I see it!
Today's Backyard Wildlife
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Someone been in the peyote again?
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"yes, well, you see, I saw a puma in this photo but no one believed me so I decided to move to Hollywood and become an actor."
Found this guy while "exploring" with my great nephew. We used to feed them grasshoppers and crickets when we were kids to watch them rapidly wrap their prey. Of course had to do the same to show nephew.
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I still like to do that. And drop ants into the cones in the dirt made by ant lions. Kids living in the SW can find trap door spider nests and use a thin twig to make vibrations to get the spider to spring out. Loads of fun.
Same thing with the funnel webs in the northeast.
This guy was resting on one of my patio chairs today. Chuck
Went to dinner on Ole Croc's last day here, so decided to give him a scenic route. A dirt road through some rugged hills about a half mile from the house. Saw this so had to get some pictures. Crocy was happy at seeing it. He (Mr. Tarantula) was in a hurry so the pic isn't the greatest, but does make the story legitimate.
.............Nubs
.............Nubs
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Jerry ( @Nubsnstubs ) - do you see a tarantula migration where you are? When I still lived in Calif there was a tarantula migration especially up on Mt Diablo. There would be so many spiders they'd close the road up to the summit while the migration was in progress. The same with the tiger salamanders over in the coastal range above Oakland and El Cerrito.
I've never seen more than 5-6 Trants in a single day on my property and 2 one night in my house. But, I've seen millions of Millipedes crossing the hyway in Mexico once. My tires were so slick if I had to stop quickly, there would have been an issue.
Did you know that spiders eyes glow like most animals do at night. Once while at a knapin near Big Bend National Park, I had to take a leak at night. I was camping, so I grabbed my flashlight, found a good spot near a small hill, did my thing. While doing so, I turned on my flashlight, and scanned the small hill. It lit up. I thought it was glowing rocks and hit the jackpot, but when I got done and went over to the small hill to look. Man, I have never seen so many small spiders in one place that covered about 50 yards wide and maybe 5-6 feet high. There were spiders about 2 inches apart. I didn't see any on flat ground, but the side of that hill was covered. ........... Nubs
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Yes, I did know about spider eyes lighting up. Best one I've seen was on Thevenard Island off west Australia. One of the local enviros let me go with her to check the beach for nesting turtles. On the way, she stopped and said point your light at that hillside and when I did it lit up like the Milky Way - all different spiders. Very cool. Pretty much anytime you go out spotlighting you will see tiny reflections too small to be animals or birds and they're usually spiders.
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Pansy. Can't deal with a tiny insect that does it's best to stay away from SE NC's. .......... Nubs
A spider is an arachnid, not an insect. With the amount of black widows around here, I’m not too keen on spiders till I can see what kind it is.
Hey man, I'm gonna be 80 years old in a few days, so forgive me for using that term. Insects = 6, Arachnids = 8. See, I know the difference. ................. Nubs
Got home from camping Thursday evening, turned around and our new neighbor was just sitting there. Not sure if he was annoyed or curious at our arrival but didn’t spook either.
Wow! Looks really healthy!
This guy was spread out in my back yard a couple of days ago. Wingspan of about 4-5”.
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Cool neighbor Garry. It's interesting how some animals adapt more readily to human activity than others. I'm reading a book about snow leopards right now. The author is a research ecologist from India and he's found snow leopards living and thriving close to small herding based villages in the Himalayas. And snow leopards are one of the least seen animals known. The herders leave the leopards alone and while the leopards do take a goat or sheep once in awhile, its usually the old or weak ones that the herder doesn't really want around anyway.
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What Jerry didn't say, or he may have forgotten the incident. In 2018 on my 2nd visit he took me right out into the desert to collect Cholla and he went one way and I went another, bringing back the load to the Ute, pickup, in your lingo. On my 3rd or 4th armful I only walked about 20 yards, watching my step, avoiding live Cholla when one of those spiders crawled out of the piece right in front of my face. Scared the living s#@t out of me. Thankfully this trip was less eventful.
Crocy.
Crocy.