I grew up living in the country. One summer our cat corner a little hog nose snake. My dad saved it and put it in an aquarium in our living room. Well, my mom was laid up from being in a car accident and was staying on the couch in the living room most days so she could watch TV. She fell asleep watching TV and woke up to find the snake gone. She refused to move from the couch until the rest of us came home that day. She didn't even get up to use the restroom or eat. We never did find that snake.

This is a long shot - I hope somebody may know what this is. I took this in central France about a month ago - hold on 25/05/05 @ 14.28.33 - aren't digital cameras fun?

First I knew of it was that my wife's voice suddenly changed pitch & she started running in a circle - this had landed on her arm! It was about 2 inches long from memory and we were walking on a tree lined road above a stream, not far from a large fast flowing river (La Vienne). Annoyingly there is an "Insectorium" not far away from where the picture was taken but thier e-mails just bounce back

Any ideas?

Everyone be carefull out in the sticks. I've seen more snakes this year than I can remember seeing in previous years. I wonder if it all the rain we've had here this year. So far I've seen several rattlers(no Hunster I didn't eat them), both timber and eastern diamondback, cottonmouths, black racers, and 1 beautiful kingsnake.
Have a good time just watch where you put your feet or do like me and have some good snakeboots.


Mike

Sure, I know:

That's another of those creepy crawlers that infest this planet. Looks like some sort of a beetle, probably harmless, but ugly as sin.

While France isn't in the tropics, they obviously have their share.

I'll pass.

Is it a grasshopper? A really, really ugly one?

I don't really care what it is, as long as it stays in France. You didn't happen to see if it had a tiny little passport did you?

Interesting ya’ll should be talking about snakes…

That bug looks very similar to one I saw in Texas that was mostly black, with some orange colorings…

My grandpa called it a “snake doctor”…

I could not find the same species, but I think it is some sort of Long-horned beetle. The picture is of a long-horned flower beetle.

That is really cool! Very good pic!

That's what I was going to say. Me and my kids catch them all the time here in OK by the porch light, they make a funny sqeaky-dolphin like sound (don't laugh that's the best description I can come up with).

Being stationed in Alaska I've seen all the usual Bears, Moose, and Whales. I have also had the pleasure of jogging upon a Lynx as it ran across the road. One of my favorite encounters is driving upon a Wolf pack near the Canadian border. I've had a couple of weird encounters here in KY (my motherland) I ran into a group of guys one night who had caught a Soft Shelled Turtle while they were fishing. They had no idea what it was and they never quite believed me when I told them. They insisted it had "fangs" I don't know what they did with it.

One of my friends in High School said he saw what looked like a "panda bear" playing in a field one morning while he was deer hunting. He never elaborated on it anymore than that other than he watched it for at least 15 minutes.

Thanks for the Bug info. I know nothing about beetles but I found a couple of pictures of longhorns - and that was the closest I could find.

I think you are safe Hairy Man, the bug nearly got squashed by a passing car (and me too!) while I was messing about in the road trying to get a picture - it probably never made it across .

Argiope spiders, yeah very cool. I see them here ALOT in my garden. Love to take pics of them. They are just beautiful!

Around here I have seen coyotes, armadillos, black widows and other assorted spiders, hummers and barn swallows (we have hosted 4 broods now on my front porch), bald eagles ( I almost drove off a bridge once watching one fly over my van). My house was infested with brown recluse when we moved in. I waged WAR and it took me three years to get them under control. I HATE those things, but you have to remember.. they are only spiders and they squish just like any other spider.

I volunteered in a shelter for a few years, and tended lions, tigers, bears, assorted reptiles, primates, exotic birds, and black leopards.. you name it, I fed it and/or handled it. Granted they were not "wild" per se, but up close and personal, they are awesome creatures. Had a bear take a chunk out of my forearm once, and you havent lived until you have been gnawed on by a baby lioness.

Yesterday at my wife's family reunion: a bald eagle and an osprey, at the same time!
Then the osprey swoops down and plucks a fish right out of the water. He then landed on a small island about 150 yards away and ate the fish.
Too cool!

This may be common for alot of people to see, but not in central Ohio.

Bob - just to let you know you were on the money! I found out about the Royal Entomological Society here last week & emailed them the picture and made the longhorn suggestion - here is part of the reply, they have nailed down the species.....

"You are correct in your identification. The insect is a longhorn beetle named after its longish antennae (others in the family have much longer antennae - honestly).
It is the largest European species in its genus and is called Rhagium sycophanta. The larvae tend to develop under bark of oak stumps, though they may rarely be found on other deciduous trees. The beetles can be found in fair numbers on oak stumps from May to July, and can also be seen on flowers and other types of wood."

