Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Japanese paradise flycatcher father and baby.

Japanese paradise flycatcher father and baby. (Photo: Nobby Clarke)

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The Dose Makes The Poison

http://dosemakespoison.blogspot.ca/

https://twitter.com/forensictoxguy

Crinoids or feather stars are found in shallow waters

Crinoids or feather stars are found in shallow waters and the deep sea. They have many feather-like feeding tentacles

harmless hellbender:

harmless hellbender: http://bit.ly/1T4J7fu

David Herasimtschuk

Squiirel and Falcom

‏ @JasonWardNY

Replying to @NatickBobCat @gilamonsterasu

Can I join!? #SquirrelWeek

Hellbender

100% incredible photo by David Herasimtschuk! Read his account of capturing this amazing pic: https://m.facebook.com/623560454393253/photos/a.629813790434586.1073741828.623560454393253/1404579112958046/?type=3 …

David Herasimtschuk Photography

My fascination with rivers is often fueled by the unknown. Even in waters I've explored hundreds of times, it feels like the potential to experience something few have ever seen is a definite possibility every time I go below the surface. This is especially true in the flowing waters of Southern Appalachia where the display of life that greets you each time you dip your head below the surface is truly phenomenal. Giant salamanders, known as hellbenders, can be seen lurking among the cobble and bedrock of these ancient mountain streams. Having been fortunate to spend a great deal of time underwater with these giants over the last few years I've seen them display an array of fascinating behaviors. However, this is by far the most remarkable. Drifting downstream I spotted a hellbender that appeared to have some company. Clamped tightly in the jaws of the giant, a northern water snake struggled to fight free from its grasp. The snake put up quite a fight and was soon able to escape from this otherworldly scene, avoiding becoming the hellbenders next meal.

Going beneath the surface, Freshwaters Illustrated is currently working on a feature length documentary to share and celebrate the hidden underwater worlds of Southern Appalachia. To learn more about this project and the life that inhabits these incredible rivers, keep an eye out for more posts from Freshwaters Illustrated as we continue our work on Hidden Rivers. Be sure to watch the trailer at: https://vimeo.com/66103145

A huge thanks to Nauticam USA and Reef Photo & Video for providing the equipment necessary to help us document these amazing creatures.

Jun 21 at 2:37am · Public · in Timeline Photos

David Herasimtschuk Photography is on Facebook. To connect with David Herasimtschuk Photography, join Facebook today.

Katy Greenwald

@amphibs

Prof at Eastern Michigan University. Interests are #herpetology, #ecology, #evolution, and #conservation biology. Smeet frog by @Blackmudpuppy

Ypsilanti, MI

amphibs.net

Wikitribune

Wikipedia's founder is launching a news website in a mission to fight fake news. It will be called "Wikitribune" http://cnn.it/2oJukQI

gila monster

https://twitter.com/gilamonsterasu

@gilamonsterasu

Monday, June 26, 2017

Dragons on the beach

Posted November 13, 2016 6 Comments on Dragons on the beach Animal behaviour
Dragons on the beach

Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) on Komodo Island

There’s not an awful lot to say about Komodo dragons, other than the fact that they are a huge lizard – the biggest in the world – and give us an indication of the reptilian megafauna that once stalked the earth.

Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) on Komodo Island approaching a water hole

They are not creatures I think anyone could find attractive. Respect, admiration and awe, but not affection. They are just too reptilian, too unknowable. What is going on in that tiny brain when it looks at us. Just the notion, I think, that we are edible!

Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) on Komodo
with forked tongue

I didn’t really like them, with their deer-chomping habits and slimy mouths, but they are magnificent animals and I am very glad to have had the opportunity to see them up close.

Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) drinking from water hole

I must confess that they did have an air of dignity about them. When this large one approached the water hole to drink, we scattered, but he remained still, upright and alert (first photo) for some time before moving in for a drink. After all it was his water hole. Was he being cautious or dignified? Maybe a bit of both. He (or she) had probably been drinking there for decades whilst we were only spending a fleeting hour on the island.

137 Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) on beach with deformed foot

The ones on the beach were said to have been fed occasionally, which is why they are very interested and attentive when zodiacs containing tourists arrive to gawp at them and take pictures.

‘Shooting’ dragons on the beach

Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) on beach

Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) on beach

Komodo dragon with open mouth.

The young ones, which spend most of their lives up trees to avoid being eaten by the larger ones, are almost cute. Until I saw one catch, kill and swallow a rat (below sequence).

Young Komodo dragon hunting up a tree

Young Komodo dragon with freshly killed rat in its mouth (Komodo Island)

Young Komodo dragon swallowing a rat

It stalked it up a tree and then fell to the earth with a thud. It then raced off to a quiet spot (not so quiet on account of the photographers following it with their cameras!) and proceeded to swallow it whole. They shan’t be on my Christmas list. But like them or loath them, they deserve respect; for surviving so long if nothing else!

Baby Komodo dragon peering out of a hole up a palm tree.

Young Komodo dragon resting on a log

The poor animals which God, sorry evolution, has elected to be food for these giant lizards, are an attractive cervid called the Timor deer. It must be a rum existence never knowing when one of these lizards is going to inflict a venomous bite leaving you hobbling around waiting to be eaten. But perhaps only the weak and sickly get taken. This deer did not seem at all concerned about the presence of the dragons nearby.

Timor deer or Sunba sambar (Rusa timorensis)

All photographs taken in Komodo National Park in October 2016.

Source: https://rcannon992.com/2016/11/13/dragons-on-the-beach/

Dragons in the park

Southeast Asian water monitor (V. salvator macromaculatus), Lumpini Park, Bangkok

The Southeast Asian water monitor, a large lizard called Varanus salvator subspecies macromaculatus, occurs throughout southern Asia and Southeast Asia. It can grow very large, apparently up to 3 m in length, although most adults are about 1.5 to 2 m long (1). Big enough! The males are larger than the females and can weigh up to 50 kg. Their big cousins, the Indonesian Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), are of course much larger and weigh up to 150 kg. Anyway, these Bangkok dragons are impressive enough.

Southeast Asian water monitor (V. salvator macromaculatus), Lumpini Park, Bangkok

The water monitors have adapted well to life in Bangkok – I expect they have been there throughout the history of the city – and can be seen in many places, including klongs and canals; most prominently in Lumpini Park.

The Southeast Asian water monitor (V. salvator macromaculatus), Lumpini Park, Bangkok

Lumpini (or Lumphini or Lumpinee) – สวนลุมพินี in Thai – is a 142 acre haven of peace in the centre of Bangkok. It is a place were it is possible to see a surprising number of birds and other animals, including these amazing reptiles which have become used to people (albeit with a degree of wariness on both sides).

Cult of the Green Iguana

Herpetology and Me