-income residents if they fail to meet work requirements, according to an email obtained by Gothamist.
A new study finds that the average New Yorker feels the “urban heat island” effect more than anyone else in the country.
Neigh-sayers galloped outside Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday afternoon to call for a shutdown of the city’s carriage horse industry as a handler of a horse that died two years ago faced his first day of trial — or so they thought.
Eastern Queens officials say that the loud and reckless driving behavior taking over their parking lots at night is a stroke of a pen away from being curbed.
Four New York hospitals — three in NYC and one on Long Island — are among the top 20 medical centers in the nation, U.S. News & World Report announced.
State Attorney General Letitia James and the New York Civil Liberties Union sued Nassau County yesterday, just hours after the county executive signed a law banning transgender girls and women from playing sports at county-run facilities.
During a press conference, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said it’s unfair for trans women and girls to compete against biological females, given scientific evidence that biological males on the whole are stronger, bigger and faster than women.
A city man was arrested early yesterday after he allegedly smashed the front windows at the Lionheart Pub on Albany’s Madison Avenue, according to police.
The words of William Shakespeare that usually filled Saratoga Springs’ parks will be silent this summer at Saratoga Shakespeare Company. There will be no free, public production in 2024, though the company aims to resume next year.
Before he takes the stage July 22 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Sammy Hagar wants to meet the officer who pulled him over on the Northway four decades ago. The speeding ticket the trooper wrote turbo-charged the rocker’s career.
Oh, and speaking of snakes. Just no.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
