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From: michaelm@bcsaic
Newsgroups: net.bio
Subject: Re: Bipedalism
Message-ID: <530@bcsaic>
Date: Mon, 28-Apr-86 23:07:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: bcsaic.530
Posted: Mon Apr 28 23:07:00 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 11-May-86 16:50:16 EDT
References: <487@bcsaic>
Lines: 18

In article <2529@jhunix.UUCP> ins_atrh@jhunix.ARPA (Thomas Holtz) writes:
>...Actually, this should read, "Humans can now hold *predators* at bay."
>For several reasons.  First, "enemies" can be construed to include poisonous
>snakes which do not prey on humans (and which can take quite a toll in
>Africa and Asia) as well as multitudinous parasites.

This is just an aside, but there is a tribe in Ecuador called the Waorani
(their name for themselves--they're more often referred to as the "Aucas", a
word in another language that means "savages").  According to a survey done a
few years ago, over 95% of the adult men had been bitten by poisonous snakes.
This was before the advent of modern medical treatments for snakebite.
Apparently the human body can hold its own agains a number of poisonous
snakes...  I don't know what permanent affects the snakebites had, although
these men continued to lead active lives as hunters afterwards.
-- 
Mike Maxwell
Boeing Artificial Intelligence Center
	...uw-beaver!uw-june!bcsaic!michaelm