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Remember To Keep Your Eyes And Ears Open For Possible Dangers When Collecting.


Raistlin

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This is not something you would expect in Missouri, though I understand Florida has a problem with them.

This snake was either a recent escape or release. It would not have survived the winter for sure. For most of us the hobby takes place mostly in the warmer months. This might not be a normal thing, but certainly now makes me realize it could happen.

http://kdvr.com/2015/07/29/missouri-man-kills-a-nearly-15-foot-python-in-yard/

However, animals are not the only thing to look for. There are human dangers and even natural dangers as well. Different collecting around here takes me to areas that are pretty rural. There are dangers of people doing not so legal things.

Just a reminder to stay safe.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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Not to "one up" this story but I heard on the radio yesterday that they captured (and euthanized) an 18 foot 3 inch (just a few inches shy of the state record) Burmese Python in the Everglades a couple of weeks ago.The Missouri snake was not as long but was heavier (likely after vacuuming up dogs and chickens in the area).

http://time.com/3978462/18-foot-python-captured-florida-everglades/

I've heard the statistic that Florida picks up about 50 new exotic species every year (from plants to animals). One that is getting press here at the moment are tegu lizards.

When fossil hunting in the rivers/creeks here in South Florida we have to keep an eye out (and respect for) both gators and cottonmouths/water moccasins. I've only seen a few of these while hunting and they (as yet) have given me no trouble. Significantly more dangerous while standing in the middle of a river sifting are the occasional flotillas of canoes paddled with minimal control by packs of scouts on holiday weekends or the much dreaded air boats that seem to think that "no wake" means they don't have to come to your funeral. :wacko:

Also, don't forget about other dangers like erosional landslides at places like Calvert Cliffs which command lots of respect (especially after heavy rains).

-Ken

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That snake weighed about 20-30 lbs. more than I do. I am a pretty small guy. While it likely could not have eaten me if I had startled it or even if it decided to it could have quickly taken me down.

Florida is like the perfect place for animals like this. They have no real predators (especially when they get big), the year round temps are perfect for them too. Florida has a huge problem with invasive species due to the legal and illegal pet trade. Also a Texas teen was killed/possibly suicide by a cobra the other day.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/17/cobra-believed-have-killed-teen-found-dead/30304333/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-cops-eye-suicide-teen-suspected-death-cobra-article-1.2297234

Even if it was suicide the snake escaped. You never know what you might encounter. These have helped me realize that more than anything else. Expect the unexpected.

I do understand that it has been proven that we do have piranha in the Lake of the Ozarks here in Missouri. Due to the winter temps the population though will likely never be too high. They believe they survive the winter now due to a warm spring that flows into the lake and has a year round temp of 50ish degrees. Of course in the summer they don't need the spring. The test I seen took the fish to right around 51-52 and they survived but just barely. Of course for people like me I need to watch for wasp nests in rock outcrops.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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Pythons dont worry me so much. A Gaboon Viper was found in Georgia recently. THAT would have me very very worried.

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Heat worries me the most. I nearly collapsed after having a case of heat exhaustion last time I went collecting. I drank tons of water, but didn't get any salt, and I sweat it all out. This leads to muscle failure.

Barely made it to the car...

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Pythons dont worry me so much. A Gaboon Viper was found in Georgia recently. THAT would have me very very worried.

Wow, had not heard that. Scary sort of. Though many years ago I was working on getting one as a pet lol.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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Heat worries me the most. I nearly collapsed after having a case of heat exhaustion last time I went collecting. I drank tons of water, but didn't get any salt, and I sweat it all out. This leads to muscle failure.

Barely made it to the car...

I make sure to eat too. I get salt from that. I carry a cooler of ice water all the time.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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Pythons, no biggie. We actually have a 25' python hide in the shop right now, and it's missing the head. Pretty large. But they're slow and 99.9% of the time don't see humans as a food source.

There's a "Lion like creature" loose near Milwaukee right now. THAT freaks me out. I'd rather fight a Bear, snake, gator, etc. rather than a big cat. Death machines that stalk you and go for the neck every time. No thanks. Haha!

But my biggest fear when fossiling is falling down a steep hill, getting buried alive or falling rocks. You can't really "fight" rocks. Hahaha!

~Charlie~

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK
->Get your Mosasaur print
->How to spot a fake Trilobite
->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG

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Pythons? Did you say pythons?

attachicon.gifrabbit.jpg

The Pythons (of the Monty variety) filmed this scene (the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog) in Scotland near Loch Tay at the old Tomnadashan Copper Mine. https://goo.gl/maps/p1tR1

I was happy that I was able to visit this location (and several other MP filming locations) back in 2010 when I went to Scotland.

post-7713-0-25107500-1438364878_thumb.jpg post-7713-0-58149000-1438364878_thumb.jpg

Cheers.

-Ken

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The main creatures I'm worried about when I'm way back in the wilderness fossil hunting are other people. :wacko: By far, the scariest experiences I've had were with other people. Not gators and not snakes, although I'm always being cautious about those too.

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The main creatures I'm worried about when I'm way back in the wilderness fossil hunting are other people. :wacko: By far, the scariest experiences I've had were with other people. Not gators and not snakes, although I'm always being cautious about those too.

