Snipes are real!!

scrapbird · 13th January 2013, 09:04 PM

In the latest podcast (#344) about the Mongolian Death Worms, "snipes" were included in a fictitious list of creatures. Snipes, or Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) are common North American shorebirds with long dark bills and striped heads, found in wet meadows and marsh edges across the continent.
When I became a birder ten years ago, I too was surprised to discover that snipe are real birds!!

Madalch · 13th January 2013, 10:10 PM

I remember reading about the fabled "snipe hunt" when I was in school, a few months after we bought the "Field Guide to North American Birds". I was loudly mocked in class for claiming that a snipe was a real bird.

Puppycow · 14th January 2013, 12:12 AM

Had to look it up.

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

Yup. They're real alright.

Puppycow · 14th January 2013, 12:15 AM

And here is the episode in question:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4344

Quote:

Think of how absurdly the taxonomy would have to be expanded if every local tradition was sufficient, on that merit alone, to warrant the scientific acceptance of a new species. Dragons, snipes, and Yowies would have to be in our textbooks.

Is there a fictional kind of snipe too?

Puppycow · 14th January 2013, 12:20 AM

Here is the Wikipedia entry for "snipe hunt". I vaguely recall something like this from my youth:

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

Quote:

A snipe hunt, a made up hunt (or wild-goose chase) that is also known as a fool's errand, is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task. The origin of the term is a practical joke where inexperienced campers are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a usually preposterous method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises such as banging rocks together. Real snipe (a family of shorebirds) are difficult to catch for experienced hunters, so much so that the word "sniper" is derived from it to refer to anyone skilled enough to shoot one.[1]
The snipe hunt may be assigned to a target as either part of a process of hazing, in which the object is to initiate the snipe hunter into the group, or as part of a process of ostracism intended to encourage (or force) a person, perceived to be an unwanted interloper, to withdraw from the group's presence.

I can see how someone might reach the conclusion that snipes are imaginary (like a jackalope) after going through this hazing.

Captain_Swoop · 14th January 2013, 12:43 AM

Just because there aren't many Snipe in the USA!!

Snipe are a family of about 25 Wading Birds.

In the UK Snipe are hunted on Farmland.

Where do you think the term 'Sniper' came from?

Jack by the hedge · 14th January 2013, 03:05 AM

I knew that snipe were wading birds but never heard the term 'snipe hunt' used to describe a fool's errand. I only recently discovered that some people thought snipes were imaginary.

Garrette · 14th January 2013, 09:40 AM

We did snipe hunts in Boy Scouts as initiation. I had thought they were imaginary until a few years ago when the same subject came up on this forum.

DAMN YOU, JREF! I had hoped all my learnin' was done!

jhunter1163 · 14th January 2013, 03:20 PM

My dad once sent my little brother on a skeet hunt. My brother had gotten himself a box of skeet loads, which had a picture of a bird on it; naturally, he assumed that the pictured bird was a skeet. When my dad heard about my little brother's planned skeet hunt, he undertook to set him straight on the finer points.

"Now, you go down to the river bottom at first light; that's where the skeet nest. Get yourself set up real good in the tall grass and do the skeet call, 'Pull! Pull! Pull!' They'll come over your head like they were shot out of a cannon or something."

Sure enough, first light the next morning found my intrepid brother in the tall grass...

EventHorizon · 15th January 2013, 02:21 PM

You guys are weird. These are Snipes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipes_%28video_game%29

MikeG · 15th January 2013, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by scrapbird

Snipes are real

The plural of snipe is snipe, not snipes. For instance: "There are many snipe at he waterline".

Mike

Tiktaalik · 15th January 2013, 02:53 PM

I did an ornithology project on snipe nests. They have nice looking medium-sized eggs but precocial young, so one day I got there and they were all gone. I also had issues convincing others that they were real...

Clayton Moore · 18th January 2013, 08:11 PM

A snipe is a Navy grease monkey.

Pup · 18th January 2013, 09:03 PM

Currier & Ives lithograph of a man snipe hunting:

http://img0097.popscreencdn.com/1314...ng-hunter-.jpg

zooterkin · 19th January 2013, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jack by the hedge

I knew that snipe were wading birds but never heard the term 'snipe hunt' used to describe a fool's errand. I only recently discovered that some people thought snipes were imaginary.

