PFOOLEY Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 This thread reminds me of my childhood. My mom would take me to library so I could check out EVERY book on animals. There were many hours spent thumbing through picture after picture of incredible wildlife. Thanks to all the contributors so far... can't wait to see what shows up next. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Anolis carolinensis choking down a caterpillar on a hot Florida day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Very recent ichnofossils... Florida black bear... Colorado mountain lion... I'm digging through old files over the past 20 years, and finding some neat stuff... I'll be back with more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Dragonfly, species unidentified... Florida Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Four inch long Florida Lubber grasshopper climbing up my tire.. Edited November 25, 2014 by tmaier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Buffalo Toad, Bufo boreas boreas, in a breeding and restoration program in Colorado... Not exactly "wild" life.. but a nice shot, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 A spider about three inches long, species unidentified, hanging out at my porch in Florida... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Now here is a neat idea for parents to do went you take the kids out to a wild area... Take a clear plastic bottle and have the kids make a temporary aquarium out of it. Buy some small nets for them to catch critters. Also bring some clear water if the natural water is too murky. At the end of the picnic, there is the ceremonial release of the critters back into the wild, with the obligatory singing of "Born Free". I've done this for fresh water and for saltwater lagoons, and it is even fun if you don't have kids. We have caught the most curious creatures, and people who wander by are amazed at what is in the water. Here's a little aquarium from a blue hole spring in Florida... The freshwater shrimp are fascinated in watching us eat hotdogs during the picnic. This is educational for all parties involved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here's a collared lizard, and I think I took this in Arizona. He looks pretty good against the desert armor stones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) A butterfly on a wild prickly pear cactus flower in the springtime of Florida... Edited November 25, 2014 by tmaier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 A spider about three inches long, species unidentified... Tropical Orb Weaver "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Tropical Orb Weaver We have a lot of big, hairy, scary spiders here in Florida. I don't bother them as long as they don't bother me. Except... I squish Black widows when I see them. No mercy... I had this one very elongated spider that lived in the house for about three months. I think it was something called a hunter. It had to have been at least 6 inches long. It's not the common one they call the Banana spider here, but it is large and long like that and it is all brown. I let it live in the house because I couldn't catch it without killing it, and it seemed to be a rare species. It was pretty spooky. Eventually it disappeared, to where I do not know. Edited November 25, 2014 by tmaier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Eventually it disappeared, to where I do not know. Those types like to live under beds. They are the original "bed bugs". Snoring makes them angry. Edited November 25, 2014 by PFOOLEY "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Those types like to live under beds. They are the original "bed bugs". Snoring makes them angry. This one was too big to fit under my bed, so I let him have the bed and I slept in the bathroom. He also kept borrowing my pajamas, that's how big he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 This isn't exactly a wildlife shot, but I took that photo of the collared lizard on a vacation back in 2007 and made a collage of photos of the whole trip as a souvenir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Bristletail Order- Microcoryphia(Archaeognatha) Cited from Wikipedia: "The Archaeognatha are an order of wingless insects, also known as jumping bristletails. They are among the least evolutionarily changed insects, appearing in the Middle Devonian period along with the arachnids. They are known from both body and trace fossils (the latter including body imprints and trackways) throughout the remainder of the Paleozoic Era.[2] The name Archaeognatha is derived from Greek, archaeos meaning "ancient" and gnatha meaning "jaw". This refers to the articulation of the mandibles, which has a single condyle, where all higher insects have two. An alternate name, Microcoryphia, comes from the Greek micro, meaning "small", and coryphia, meaning head." Interesting eyes: Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 This isn't exactly a wildlife shot, but I took that photo of the collared lizard on a vacation back in 2007 and made a collage of photos of the whole trip as a souvenir. postcard_from_the _edge.jpg I was gonna say, that looks 'shopped. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyrannosaurusRex Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Grasshopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyrannosaurusRex Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 A 4 ft diamondback rattler I met at night thus the bad quality of the picture P.S that was one ANGRY snake! A texas map turtle that I caught and kept Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Watch out for Salmonella with keeping the turtle. It doesn't hurt the turtle, by you can get very sick from it. Wash hands after handling. My younger sister came very close to dying from kissing her turtle. She became delirious with fever and they had to tie her to an ice bed. Never kiss the turtle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyrannosaurusRex Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Yup that's good advice! I don't really ever hold it but I will make sure to wash my hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 tmaier's caution is one to be heeded. All reptiles and amphibians are potential salmonella vectors. I was a kid in the '50s and small turtles were the pet rage. They were sold in dime-stores (look it up, LOL) and apparently kids did get sick. Indeed laws were enacted to prevent the sale of turtles under a certain size. The popular fad died out. Apparently the real culprit (besides the naturally occurring bacteria) was the unsanitary methods employed in housing the turtles for sale. The wholesalers keep them in crowded conditions and once in the stores they were "maintained" in packed aquariums. The animals and most importantly the infrequently changed water became salmonella farms. This concentration of bacteria along with the generally poor sanitary habits of small children created a real problem. Most reptiles/amphibians today would not come from an environment with a super concentration of the problematic germ. However, it is certainly present with creatures of this ilk. So, common sense precautions; maintaining a clean environment for a captive animal and hand washing after handling will prevent any untoward outcome. 1 Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roanoker Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I was a kid in the 50s as well, Snolly, and a really little kid in the late 40s. I remember that stores would sell baby chicks dyed in pastel colors around Easter. All my little friends got one or two, and they all died early on (the chicks, not the friends). Except one. I remember thinking it odd that a little kid would have a pet chicken, squawking and pecking. Maybe he was laid to rest with mashed potatoes and gravy (the chicken, not the little kid). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Never kiss the turtle. Yup that's good advice! Now she is kissing some guy from Pennsylvania, so I'm still worried... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I was a kid in the 50s as well, Snolly, and a really little kid in the late 40s. I remember that stores would sell baby chicks dyed in pastel colors around Easter. All my little friends got one or two, and they all died early on (the chicks, not the friends). Except one. I remember thinking it odd that a little kid would have a pet chicken, squawking and pecking. Maybe he was laid to rest with mashed potatoes and gravy (the chicken, not the little kid). Yes, I well remember those dyed chicks! We never had one at our home; but my younger brother did receive an Easter duck one year. It grew to ill-mannered adulthood and was ultimately taken to a nearby lake where there was a colony of similarly released domestic ducks. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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