Posted In: comic
– I’ll be at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this Saturday. Come by and check it out!
Support Modest Medusa! Help Jake make comics!
– I’ll be at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this Saturday. Come by and check it out!
How does it work? Will Jake have to buy a thermal lamp or something? Modest has not needed one so far.
Science Teacher mode on
How to tell if an animal is endothermic (cold-blooded) or exothermic (warm-blooded):
Insulation, like fat, fur and feathers, is most effective in helping an exotherm regulate its body temperature, where the heat for metabolism is principally internal. Cold-blooded animals thermoregulate environmentally, instead of internally, so need to allow heat in easily, so scales make more sense, because scales can pass heat easily.
Compare the behaviour of the animal in a warm environment and a cool, but not cold, environment. If the animal slows down and becomes sluggish, slow to respond to stimulus, but does not start shivering, you are probably dealing with a endotherm. If there is little or no change in behaviour, especially speed of activity and response, maybe showing some signs of shivering, or other activity to increase metabolism, then you are probably dealing with a warm-blooded creature.
Measure the core temperature of the animal at rest (if it is panting, shivering or showing signs of stress, wait for it to get to normal). If the temperature is the same or only slightly higher than the environment, you are most likely dealing with a cold-blooded critter. If the core temperature is much higher than the environment, then you are dealing with an exotherm.
Science Teacher mode off
No feathers or fur on this snake, so I am thinking she more likely cold-blooded. She collapsed when she cooled off outside, as opposed to jumping around trying to warm up, which is more evidence of endothermism. Time to get out the thermometer. Just promise not to bite it, Modest.
She does have hair though. It’s a mystery!
Snakes attached to her head in the position we humans have hair is not the same as actually having hair. We don’t call your fingernails claws or hooves, but it is in the same place on the body (and in that case, made of the same structures).
She does have actual hair as well. I don’t do a great job illustrating it, but you can see it sometimes.
That’s news to the rest of us.
Hmmm… Seems like if she was cold-blooded they’d be seeing signs of it long before now—like she and her snakes would be lying out on a rock to heat themselves up during the summer.
Definitely not how it works! Lay on a register like the cats do!!
What? You’ve never drained out all your blood, boiled it, and injected it back into your body?
My God… SHE HAS TELEKINESIS AND/OR PYROKINESIS!
In that first strip where she went outside, her shirt had that pink cat from the LEGO movie on it. It disappeared in all the other strips.
It did. I forgot.
I just assumed as she was cold and, most likely, wet Jake would have made her change her top. 😉
I can’t tell if she just turned on the stove, or if she summoned fire from her hand.
So is she cold blooded?
ok for a minute there i thought she was going to boil her blood in a pot
Panel 3 looks like she cast ‘fireball’ Lolz!
Really she just turned the knob… right?
Cute how the hair-snakes stay well back from that. They’re smart!
Yeah, panel 3 is supposed to be the moment after she turned the nob and has pulled back her hand.
Hah. I was reading through the comments specifically to see if anyone asked that. I too was confused as to whether that was her demonstrating magical ability or her turning on the stove normally. 🙂
(Am enjoying this comic as a whole. interesting mix of adorable and horror. adhorrorble?)
Do we know for sure how old Modest is?
Nope. Jake thinks she’s 5 or 6, but we don’t know for sure.
He could have asked when he met her parents. Then again he had other things do deal with at the time.
She didn’t even touch the stove. Modest has fire magic?
Actually, that is kinda how it works.
You could find out if she is warm or cold blooded by taking her temperature a few times. Warm blooded animals stay more or less the same where cold blooded animals will change to match the temperature of area they are in.
Did she switch on the stove without actually touching the switch?
Someone’s gonna have to learn how to slither about in a sleeping bag or similar.
Jake, quit slacking off and get that girl a heat lamp and a rock dammit!
Ha, Yes!
Modest: Fira! *fhoosh!*
I love her cute little smile in picture three. Btw everyone! I had my first chocodile last night. 😀
…whether she is hot blooded or cold blooded, it probably isn’t safe to put the majority of her body mass lying directly against the snow without any cover.
We are so obsessed about her metabolism that we forget basic logistical problems of her shape.
Also, maybe she is luke-warm blooded, like a DINOSAUR! IE- she has some intermediate, but she is still fairly weak to cold.
Looked it up- great white sharks, tuna, and leatherback sea turtles are also ‘mesotherms’.
And some creatures, like crocodiles, are gigantotherms (they have enough bulk that they can trap heat for extended periods of time, allowing them to ride out the night or brief trips into cold areas). Not sure if that is relevant prior to ‘mama medusa’ level sizes though.