Did You know - outdoor edition

[caveman]

The Cuban Anoles are a little bigger than the Green Anoles.  The Cubans are brown with darker brown splotches.  The Green Anoles change color from brown to bright green.   

I saw a green anole today and thought about this topic from a few days ago.  The three pictures of the green anole are of the same lizard only minute or so apart.  Notice the live oak wood that it is on.  The Cuban Anole is a male.

[caveman]

Cuban Anole

[WV Sawmiller]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/charlotte-stingray-no-male-companion-232457706.html

   Did you know that sometime birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians will reproduce without a mate? Mammals never do. The article is for a sting ray in the mountains in NC who is pregnant with no hubby or boyfriend. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know Red Shouldered hawks will sometimes work together with crows to attack Great Barred Owls? I knew that crows were natural enemies to hawks, owls and I have even seen them fighting eagles. 

   The picture below is a Red shouldered hawk that landed on my fence just outside my yard this week. The article below was a reply with a link to the article about the hawks and crows ganging up on the owls. 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk

[caveman]

Did you know in flood situations fire ants will make rafts of their bodies to protect the queen and eggs/larva? I have seen them many times in the backwater and main river course of the Escambia River in N. Fla as a child. Clumps of ants from the size of a couple of quarts to a gallon size or more would be floating down the backwater. It would have been a great time to have a can of bug spray or a cup of gas to throw on and light to watch the pests go bye-bye.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/watch-5-000-fire-ants-140002598.html

We had a hurricane a few days ago that dumped a lot of rain.  As a result, fire ants that normally live under ground or in mounds on the ground have amassed together to float along until they find a place to cling to.  My grandson wanted to go fishing this morning (we got a late start) and I started heading towards a pond in Richloam that I have not fished in years.  On the way, I realized that the access trail in the swamp would be flooded, and I'd likely get my heavy truck stuck trying to get in.

Instead, I opted to fish in Colt Creek State Park, which was on the way to the pond and only 10 minutes from the house.  $4 seemed like a good deal today to avoid getting stuck.  Although I have experienced the wrath of angry fire ants floating along, I have never seen so many masses of them until today.  We also saw a water moccasin swimming across a flooded road that we previously crossed in the flat back canoe.





Those floating masses of fire ants are bigger than a supper plate.  They would deal misery on an unsuspecting wading fisherman.

[WV Sawmiller]

Cavey,

   Yep, that brings back memories - some I'd as soon forget. 

   I am glad you were able to get out and go fishing this quick after the storm passed.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know Alligator snapping turtles are being re-introduced to Kansas? I never knew they had them or that they had lost them. I am glad to see they are coming home and I hope they don't cause Doc too much trouble with unexpected traumatic amputations of fingers and toes. They are actually quite tasty but I suspect it will be many years, if ever, before Kansas has what it considers a harvestable population. Lets hope they do well as they are an amazing animal. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dinosaur-turtles-return-kansas-soon-181140498.html

[doc henderson]

That will make a few folks think twice before going in the river to tube or swim.

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   They really are harmless creatures unless you mess with them. I guess you could stick your foot in one's mouth by mistake as they feed with their mouth open and have a little "lure" at the base of their tongue that looks like a worm wiggling. A fish swims in to grab the worm, the turtle lunges forward and snaps its jaws shut catching the fish. 

   We have a friend who was a recovery diver and she was helping look for a drowning victim here on our local river. The water was murky so the divers crawl along the bottom feeling for the body which typically gets stuck under a rock or limb. She stuck her hand into the open mouth of a common snapper who feeds the same way. It was a lot smaller but still had a painful bite and the lady said that ended her recovery diving days.

   I understand the Cajuns in Louisiana and Mississippi used to catch alligator snapping turtles by wading in the shallow bayous and such till they'd step on a turtle then feel with their toes for the ridges so they could tell which way he was pointed then they'd reach down and grab him by his long tail and pull him up. The could always tell which was the head and which was the tail - except for Two-Finger LeBeau who got them mixed up one time.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that old southern cemeteries (and probably others) were a prime hangout for rattlesnakes and other kinds of snakes?

    Often there were cavities underneath the headstones and concrete/granite slabs that were used as grave covers that made excellent denning areas. Often some of the older lots were poorly tended and got overgrown and pretty thick with weeds and tall grasses. 

    There often was not a lot of people traffic in the area. The cleared areas were idea for rabbits and small rodents and such that were preferred food for the snakes. 

    My dad had a family monument business and we worked in all the local cemeteries even some that were pretty deserted. I still remember seeing graves with trees growing out of them big enough for saw logs and an epitath reading "Gone but not forgotten"

   BTW - my favorite epitath on headstones in Norway was "Thanks for the Help".

[Ron Scott]

I've run into snapping turtles a number of times while diving. It doesn't take a medium sized snapper very long to clean out a school of panfish.

[WV Sawmiller]

  Did you know the Gerenuk is an African antelope that lives in very arid regions and has  an extremely long, slender neck and an ET looking face and head?  They are often found standing on its hind legs with the front feet resting lightly on a limb eating the leaves from the very tips of desert bushes.

    I walked past my window in my LR this morning and saw an old whitetail doe about 30 yards away raise her head to max height and throw her ears out and look at me and it reminded of Gerenuks we saw in the Samburu region of Kenya on our first big safari back in early 2000. They are very well adapted to their environment but look like a freak of nature.

https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/gerenuk