This for sure. I carry mostly for that reason. Getting out in some really rural areas puts me at risk of people doing things they should not be doing. I had a case of this not long ago. The vibe this guy put off made me skip out of the area really fast. Good thing I have an off-road bad and skid plate on the front of my car because it saved my bumper and oil pan that day. Of course having my wife and son only amplified my feelings. Basically we came upon a deal taking place in the middle of no where.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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I also had a similar experience with a few "backwoods" Floridians poaching Gators on the Peace. Very scary individuals.

~Charlie~

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK
->Get your Mosasaur print
->How to spot a fake Trilobite
->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG

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The worst part is inside my brain was screaming run, run now, get the hell out. The guy though was blocking our path and decided to ask if he could help us. I somehow managed to remain calm and steady and tell him we were just there to look around. He said cool and moved out of the way. I did a quick turn around and we got the hell out of dodge. The group watched us the whole few seconds it took for us to turn around and leave.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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There are many good reasons that good people have concealed carry laws, and not all of them are animals and snakes in the grass. Or maybe they are.

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The biggest hair raiser I ever had was on a birding tour I was leading in South Texas. We were birding our way down the trail along the Rio Grand that starts at the customs gate parking lot at Falcon Dam. About a mile down, I saw, but strenuously pretended not to see, two figures crouching in heavy cover. They were armed with what I took to be AK-47s. They were, no doubt, drug smugglers, and not being seen was a condition they would have killed all 10 of us to preserve. My heart rate has doubled just in the telling, and the non-encounter is crisply burned into my memory 18 tears later.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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The biggest hair raiser I ever had was on a birding tour I was leading in South Texas. We were birding our way down the trail along the Rio Grand that starts at the customs gate parking lot at Falcon Dam. About a mile down, I saw, but strenuously pretended not to see, two figures crouching in heavy cover. They were armed with what I took to be AK-47s. They were, no doubt, drug smugglers, and not being seen was a condition they would have killed all 10 of us to preserve. My heart rate has doubled just in the telling, and the non-encounter is crisply burned into my memory 18 tears later.

OUCH!

I hope they were hiding in a poision ivy bush. :ninja::ninja::ninja::faint:

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OUCH!

I hope they were hiding in a poision ivy bush. :ninja::ninja::ninja::faint:

Pretty sure the chiggers got 'em...

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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My scariest experience while fossil hunting came while I was walking down into a creek in a fairly secluded area one summer here in FL. I had been to this creek 20 or 30 times before, but this time I noticed something blue off the side of the creek that wasn't there before. As I got closer, I realized it was one of those big blue tarps that was fashioned into some type of shelter on my left. Just as I realized what it was and stopped walking, I turned beside me and saw this guy standing there, shirtless, covered with hundreds of mosquitoes with bloodshot eyes. I paused for a second and said "How's it going?" He immediately ran to his little shelter and started digging through his bag frantically, looking back at me as he dug through it. I took off in a full sprint and got the heck out of there. It was a long time before I went back to that creek. :P

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More stories, guys and gals!

About the worst i get is big feral pigs springing up a few yards from me, gives a heart attack every time. Thank God we don't have large carnivores in Aus.

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine

"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else."

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Not so much a danger story (well at least that I know of)

Not long ago I was down at a creek not far from my house. Some guy driving an suv sees me from the road and slows way down basically to a stop. I hear them pull over at the park next to the creek but cannot see them. Soon a guy shows up standing on the hill above the creek just standing there watching. After several minutes he sees me walking up the creek and toward his direction. He walks away and I think to myself well maybe he was just trying to figure out what some guy is doing staring at the ground. A few more minutes pass and I see the truck drive by really slow again in the other direction. It pulls over at the park near my car and stops. The guy gets out and again is standing at the pot of the hill watching me. By this time looking for fossils is not so much on my mind and more of a weird feeling because some dude keeps watching me. As I get closer I see he is a guy maybe in his 50's (I am 39).

We say our greeting and he asks me if I seen any fish down there. The creek was pretty low (this was before all the flooding we have had this year) so there is basically no chance of fishing in this creek. I tell him no I was just looking for rocks. The whole time he just stares at me. I tell him to have a good day and leave. Maybe he was just awkward (or I a bit paranoid), maybe he was trying to pick me up (that is part of what I tell myself to make me feel better about the oddness of the situation). I am unsure but it makes me feel weird to have someone stop and stare then go and park by my car and stand and stare again instead of just trying to chat with me.

I am not the most social person but string at me is just sort of weird, even more so when others are not around.

Robert
Southeast, MO

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Of the critter variety--rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, feral hogs,coyotes, black bears, Bob cats,red velvet ants,centipedes, wasps, bees, javelins,rabid squirrel, chiggers,tarantulas.

A mountain lion is the only critter I might encounter but haven't.

Of the human variety--scary dudes, criminal dudes, crazy dudes, stupid dudes, bad drivers, cops, KKK dudes,cons, and hookers of all sexes (there are way more than two.)

Geologic--random falling rocks, mass wasting events, flash floods, sloughs of despond (quicksand), fast currents, weather.

Paranormal--things that go bump in the night (especially Enchanted Rock), strange lights in the sky,spooky cemeterys and abandoned structures and cairns and doll graveyards that just give off a spooky vibe.

Personal--dehydration, hunger,infirmities, heat,cold,stupidity.

Trash--used condoms,used needles, broken glass, jagged metal,rebar,barbed wire, random carp below the surface, a human molar with a gold filling.

My wife wonders why I do it.

But creation, with all of its flaws and scars and pimples is still a glorious invention.

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