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Wild and Not So Wild World |
MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6492
From: The Anvil of the Sun
|  Posted: 2011-10-02 8:27 pm Permalink
I'm all for snakes, I love a good gopher snake or king snake. But I'm just not sure we need rattlesnakes. Damn Tom, those are some enormous snails!
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Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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komohana
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 08, 2010
Posts: 349
From: western australia
| Posted: 2011-10-03 01:17 am Permalink
Have been meaning to ask for quite a while:
Wild and Not So Wild America...and not even American ok?
[ This Message was edited by: komohana 2011-10-15 20:50 ]
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6492
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2011-10-03 05:52 am Permalink
Komohana, I think you have a little advantage over us in that Autralia has the STRANGEST animals! (I mean that in a good way  ) I, for one, would be happy to see what wildlife you have in your backyard.
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Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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Jungle Trader
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 04, 2003
Posts: 3693
From: Trader's Jungle Outpost, Turlock, Ca.
| Posted: 2011-10-03 4:49 pm Permalink
I could change the title if you like. I'm all for it. Wild Wild World. Jus say the word and it's done.
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(Hello all my relatives)
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VampiressRN
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5137
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2011-10-03 6:23 pm Permalink
I say...go for it!!! I think seeing animals all over the world is interesting. Plus, then I can expand my fear and hatred of evil creatures to a universal level. 
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Jungle Trader
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 04, 2003
Posts: 3693
From: Trader's Jungle Outpost, Turlock, Ca.
| Posted: 2011-10-03 9:41 pm Permalink
Madagascar animals are wierd and wonderful too.
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komohana
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 08, 2010
Posts: 349
From: western australia
| Posted: 2011-10-03 10:32 pm Permalink
Thanks all,
Gawd...I just spent the last two hours putting together a post, then accidentally closed
the wrong tab (was checking my spelling) and lost the lot.
I'm fairly new to computers but can now actually type with TWO fingers so I'll try again,
maybe in shorter pieces.
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VampiressRN
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5137
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2011-10-04 12:21 am Permalink
Hang in there and give it another shot. I broke my right wrist and have a full arm cast on...just henpecking with my left hand... lol. Looking forward to your post.
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Club Nouméa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 03, 2010
Posts: 330
From: Wanganui
| Posted: 2011-10-04 03:49 am Permalink
If I'd known this thread now includes the rest of the world, I would have taken a photo of the big hairy spider I "rescued" from my bathtub and put outside yesterday (in other words, it was too big to wash down the plughole  ). Oh well, I'm sure there will be others.
CN
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komohana
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 08, 2010
Posts: 349
From: western australia
| Posted: 2011-10-04 03:54 am Permalink
Cheers MadDogMike, We do indeed have some strange wildlife, though possibly not
as strange as some of our two legged animals.
Thanks Jungle Trader, I just noticed you have changed the title of your thread.
Hi Vamp.
I really enjoy visiting this thread and was finally prompted to post following your
recent discussion regarding snakes, as we sometimes... maybe once a year or two...
find a Dugite in our yard. These snakes are highly venomous, but are generally fairly
docile and will happily go on their way if left alone, although they will strike if
startled, naturally enough.
One of them reared-up at my wife in the front yard not long ago, causing no end of commotion
and a few years ago our beloved cat, Moo, was bitten by one but being late in the season,
when their venom is less toxic, she survived (sadly though, she contracted FIP later on).
While living in a small fishing town north of Perth, I stood on one as I was distracted
by a friend driving past at that moment, I felt it strike my foot twice but as it was on
the flat upper side of my foot the fangs didn't pierce the skin. I bought a lotto ticket
that afternoon but of course my luck didn't extend that far.
A woman visiting that same town was not so lucky and died as a result of a bite because she
didn't seek medical help, a very foolish thing to do, I heard that because the snake was
only small she thought she'd be ok, but in fact the juveniles can be just as venomous as the adults.
Anyway, if I mention to someone that we've had a visit by one, they might say something like:
"ooo, did ya kill it? ya killed it, didn't ya?"
My answer is generally something like:
"nah, by the time I found something to kill it with and come back, it was gone"
And 'though they are protected by law and killing one can attract a fine of up to $4000.00,
the truth is that I'm just plain reluctant to kill them out of hand.