I first encountered the 'snipe hunt' in an episode of Cheers, and I was fairly baffled that they thought snipe were imaginary.

Skeptic Ginger · 19th January 2013, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

....

Where do you think the term 'Sniper' came from?

Interesting, of all the birds one hunts from a hide, it's surprising this is the one whose name stuck.

Quote:

"shoot from a hidden place," 1773 (among British soldiers in India), in reference to hunting snipe as game, from snipe (n.). Related: Sniped; sniping.

malaka · 22nd January 2013, 10:50 AM

As a youngster in the boy scouts, I once participated in a “snipe hunt” during a camping trip.

One of the counselors took 5-6 of us into the woods as he described how to scare a snipe into the open. It involved, as others have said above, making loud noises until the snipe was flushed from the bushes and into our waiting, open trash bags. Finally, we came to a spot when the counselor announced that he had spotted one darting under a distant bush. He instructed us to surround the large bush as he went in the flush out the snipe. We circled the bush and hollered out little hearts out. We heard some “bird-like” noises coming the bush, some yelling, and then the counselor emerged. “Did you see it? Where did it go?” Of course, somehow none of us saw the “lightning fast bird”. But, to show that it was real, the counselor displayed his bloody finger. “The bird bit me then took off!” We were amazed. Many years later, I learned that he had, of course, bit his own finger (and drew blood!) just to keep the illusion alive.

I’m still amazed, but for a different reason.

Gawdzilla Sama · 22nd January 2013, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by Clayton Moore

A snipe is a Navy grease monkey.

I beg your pardon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinist%27s_Mate

Jack by the hedge · 22nd January 2013, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by MikeG

The plural of snipe is snipe, not snipes. For instance: "There are many snipe at he waterline".

I thought so, but wasn't sure. In fact in my post above I see I used both, but that was while reading the Wikipedia page which uses 'snipes' throughout.

zooterkin · 22nd January 2013, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Gawdzilla

I beg your pardon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinist%27s_Mate

It's ok, I doubt anyone accepted the incorrect definition, given the source.

Garrette · 24th January 2013, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by malaka

As a youngster in the boy scouts, I once participated in a “snipe hunt” during a camping trip.

One of the counselors took 5-6 of us into the woods as he described how to scare a snipe into the open. It involved, as others have said above, making loud noises until the snipe was flushed from the bushes and into our waiting, open trash bags. Finally, we came to a spot when the counselor announced that he had spotted one darting under a distant bush. He instructed us to surround the large bush as he went in the flush out the snipe. We circled the bush and hollered out little hearts out. We heard some “bird-like” noises coming the bush, some yelling, and then the counselor emerged. “Did you see it? Where did it go?” Of course, somehow none of us saw the “lightning fast bird”. But, to show that it was real, the counselor displayed his bloody finger. “The bird bit me then took off!” We were amazed. Many years later, I learned that he had, of course, bit his own finger (and drew blood!) just to keep the illusion alive.

I’m still amazed, but for a different reason.

My experience was similar but added the "safety precaution" of blindfolds as the older scouts went to flush out the snipe. They're nasty creatures with sharp claws who go for the eyes first, you see.

13th January 2013, 09:04 PM	#1
scrapbird New Blood Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 1	Snipes are real!! In the latest podcast (#344) about the Mongolian Death Worms, "snipes" were included in a fictitious list of creatures. Snipes, or Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) are common North American shorebirds with long dark bills and striped heads, found in wet meadows and marsh edges across the continent. When I became a birder ten years ago, I too was surprised to discover that snipe are real birds!!
scrapbird New Blood Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 1

13th January 2013, 10:10 PM	#2
Madalch The Jester Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 9,760	I remember reading about the fabled "snipe hunt" when I was in school, a few months after we bought the "Field Guide to North American Birds". I was loudly mocked in class for claiming that a snipe was a real bird.
Madalch The Jester Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 9,760	__________________ As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of resolving approaches zero. -Vaarsuvius It's a rum state of affairs when you feel like punching a jar of mayonnaise in the face. -Charlie Brooker

