funny quote from snake ranch

[syeph8]

I still don't see how you have a 50/50 chance if the gender ratio is different, LOL. I to am bored, the weather has been wet for 2 days

ok, i think the element that you are forgetting is human choice.
so if the clutch of 4 was 1 male 3 female and you obviously didnt know.
if you pick male. you are 75% chance of being wrong.
if you pick female you are 75% chance of being right.
because you dont know the ratio, you have a 50/50 chance of going either way on a pure guess and therefore the odds even out.

making a bit more sense? hard to explain over the internet.

 

[fritzi2009]

But you can only pick either male or female......
You wouldn't know you had a 75% chance of being wrong or right, because you don't actually know the ratio of males to females UNTIL you sex them...

I hate Math.

 

[Elapidae1]

just because I only have a choice of the two it doesn't change the fact that the statistics are in favour of one gender and not the other. For arguments sake if I was a bookmaker I would be paying better odds if you guessed a correct female and then because you thought you had a 50/50 chance of getting it right I would clean up because you would always be betting on the female, however it would be even odds that you would pick either male or female because they are your only choices

 

[syeph8]

just because I only have a choice of the two it doesn't change the fact that the statistics are in favour of one gender and not the other. For arguments sake if I was a bookmaker I would be paying better odds if you guessed a correct female and then because you thought you had a 50/50 chance of getting it right I would clean up because you would always be betting on the female, however it would be even odds that you would pick either male or female because they are your only choices

but if they are impossible to sex... as a bookie you are up the proverbial creek and have no idea what the ratios are. even if the ratio is 9:1 either way i could pick male 9 times and female once or female 9 times and male once. each individual i pick up i have a 50/50 chance purely depending on my guess. statistics only change if variables are changed to constants. the only constants in the scenario are that there are two options.