Vertebrates but not birds

Northern Alligator Lizard - Leanne shows one off You can dig up a picture of a lizard on a cell phone accessing the internet incredibly fast.  There, too, information can be accessed and digested.  The images can be perused, the stories of others gleaned over, and a virtual experience obtained.  But I have to tell you, all that pales to holding one in your hand. This is the problem with electronic intelligence.  It enhances intellect but not passion; it builds knowledge but not character.  You can learn a lot from media, but until you have real time with what you are reading about it is all just two-dimensional living.  Life comes from interacting with the world, with all its beauty and ugliness combined.  You can think that lizards are neat, but if you have never held one what do you really know?  It is possible that you can describe the classification of the Northern Alligator Lizard down to genus and species - but do you know what one fee...

My corn snake, Orville, eating a mouse (thawed from frozen). First of all, an apology, for those who just saw this and had a panic attack.  Snakes are one of those things that some people just can't stand.  Most snakes, in Canada anyways, are non poisonous.  There are a few that can kill if you don't get quick medical attention, but the number of people who get bitten, let alone die, are small.  In Canada only about 300 people get bitten by a snake each year, and none of them die (see bottom link).  Some poisonous snakes, such as the night snake and hog nose snake, produce venom that are of low impact to humans.  The more poisonous ones, like rattlesnakes, live in only restricted areas and are not seen all that often.  You can take this from someone who looks for snakes regularly - I have only seen two rattlesnakes. Orville, his name, is a corn snake, native to southeastern US.  Corn snakes are related to milk and king snakes, which are...