Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

[geof_junk]

7 minutes ago, Sheppo said:

I’m yet to see anything scary here in QLD, except for big mother paper wasps that were about as big as my thumb. I’ve heard some pretty out there stories though, some that would properly make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

They are bad. My brother in law while chasing gold near Warick, nearly lost his leg from a tick but the same can happen with a Crocodile but you know when they bite you.?

[rvpopeye]

I was driving through one of the passes in the White mountains to get to a show in northern NewHampshire when I came across a big bull moose standing in the middle of the road.. So , I stopped. and there we were staring at each other....

The before mentioned show wasn't going to wait for me but wouldn't happen if I didn't get there on time.   I was in my old 60s mopar pickemup that was painted black and had an extra tall cap on the bed I could stand up in..(more on that later...)

(NEVER DO THIS ! It was a dumb mistake !)

In my hurry to get by him I honked the horn , no response , just Mr Moosey staring at me.

So , I upped the game by flashing my lights too. Nope ! Moose did look at me funny though I think he thought I might be another moose or maybe a bear ?

OK , I revved the 'ol 318 while continuing with the rest...Moosey did notice that !

He turned sideways tp me and looked up at a ledge about 10' above the road.    (Mountain pass , blasted out of solid rock ,,,there was a 6' wide "ditch" blasted out between the road and ledge too...)  

Well Mr Moosey didn't like me all of a sudden and kept looking back and forth between me and that ledge.. then he scooched down a bit,,,,, and  in one quick jump was on top of that 10 foot ledge and gone ! 

I then realized he could  just as easily have jumped on top of my ~ 7 foot tall rig ! OOOOOOPS !

Sometimes you learn new animal facts in the strangest ways.................

( I got to the show on time but WON'T be playing THAT game again nosuh ! That big boy was probably close to 2000# and he jumped that gap without much effort at all ! )

 

Sharks in the boat ? Yup got one 'bout that too but I'll save it up for another time ......and another related thing Bluefish have TEETH  too ! 

and don't forget the moose that was taken down by ticks arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh !

 

 

On one of my hikes up Mt Katahdin (Northern termination of the Appalachian Trail ..AT )

a friend and I spotted a moose standing next to a tree off the trail below "the meadow". We moved closer to get a better look..... until we were about 6 yards away . Then realizing it wasn't the best place to be I told my hiking pard "maybe we are a little too close ?" ,,,,,,,we slowly backed outa there ! Moose stayed put.  This was obviously before the last incident I just told ya about !!

 

A few years earlier and on other side of the country in Tucson AZ. I was staying at my drummer's place in town and noticed all the Black Widow spiders making nests in his (attached) shed.... mentioning to him that I wondered how he kept them out of the house ?????????????. He started laughing and said.......

"When they hatch out they are microscopic and no amount of sealing up cracks or spray killer would prevent it"  Now I know.  

 

 

 

[GB_Amateur]

While working in East-Central New Mexico desert we came across some small (maybe 1/2 inch long) scorpions.   When we brought them up to our Texas colleagues they said:  "their venom is nothing compared to our centipede's."

I was staying in one of those gereric roadside motels ("no tell motel") and that very night awoke needing to use the restroom.  I debated whether or not to turn on the light, not wanting to blast my dark-adjusted eyes to that, but decided I would.  Barefoot, I entered the bathroom and right in front of the toilet was one of these.

[midalake]

On 9/25/2021 at 11:05 PM, Skookum said:

(Lesser Stripetail Scorpion)

Please tell us your stories!

I did not see crazy people who do not want you detecting, on the list???  

[GotAU?]

2 hours ago, midalake said:

I did not see crazy people who do not want you detecting, on the list???  

The worse - present in every place detectorists go as well!

[Luis]

not long ago I was detecting in an olive grove with a partner.  In the environment there were like mosquito plagues that bother more than what they bite, but this time it was different, my neck itched a lot and towards the crown.  but I didn't notice the bites until I got home and took a bath.  His whole head and neck were eaten with bites.  There were so many that the lymph nodes in my neck became swollen and it didn't go away until 3 weeks after that day.  I kept blaming those mosquitoes until a week later I called my partner and asked him what if he didn't have bites.  Well, it turns out that he did have bites but not on the face or arms, if not on the legs and they were flea bites.  I have a habit of putting the hoe on my shoulder after drilling a hole.  This is how fleas came to my head.  Since then I don't do it anymore.

[Skookum]

5 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Barefoot, I entered the bathroom and right in front of the toilet was one of these.

That looks a lot like this guy who surprised me, too.  True they are poisonous, so I’m adding giant centipede to the list so you can edit your response if you want. 

[Joe D.]

Well than, 

  Us Florida beach dwellers have all sorts of stinging and biting creatures! But inland, many of the same types above! When I'm in Georgia, yellowjackets seem particularly fond of me!!??

[GB_Amateur]

2 hours ago, Skookum said:

That looks a lot like this guy who surprised me, too.  True they are poisonous, so I’m adding giant centipede to the list so you can edit your response if you want.

(I don't know how to change my survey response, only my post....  No biggie.)

The centipede in your photo appears to be oppositely patterned, but otherwise very similar to the one whose photo I found on the internet.  I can't remember the exact coloring/pattern of the one I saw that night but it seemed to have brighter red highlights than what I've found online.  Also it was only about 4" long.    I think the ones on the internet (and the one in your photo) are considerably bigger.

FWIW, here in Indiana our most dangerous wildlife might be the Brown Recluse Spider.  I've heard of a couple stories locally of people suffering permanent damage from them (although not death, AFAIK).  (Regardless of the above website's claim of frequent misdiagnoses, the two I refer to were actual Brown Recluse bites!)  Yes, we have timber rattlers and (poisonous) water moccasins but reports of their bites are rare.  And ticks have become a problem here, just like almost everywhere in the USA.  My wife has two acquaitances who nearly died this summer from tick borne bacteria.  Disappointingly(?), in both cases it was a friend/relative of the sick people who suggested to the attending hospital physicians what the cause might be.  In one case the Dr. said "your suggestion saved your friend's life"!