Wildlife encounters

Faust29 said:
Unless you've played golf with the real alligators... :D If I remember correctly, this was the 5th hole at Disney's Palm Course- a 400 yard par 4. He's just a little guy, but he stayed there the whole time while I hit my second shot.

And this was taken with a film camera... We need an emoji with a cane. :poop:

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Throw a saddle on that sucker and ride it! YEEEE HAAAAA!
 
Torfi setting up camp for the night…
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DangerDirtyD said:
Also, my piece of Sh!t neighbor has an electric bug zapper hanging under an oak tree. It’s always on, even now when everyone at the house is sleeping. I’d like to sneak it somehow under their toilet seat.
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There's barely any insects in SoCal! If I had a bug zapper here in NC, it would use more electricity than a 2 HP pool pump! :)

Coolest local critter: the cyanide millipede, aka Apheloria tigana, which exudes hydrogen cyanide when "annoyed". Just like @DangerDirtyD !

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BonsaiNut said:
There's barely any insects in SoCal! If I had a bug zapper here in NC, it would use more electricity than a 2 HP pool pump! :)

Coolest local critter: the cyanide millipede, aka Apheloria tigana, which exudes hydrogen cyanide when "annoyed". Just like @DangerDirtyD !

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Sounds like you and @SnakeCharmer had a slumber party and stayed up all night.
 
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DangerDirtyD said:
Sounds like you and @SnakeCharmer had a slumber party and stayed up all night.
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The thing is... those millipedes are EVERYWHERE in the woods. I took my daughter hunting for salamanders (for her herparium) and they were truly under every log we turned over. When I remarked about how pretty they were, my daughter instructed me "in nature, bright colors are often associated with venom or poison, so take the hint and leave it alone :)"
 
Had a close encounter with this guy today on a LCWP Single Track.

Lots of rattling etc

We scared each other.. when I stopped about 10 ft away and turned back to take a picture...he rose up and stared me down, pissed!

Then he made a Low Tone hiss / noise... Twice...

I thought I was hearing things / not sure... Then he did it again.

It was a "Darth Vader" sound, not sure exactly what it was not too loud but it was real.. and I understood the message.

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Thinking about it.. maybe it low frequency rattle I don't know never heard the sound before.
 
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mike said:
Yesterday I came upon a bunch of sooty grouse, a chicken-sized game bird like these:



Also seen: The smallest and cutest mule deer fawns ever, two of them bounding across the road just for fun while mom casually walked ahead.
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We had ruffled (sp?) grouse in NY where I grew up... Smaller than that variety, I believe.

I had several encounters with them... :whistling:
 
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Haven't seen the bird yet, but I did see some Bald Eagle feathers on the ground during my ride this morning. They have been there for a couple of months.
I will take pictures of them next weekend, then call the Rangers and let them know where they are.
I was hoping to see the bird this time.
 
I've been looking for this picture and finally found it. It's is from a ride several years ago, but is a regular occurrence any time it's warm out.
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I usually find a very lengthy stick and try to herd them off of the road. Some aren't very receptive and have to be hooked with the stick and moved to the shoulder. Others just aren't having it and I have leave them. Probably the meanest snake I've encountered so far was actually a 5ft+ gopher likely fresh out of hibernation. There's been a striped racer hanging around the house recently. I could post enough wildlife photos to make you sick of 'em.
 
Agent Orange said:
I've been looking for this picture and finally found it. It's is from a ride several years ago, but is a regular occurrence any time it's warm out.
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I usually find a very lengthy stick and try to herd them off of the road. Some aren't very receptive and have to be hooked with the stick and moved to the shoulder. Others just aren't having it and I have leave them. Probably the meanest snake I've encountered so far was actually a 5ft+ gopher likely fresh out of hibernation. There's been a striped racer hanging around the house recently. I could post enough wildlife photos to make you sick of 'em.
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Just killed one on the front porch of my Mom's place last week. :eek:Rattles were 10 deep and a button. Very thick and healthy (and beautiful) snake, but unfortunately we have a property rule that poisonous thingy's get eradicated due to pets and livestock. Everywhere else they are safe and sound.
We "used" to have a policy that we would relocate them. We would tag them with a little paint, then escort them in a closed bucket to a new location. Blown away when one maybe two returned, we altered our policy. :oops:
 
The ones that are in the yard or by the house unfortunately succumb to shovel poisoning in the process of me relocating them to the afterlife.

One nice thing the western diamondbacks is that they don't usually want a fight and make their presence known so you avoid them. Problem is that it's not going to be the snake you know about; it's the one you unknowingly kick or step on or even step near. Or it will be a little one with just buttons that can't rattle.
 
Mikie said:
Just killed one on the front porch of my Mom's place last week. :eek:Rattles were 10 deep and a button. Very thick and healthy (and beautiful) snake, but unfortunately we have a property rule that poisonous thingy's get eradicated due to pets and livestock. Everywhere else they are safe and sound.
We "used" to have a policy that we would relocate them. We would tag them with a little paint, then escort them in a closed bucket to a new location. Blown away when one maybe two returned, we altered our policy. :oops:
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I would do the same at my mom's house. However, when I used to do actual fieldwork, I would warn construction crews of buzzworms nearby until I realized they would just kill the snake, citing health and safety. After the second instance, I made sure to bring up the topic at the tailboard safety meetings to understand what each crew's procedures were regarding rattlers. For the "extra precautious crews" I made it a point not to notify them of nearby buzzworms. Ya wanna work in the field and kill things, do so at your own risk. Bunch of snowflakes....
 
Mikie said:
Just killed one on the front porch of my Mom's place last week. :eek:Rattles were 10 deep and a button. Very thick and healthy (and beautiful) snake, but unfortunately we have a property rule that poisonous thingy's get eradicated due to pets and livestock. Everywhere else they are safe and sound.
We "used" to have a policy that we would relocate them. We would tag them with a little paint, then escort them in a closed bucket to a new location. Blown away when one maybe two returned, we altered our policy. :oops:
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Stop killing rattlesnakes! :mad::cry:
 
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