In “Keeping Up Appearances” the riparian picnic is a regular feature of the comic antics that make the show funny, as long as you haven’t seen too many episodes that use the same joke. For some reason, I also associate the word “riparian” with British poetry, possibly featuring shepherds leading their flocks near picturesque creeks.
Imagine my surprise to discover that “riparian” has a scientific as well as a belletristic significance. Apparently, riparian describes the ecological system immediately next to (but not in) water. Interesting. Perhaps the shepherds were onto something. Certainly the availability of a body of water near a picnic populated with floral-clad British matrons presents comedic possibilities somewhat richer than those available in other pastoral settings.
Another feature of the riparian (or possibly the borders between the riparian and the somewhat drier ecology that forms a buffer between desert and riparian—I would need to look that up) appears to be rattlesnakes. “Please protect the rattlesnakes,” read the signs. Until reading these signs, I was unaware that rattlesnakes needed protection. They are, after all, venomous serpents, a class/family/order of animals with long-standing bad press. Cleopatra was apparently killed by one, and these animals are now even less popular given Voldemort’s affinity with all manner of legless reptiles. However, it seems that, in the United States, certain rattlesnakes are endangered due to human encroachment on their habitats. In the parks, rattlesnakes are therefore protected, which means that we humans shouldn’t trouble them at all, and if we get bitten, should just whip out the snake bite kit and deal. Luckily, rattlesnakes are pretty smart and like to stay away from much larger animals that could possibly step on their heads and kill them.
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