Cheers

Not a great picture, but Sasquatchery and myself were stationed by one of the creeks in our area about sunset when we were visited by a river otter. I snapped a pic before it dove under a log jam and disappeared.

My kids say I should have a sign on my bumper that says, " CAUTION - Stops for Turtles". I do that. Lots, when need be. Usually box turtles, sometimes snappers.

My son had a new friend & we were driving to the pharmacy to get prescriptions. My son says, " My mom's weird, she stops for turtles!". They laughed & continued chatting. It's almost "small town rush-hour". Lots of parents in a hurry to get their kids to who-knows-where-or-what, who will squish anything that gets in their way, all the while talking on their cells. I'm driving along a 2-lane country road getting close to town, and suddenly there's a foot-long snapper almost in the middle of my lane. I slam on the breaks & Steven laughs. He said jokingly, "There's another turtle!". Then he actually SAW it and pointed it out to his friend. I get out (they do, too), I find a big stick & stick the stick in front of it. It latches on, and I drag the turtle across the road to the other side (the direction it was originally going). Turtle safe. Friend amazed. BIG friggin' turtle! Yep, Steve's right -- I'm a nut. Oh well, that's just me, an embarrassment to my children, but one live turtle. Others wouldn't have stopped...

I've also escorted a couple of box turtles across Interstate 94. What can I say? I'm weird. We won't even count the ones I thought wouldn't make it on the other roads...

I live a very exciting life. When I go to my sister's house & am there after dusk, I'm the designated person to shag the raccoons off her porch to keep them away from the cat food. Oh boy, nose-to-nose with a big fat raccoon, with only the sliding glass door window between me & the felon! I guess I sound real mean when I open the door & yell! But they run off a ways, only to return in a few! There's a skunk that also frequents her porch. So far I've been lucky... (Please pray for me!!!!)

Eat your hearts out, guys! This is real adventure!

I stopped to get this gopher (or bull snake) out of the road near our school a week or so back. He had been injured, and was blind on one side. This thing was HUGE, almost 6 feet. Most folks would have run over him, but hey... they eat LOTS of mice and gophers and you name it....

another pic...

One more. You can see the left side of his face is injured

This summer Screech and I floated the Nooch for summer run steelhead. An osprey barreled into the river no more than 30 feet from us and came up with a 4 lb. squaw fish. Pretty cool.

I think I have been real lucky. I seen a cougar back in ‘74 back in my high school days. We were on a scenic on the East Hoquiam Rd. and a cougar slide down the bank which is about 5’ high. We hit the skids to keep from hitting it. It hit the skids with his front paws stopping in the bottom of the ditch and his ass end was at the top of the ditch. His body must have been at least 5’ long. He turned and jump back up the bank and was gone just like that. He was no more then 8’ from me.

Then in ‘78 I saw a sasquatch on the Hwy near Quinault. That story is posted in this forum somewhere. I feel very, very fortunate to have seen this wild animal. I have very high hopes of seeing one again which is possible. The wild animal I seen when I was a kid was even more rare then seeing a sasquatch. I can bet I will never see another again in my life.

In 1963 when I was 7 my dad rented a camper for our truck to take us on vacation. We went to Eastern Washington then up into Canada. I was riding up front in the cab with my mom and dad to get a break from my big brother tormenting me. We were on a lonely 2 lane Hwy in Canada when 50 yards ahead a hermit crossed the road. We were pretty close when he went into the brush on the other side. He had long hair and beard. He had old ragged clothes. I didn’t know what a hermit was and was quite perplexed upon my parents explanation. I’m sure my chances of seeing another Sasquatch are better then seeing another hermit.

This occurred last evening to a co-worker who lives at the end of Hiland Road in the Chugach Mountains behind Anchorage.

Nearing his home he saw what he thought was a dog in the road ahead. He had to slow his vehicle down. He was thinking about his neighbor's "dumb dog".

Turned out to be a wolverine. It stopped and turned around as he came to a stop just a few feet behind him. It raised it's hackles and snarled at him! Then it turned around and loped down the road, not leaving the plowed roadway for some 100' or more.

After it left the roadway and went into the brush my friend realized that trapping season opened 12 days ago, and that critter was legal, but he was so surprised and in awe, he simply didn't think to grab his pistol and shoot it.

But after it was gone he started to wonder if he wanted that thing running around the homestead.................

Do wolverine hang "close to home"? In other words, are they territorial? Or do they tend to wander? And if so, are they dangerous? To people? Livestock?

Just curious. In other words, would you expect it to stay in your area, and if so, would it become a nuisance?

Here's a Grizzly, some cranes, and a few baby foxes I've seen this past year...

Cranes...

Foxes...

