Thylacine Dreams

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Shannow:
I'm glad that these became extinct

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"and a giant three-metre-tall, 400-kilogram bird scientists nicknamed the "demon duck of doom" "

Scientists were able to figure out what sound it made. It's call was (In a baritone voice) "Here kitty, kitty."

 

[Shannow]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alcibiades:
Can you or one of the other Australian members enlighten us?

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CAn only speak from where I live, which is regional (semi-rural), but encounters with venemous things are reasonably common.

This district is home to the funnel web spider. We have a cat, and no funnel webs, but have friends encounter them (in kids shoes/clothes) once or twice a year. Red back spiders are regular occurences (including the kids sandpit).

Snakes, I've personally come across a red belly black snake (while out shooting with dad), two brown snakes (one riding a bike in Canberra, one at work), and a copperhead (at work)...they are the ones that I've seen, not the ones I've missed.

A guy at one of our power stations was bitten by a brown snake last month.

They DO end up in people's yard, even in Sydney, but they cause little harm.

 

[Alcibiades]

Thanks. Desert ecology is another research hobby interest of mine, and snakes are a large part of that. In the States we have very few elapids to look out for (a few coral snake species in some places, which are quite timid), but to have to look out for rattlers and some other pit vipers.

Here's one of the more interesting ones I've seen in the wild:

http://www.venomousreptiles.org/libraries/showfilepage/33?offset=5

 

[MarkC]

I wish I had a dollar for every water moccassin, copperhead, and rattlesnake I've seen, run from, and almost stepped on. I used to run in the woods back home, and in my little corner of the world, we had those, as well as coral snakes. Not one but three kinds of rattlesnakes.
However, the mosquitos were much more bloodthirsty and much more of a problem then the snakes. Tourists worse than amy of them.

 

[Alcibiades]

"mosquitos were much more bloodthirsty and much more of a problem then the snakes. Tourists worse than amy of them."

Absofrigginlutely!

 

[tdi-rick]

I'm right out in farming country, and during summer it was an almost daily occurance to have a snake encounter. We've had them (red belly blacks) draped across the front door step sunning themselves, a couple of Tigers curled up under a fence (electric) while I've been fault finding, and a brown wrapped itself around the SO's legs and took off after being disturbed while we were doing some work in the cattle yards. She didn't come down off the rails for ten minutes, and I got into heaps of trouble for laughing....as the snake ran around/over her feet she stood like a statue (very good) waited until it was out of the yards...thenscreamed, jumped up and sat on the top rail.....
An old farm hand we used to work with would grab them out of a cattle grid and whip them, breaking their neck. Me, I'd leave well alone. If they ewren't anywhere near the house, my attitude is they aren't doing any harm.

Night time in summer you don't really venture out with no shoes, as all these things are nocturnal hunters

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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Snakes, I've personally come across a red belly black snake (while out shooting with dad), two brown snakes (one riding a bike in Canberra, one at work),

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I've heard of snakes on planes, but I really I want to see a snake riding a bike!

 

[MarkC]

There was a big chicken snake wrapped around my bike when I was very young. My Granma went inside and came out with her revolver, and after emptying and reloading it a few times, and destroying my bike, the snake slid away unscathed.

 

[moribundman]

Mark, you are Cat Ballou's grandson! Holy grandma!

 

[MarkC]

Meow....