Reptile Pile: Accurassssssy Happy Hours
Snakes are limbless, carnivorous scaly reptiles from the Squamata order (we’ll meet some of their club members in later competitions). Although you may assume that evolution favors the addition of limbs, this is not always the case! Snakes lost their legs 100-150 million years ago, and have been going strong ever since. You can jump backwards and scream “snake!” on every continent except Antarctica. In addition, lizards have evolved without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about 25 times independently of each other. Legs, who needs ’em!
Snakes are hunters, and have evolved with a number of fascinating assets to aid them in targeting prey with great precision. The spitting cobra can spit venom into it’s victim’s eyes from over 5 feet away, with nearly 90% accuracy!
Pit vipers, pythons, and some boas utilize a pit organ that detects warm-blooded prey through the use of infrared light. This “heat vision” gives the snakes an extra advantage in locating their prey, even in conditions where visibility is poor.
Most snakes are “ambush hunters” meaning they lie in wait and then strike at their prey. But there are expectations! Some snakes will give chase when hunting or when threatened. The venomous Black Mamba can slither at speeds of up to 12.5 mph (20 km/h)!
If a snake sticks its tongue out at you, it’s not trying to be rude, it’s just trying to take a whiff of its surroundings. Snakes smell with their tongues, and use them constantly to orient themselves, find prey, and avoid predators. This applies to all snakes, including aquatic ones, as their tongue smelling senses also work underwater!
Snake eyesight is one of their weaker senses, and varies from very poor in burrowing snakes, to halfway decent in tree-dwellers. Nocturnal snakes tend to have the slit pupils classically associated with snakes, while diurnal snakes tend to have round pupils. However, they more than make up for what they lack in vision with other senses, including a fine tuned sensitivity to vibration that allows for the tracking of approaching animals.
Now it’s time to channel your inner snake, and accurately hunt down the perfect segments for your cubes. Get ready for Accuracy Happy Hours! All times are ET:
Session 1 – 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM on 8/18
Session 2 – 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on 8/19
Session 3 – 10:00 PM to midnight on 8/19
HQ will bestow typical Happy Hour bonuses for your work during each of those time frames, but there’s more than that to earn! Check your in-game notifications to see the full accuracy bonus breakdown.
Swag: Most accurate player completing at least 30 cubes wins a notebook, plus a sticker/magnet set! Second and third place will each also win a sticker/magnet set.
Mentors: You are still allowed to mentor people during these time windows. Please just use your best judgment as to whether someone is asking you for basic newbie help vs. trying to have you boost their accuracy on cube after cube.
Scythes: Please avoid scything during these time windows. Even though accuracy for this will be retroactively calculated, we would prefer to go with accuracy based on players’ raw tracing. By the time this challenge is scored, don’t worry, admins will have corrected consensus as needed.