14th January 2013, 12:15 AM	#4
Puppycow Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 22,755	And here is the episode in question: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4344 Quote: Think of how absurdly the taxonomy would have to be expanded if every local tradition was sufficient, on that merit alone, to warrant the scientific acceptance of a new species. Dragons, snipes, and Yowies would have to be in our textbooks. Is there a fictional kind of snipe too?
	__________________ A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. William Shakespeare

14th January 2013, 12:20 AM	#5
Puppycow Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 22,755	Here is the Wikipedia entry for "snipe hunt". I vaguely recall something like this from my youth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt Quote: A snipe hunt, a made up hunt (or wild-goose chase) that is also known as a fool's errand, is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task. The origin of the term is a practical joke where inexperienced campers are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a usually preposterous method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises such as banging rocks together. Real snipe (a family of shorebirds) are difficult to catch for experienced hunters, so much so that the word "sniper" is derived from it to refer to anyone skilled enough to shoot one.[1] The snipe hunt may be assigned to a target as either part of a process of hazing, in which the object is to initiate the snipe hunter into the group, or as part of a process of ostracism intended to encourage (or force) a person, perceived to be an unwanted interloper, to withdraw from the group's presence. I can see how someone might reach the conclusion that snipes are imaginary (like a jackalope) after going through this hazing.
	__________________ A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. William Shakespeare

14th January 2013, 09:40 AM	#8
Garrette Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 14,605	We did snipe hunts in Boy Scouts as initiation. I had thought they were imaginary until a few years ago when the same subject came up on this forum. DAMN YOU, JREF! I had hoped all my learnin' was done!
	__________________ My kids still love me.

14th January 2013, 12:12 AM	#3
Puppycow Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 22,755	Had to look it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe Yup. They're real alright.
	__________________ A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. William Shakespeare

14th January 2013, 12:43 AM	#6
Captain_Swoop Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 15,355	Just because there aren't many Snipe in the USA!! Snipe are a family of about 25 Wading Birds. In the UK Snipe are hunted on Farmland. Where do you think the term 'Sniper' came from?

14th January 2013, 03:05 AM	#7
Jack by the hedge Safely Ignored Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 8,893	I knew that snipe were wading birds but never heard the term 'snipe hunt' used to describe a fool's errand. I only recently discovered that some people thought snipes were imaginary.

14th January 2013, 03:20 PM	#9
jhunter1163 beer-swilling semiliterate Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Connecticut, or King Arthur's Court. Hard to tell sometimes. Posts: 25,012	My dad once sent my little brother on a skeet hunt. My brother had gotten himself a box of skeet loads, which had a picture of a bird on it; naturally, he assumed that the pictured bird was a skeet. When my dad heard about my little brother's planned skeet hunt, he undertook to set him straight on the finer points. "Now, you go down to the river bottom at first light; that's where the skeet nest. Get yourself set up real good in the tall grass and do the skeet call, 'Pull! Pull! Pull!' They'll come over your head like they were shot out of a cannon or something." Sure enough, first light the next morning found my intrepid brother in the tall grass...

15th January 2013, 02:21 PM	#10
EventHorizon Atheist Tergiversator Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 3,076	You guys are weird. These are Snipes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipes_%28video_game%29
	__________________ "One of the hardest parts of being an active skeptic - of anything - is knowing when to cut your losses, and then doing so." -Phil Plait

15th January 2013, 02:33 PM	#11
MikeG Now. Do it now. Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: UK Posts: 22,770	Originally Posted by scrapbird Snipes are real The plural of snipe is snipe, not snipes. For instance: "There are many snipe at he waterline". Mike

15th January 2013, 02:53 PM	#12
Tiktaalik Half True Scotsperson Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 3,666	I did an ornithology project on snipe nests. They have nice looking medium-sized eggs but precocial young, so one day I got there and they were all gone. I also had issues convincing others that they were real...