I don't have any photos unfortunately but next time I'll try to take a pic.
One day though I happened to have my camera with me as I opened the door to our small garage at the front
of our house and noticed a scuffling sound to my right and there was this small Bungarra (monitor lizard)
about 3 feet long hangin' off the wall...
...I'm generally not squeamish, but man, these things give me the creeps and if you ever startle one in
the bush you should hit the deck because they will climb a tree to escape and if you are the nearest "tree"
...well...a lot of people have been injured by their claws.
Over the last few years, we've noticed more Red Tailed Black Cockatoos visiting us, probably due to the
degradation of their more natural habitat further inland, and are now seen almost daily in our area.
In this pic the male is on the right, female on left...
...these spectacular birds are large, raucous and rowdy, they are also most welcome as they strip the berries off that lilac tree in no time, saving me a heap of work.
These are Kookaburra, seen here in the Lemon Flowering Gum in our back yard beside my shed and Tiki lounge
Not native to Western Australia but introduced from the East many years ago they have that iconic song
you've probably heard and as a bonus ...they eat young snakes (as do the bungarra).
More later and thanks again for making room for me and everyone else.
cheers, Rob.
*edit spelling mistake and minor facts.
[ This Message was edited by: komohana 2011-10-06 20:11 ]
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6492
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2011-10-04 08:42 am Permalink
"a small Bungarra" about 3 feet long Great pics, can't wait to see more. The most exciting thing I have right now is toads in my front yard.
_________________
Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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LiddleLola
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 24, 2008
Posts: 162
From: Elk Grove, CA
| Posted: 2011-10-06 07:55 am Permalink
I didn't get a picture (probably a good thing) but I witnessed a squirrel running along my fence carrying a baby bird it had just robbed from a nest. It was the creepiest image. I never realized those adorable squirrels were so carnivorous.
I am glad we don't have venomous snakes or 3ft monitors however.
Darilyn
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AlohaStation
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 2016
From: So FL
| Posted: 2011-10-06 08:44 am Permalink
I love the idea of seeing critters from all around the world.Not just the big, iconic stuff but everything - even the most mundane encounter can be an adventure to someone on the other side of the globe!
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Jungle Trader
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 04, 2003
Posts: 3693
From: Trader's Jungle Outpost, Turlock, Ca.
| Posted: 2011-10-06 5:51 pm Permalink
aww heck, I only said America in the title cuz I was thinking too small. Perhaps I thought there wasn't a lot of people on TC from other parts of the world. How rong I was. Post on brothers and sisters!
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komohana
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 08, 2010
Posts: 349
From: western australia
| Posted: 2011-10-06 10:35 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-10-06 08:44, AlohaStation wrote:
I love the idea of seeing critters from all around the world.Not just the big, iconic stuff but everything - even the most mundane encounter can be an adventure to someone on the other side of the globe!
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Agreed, for example, Will carves' post regarding the mating ritual of the lizards on page 10 was very entertaining. lol.
Just to again mention the bungarra, otherwise called racehorse goannas, they grow to about 4 1/2 feet,
but other monitors further inland reach well over 6ft and can scale a 60ft tree in the blink of an eye, very powerful critters.
And, yeah we have dangerous snakes, spiders and things but if you keep them in mind you're safe enough,
we certainly don't have to worry about big cats or bears etc. In fact there have been more fatalities
involving sharks in recent memory. This is kind of what I meant to allude to in my deleted post,
in regard to the removal of the rattle snakes from the picture: probably due to the decline in shark
numbers, large shoals of squid are more common and I believe watermen have been attacked by them
off the coast of California, substituting one nightmare for another.
Anyhow, I was just up the back clearing the grass here and next door and took a picture of a flowering blackboy
in the neighbours yard.
The politically correct would have us call them Australian Grass Trees but I've always known them as blackboys.
The leaves on this one are overgrown and you can usually see the trunk which are black, hence their name.
The stalk growing from the centre being the flower.
As Jungle Trader and others have said, let's see them critters, there's bugger-all on television worth watching
and if not tinkering in the shed, Tiki central is a great place to loiter.
[ This Message was edited by: komohana 2011-10-06 23:12 ]
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