Sidewinding is a type of locomotion unique to some snakes. They use it to move across loose or slippery ground like sand or mud. It is often used by the Saharan horned viper, "Cerastes cerastes", and the sidewinder rattlesnake, "Crotalus cerastes", to move across loose desert sands. It is also used by some snakes in Southeast Asia to move across tidal mud flats. Other snakes can be induced to sidewind on artificial smooth surfaces, with various degrees of success. Sidewinding is not the only way snakes can move on sand.
Sidewinding is done by simply lifting all the segments with the same slope off the ground. In the movement, the snake's body is always in static (as opposed to sliding) contact with the ground. The head seems to be "thrown" forward, and the body follows, being lifted from the prior position and moved forward to lie on the ground ahead of where it was originally. Meanwhile, the head is being thrown forward again. In this way, the snake slowly progresses at an angle, leaving a series of mostly straight, J-shaped tracks. Because the snake's body is in static contact with the ground, imprints of the belly scales can be seen in the tracks, and each track is almost exactly as long as the snake.
Below is a crude animated line-drawing showing sidewinding in action. The light brown areas are the tracks left behind, and show where the body of the snake touched the ground.
This mode of locomotion overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of locomotion has very low caloric cost, less than ⅓ of the cost for a lizard or snake to move the same distance. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that sidewinding is associated with the sand being hot.
Dickie Moore (ice hockey)
Richard Winston "Dickie" Moore (January 6, 1931 – December 19, 2015) was a Canadian former professional hockey player, and successful businessman. He twice won the Art Ross Trophy as the National Hockey League's leading scorer and was added into that Hockey Hall of Fame.
Moore played with the Montreal Canadiens from 1951 to 1963. He started playing with the Montreal Jr. Royals for three seasons from 1947 to 1950, and made his debut with the Montreal Canadiens in the middle of the 1951–52 season. Moore had played on two Memorial Cup winners, one with the Montreal Royals in 1949 and Montreal Junior Canadiens the following year. He was known for his hard accurate shot and his ability to stickhandle the puck. He twice won the Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the league's leading scorer. Moore broke Gordie Howe's record of 95 total points in a regular season play with 41 goals and 55 assists.
Moore won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1953 and was a member of the Montreal Canadiens team that won five cups in a row from 1956–60. He retired following the 1962–63 season, but came back after a year's break to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Another three-year break saw Moore return to play 27 games for the St. Louis Blues.
In 1974, Moore was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was ranked number 31 on "The Hockey News"' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Following his retirement from hockey, Moore became a successful businessman, operating a tool rental business in Montreal.
On November 12, 2005, the Canadiens retired the uniform number 12 in honor of both Moore and Yvan Cournoyer.
On August 27, 2006, Moore suffered neck, spine and rib injuries when his car was hit by a truck in Montreal. He was trapped in the car for 45 minutes before rescue.
Moore died on December 19, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec from prostate cancer at the age of 84.
Dickie Moore
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Dit Clapper
Aubrey Victor "Dit" Clapper (February 9, 1907 – January 21, 1978) was a Canadian Hall of Fame ice hockey player, playing his entire professional career for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.
Clapper was the first NHL player to play twenty seasons, and one of only two to be an All-Star at both forward and defence. The right wing on the powerful "Dynamite Line"—one of the first forward lines to receive a nickname in hockey history—along with linemates Cooney Weiland and Dutch Gainor, he contributed to the breaking of several scoring records in the 1930s. Towards the end of his career, he was named player-coach of the Bruins, and held the coaching position after his retirement as a player.
Aubrey Clapper, son of Bill Clapper, was raised in Hastings, Ontario. Clapper was given his nickname at an early age when he would lisp his name, the result coming out "Dit."
Clapper started his hockey career at age 13, playing minor hockey in Oshawa, and going on to play with the junior league Toronto Parkdale club of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1925, scoring a goal in the team's Memorial Cup run that season. The following season he turned professional, playing for the Boston Tigers of the Canadian-American Hockey League.
The Boston Bruins bought Clapper's contract from the Tigers in 1927. Hitherto a defenceman, Bruins' coach Art Ross decided to try Clapper at right wing, and the experiment stuck. He scored his first NHL goal - ten seconds into his first shift—in the season opener against the Chicago Black Hawks.
The following season, Ross teamed Clapper up with Cooney Weiland and Dutch Gainor to form the Dynamite Line, one of the first named forward lines in history. The Bruins won the American Division that season and went on to their first Stanley Cup championship, with Clapper scoring the winning goal in the first game of their best-of-three series with the New York Rangers.
In the 1930 season, the league changed the passing rules, effectively eliminating offsides. The Stanley Cup champion Bruins took especial advantage, breaking many scoring records and recording the highest winning percentage the league would ever see, unsurpassed as of 2012. Leading the charge was the Dynamite Line, as Weiland led the league in scoring, Clapper finishing third and Gainor finishing ninth; Clapper's goal total of 41 was the third most in league history at that time. The Dynamite Line scored 102 of the Bruins' league record 179 goals, as many as last-place Pittsburgh managed. While Clapper scored four goals in six playoff games, the Bruins were shocked in the Stanley Cup finals by the Montreal Canadiens in their best-of-three series.
While Clapper kept his production high in the 1931 season, Gainor's scoring fell off badly, and the Dynamite Line was broken up at season's end. Clapper's 22 goals were good for eighth in the league, and he was named Second Team All-Star at right wing at year's end, the first season such All-Stars were named. The following year Clapper—with Bud Cook replacing the traded Gainor on his line with Weiland—was named team captain and again finished eighth in league scoring, but an injury-riddled Bruins' team fell into last place and out of the playoffs. While Weiland was dealt to Ottawa for the 1933 season, the Bruins purchased Montreal Maroons star Nels Stewart and paired him with Clapper to form a powerful offensive unit that led the Bruins back to a division championship.
The largest forward of his era at 6'2" and 200 lbs, Clapper was a notably peaceful player who nonetheless was involved in an unusual incident in the 1937 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Montreal Maroons. Highsticking Maroon Dave Trottier twice in the head, referee Clarence Campbell (the future NHL president) called Clapper a profane name, and Clapper knocked the referee to the ice with a single punch. Speculation was heavy that Clapper's punishment would be severe, but Campbell himself pleaded Clapper's case, stating that he felt he had provoked the Bruin into the blow; Clapper received only a $100 fine for the incident.