18th January 2013, 08:11 PM	#13
Clayton Moore Banned Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 7,508	A snipe is a Navy grease monkey.
Clayton Moore Banned Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 7,508

18th January 2013, 09:03 PM	#14
Pup Philosopher Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,679	Currier & Ives lithograph of a man snipe hunting: http://img0097.popscreencdn.com/1314...ng-hunter-.jpg
Pup Philosopher Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,679

19th January 2013, 01:12 PM	#15
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Deputy Admin Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 39,869	Originally Posted by Jack by the hedge I knew that snipe were wading birds but never heard the term 'snipe hunt' used to describe a fool's errand. I only recently discovered that some people thought snipes were imaginary. I first encountered the 'snipe hunt' in an episode of Cheers, and I was fairly baffled that they thought snipe were imaginary.
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232 Ezekiel 23:20

19th January 2013, 02:39 PM	#16
Skeptic Ginger Nasty Woman Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 66,198	Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop .... Where do you think the term 'Sniper' came from? Interesting, of all the birds one hunts from a hide, it's surprising this is the one whose name stuck. Quote: "shoot from a hidden place," 1773 (among British soldiers in India), in reference to hunting snipe as game, from snipe (n.). Related: Sniped; sniping.
	__________________ "Why do people say 'grow some balls'? Balls are weak and sensitive! If you really want to get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding!" — Betty White

22nd January 2013, 10:50 AM	#17
malaka Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,347	As a youngster in the boy scouts, I once participated in a “snipe hunt” during a camping trip. One of the counselors took 5-6 of us into the woods as he described how to scare a snipe into the open. It involved, as others have said above, making loud noises until the snipe was flushed from the bushes and into our waiting, open trash bags. Finally, we came to a spot when the counselor announced that he had spotted one darting under a distant bush. He instructed us to surround the large bush as he went in the flush out the snipe. We circled the bush and hollered out little hearts out. We heard some “bird-like” noises coming the bush, some yelling, and then the counselor emerged. “Did you see it? Where did it go?” Of course, somehow none of us saw the “lightning fast bird”. But, to show that it was real, the counselor displayed his bloody finger. “The bird bit me then took off!” We were amazed. Many years later, I learned that he had, of course, bit his own finger (and drew blood!) just to keep the illusion alive. I’m still amazed, but for a different reason.
malaka Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,347

22nd January 2013, 10:59 AM	#18
Gawdzilla Sama 121.92-meter mutant fire-breathing lizard-thingy Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Northern St. Louis County, Missouri. Posts: 42,180	Originally Posted by Clayton Moore A snipe is a Navy grease monkey. I beg your pardon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinist%27s_Mate
	__________________ Guns that are instantly available for use are instantly available for misuse. World War II Diplomatic and Political Resources Hyperwar, WWII Military History Buying conspiracy books is a voluntary tax on stupid.

22nd January 2013, 11:06 AM	#19
Jack by the hedge Safely Ignored Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 8,893	Originally Posted by MikeG The plural of snipe is snipe, not snipes. For instance: "There are many snipe at he waterline". I thought so, but wasn't sure. In fact in my post above I see I used both, but that was while reading the Wikipedia page which uses 'snipes' throughout.

22nd January 2013, 11:27 AM	#20
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Deputy Admin Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 39,869	Originally Posted by Gawdzilla I beg your pardon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinist%27s_Mate It's ok, I doubt anyone accepted the incorrect definition, given the source.
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232 Ezekiel 23:20

24th January 2013, 02:15 PM	#21
Garrette Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 14,605	Originally Posted by malaka As a youngster in the boy scouts, I once participated in a “snipe hunt” during a camping trip. One of the counselors took 5-6 of us into the woods as he described how to scare a snipe into the open. It involved, as others have said above, making loud noises until the snipe was flushed from the bushes and into our waiting, open trash bags. Finally, we came to a spot when the counselor announced that he had spotted one darting under a distant bush. He instructed us to surround the large bush as he went in the flush out the snipe. We circled the bush and hollered out little hearts out. We heard some “bird-like” noises coming the bush, some yelling, and then the counselor emerged. “Did you see it? Where did it go?” Of course, somehow none of us saw the “lightning fast bird”. But, to show that it was real, the counselor displayed his bloody finger. “The bird bit me then took off!” We were amazed. Many years later, I learned that he had, of course, bit his own finger (and drew blood!) just to keep the illusion alive. I’m still amazed, but for a different reason. My experience was similar but added the "safety precaution" of blindfolds as the older scouts went to flush out the snipe. They're nasty creatures with sharp claws who go for the eyes first, you see.
	__________________ My kids still love me.