My understanding is that wolverines have a huge individual range. But it's common that if they find an area rich with food, they'll hang out and enjoy for a while.



To livestock? You bet. They have notorious histories up here of killing livestock and pets.

To people? I've never heard of them running out of the woods to attack people like brown bears will.

As a sidenote, their fur is considered very valuable, especially for fur ruff around the face on winter hoods, because the moisture from your breath won't frost up on it. Wolverine pelts fetch the same as wolf pelts; up to and even over $400, depending on grade/quality.

Ok, here is a "quick" video I shot of me and my son's brief view of a bobcat in a swampy area here in GA last Friday. Hey, we were quiet and listening for Sasquatch and we were rewarded! Look quick,,lol Sorry its not better footage..he was moving with a purpose!

Nick

bobcat

ps..it plays in windows media player

I think it a good video.....

Otters, bobcats, bucks, hogs.....oh my.

Here's a cougar in a cottonwood from three days ago.

How did you catch that cat in a tree in a snowstorm?

When I use to live in Fla.I've seen gaters,crocs,deer,gulls and when I move to Alabama in 1986 the most conming animal seen was wildcats,deer,cotton mouths,rabbits,wild pigs.When I move to South Dakota in 1986 I've seen deers,antilope,cyote,hawks,reccons,baggers,pirie dogs,bisions while visting Yellowstone I,ve seen mosseos,elk,bears black and grizzles,black birds.mountain lion.

3:30 am Jan 31 Hwy 97 northbound about one mile north of the turnoff to Paulina and East Lakes I had a mountain lion cross the road in front of my truck. This is the second one I've seen crossing a road here in Central OR. The first one was in a residential area of Sisters and crossed the road and then jumped a fence into someones backyard!

This didn't happen to me...wish it had...but it happened to a guy that works for my hubby.

He was at home late Monday afternoon when his wife got home. He said he heard her beating on the door screaming "let me in!". When he got to the door, she screamed, "There's a deer chasing me!".

Sure enough a small deer was running toward the front door. He got the wife in the house and went out into the front yard, and the deer walked right up to him. He tried to reach out and touch it, but it backed off when he would get too close. After a few tries, he reached out and rubbed the deer on it's head and it moved up closer to him. He grabbed the deer by the leg and wrestled it to the ground. He said once it was on the ground, it just lay there while he checked it for injuries. He didn't find anything wrong with the little deer so he backed off and watched it. He said after a few minutes, the deer stood up, took a couple steps toward him then turned and walked into the woods.

It could have been a tame deer that someone had raised, but he said it was just a little thing, not even half grown.

The coolest thing that ever happened to me when I was archery hunting in 1989. It was an evening hunt, 25 feet up in my old baker trr stand. I was sitting there watching the woods and listening when i saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to look and all I see are these talons and wings. This red tailed hawk is trying to land on me or my tree stand. At the same instant it turned and veered away. This hawk was close enough that i felt the breeze and could hear the flapping sound. it landed about 30 feet away in an old oak tree. i almost fell out of my tree stand. It scared the $ hit otta me. Very impressive bird I must say.




The weirdest thing I ever saw was aboard the USS Iwo Jima in 1992. In the Adriatic sea I was sitting on the ramp of my Aircraft (CH-46e SRM). My airplane was in the forward bone with the ramp facing the direction the boat was heading. I saw a brown spot on the water up ahead. if i had to guess it was maybe 6 or 7 hundred yards ahead. when it finnally came into full view it was a dead cow all bloated up. We were 100 miles off shore. How does a cow end up 100 miles off shore in the middle of the ocean? Can someone please explain that.

my grandpa swears to have seen a black panther in the woods near his house in the early 80's. he swears by it.

Great stories here!



Must not be many scavengers in the water there.

The other thing is that a sailor like you probably knows that you never know what you're gonna find floating out there in the sea......

Several years ago a well known and liked commercial fisherman in Homer, Alaska, worked for years to build his wife her dream home; a beautiful log house on the bluff overlooking Kachemak Bay. They hadn't lived in the finished home very long before it caught fire and was destroyed.

The community was arranging a benefit event to help the couple out, but the man went out fishing like every other day and came across a shipping container floating out there in Cook Inlet. He lassoed the thing, and towed it back in to Homer.

It was dragged up onto the beach and opened. Inside was a pre-cut cedar log home package.

Turns out it fell off a container ship in the Gulf of Alaska and floated around out there long enough for all the insurance work to be completed, and (from what I read) it was his legally anyway, in accordance with maritime salvage law.

I read this story in the Anchorage Daily News. Sometimes, they can come up with some really good ones.

Back in '91 I was hunting deer in Marlboro County, SC. It was mid-afternoon and clear. I was sitting in a ladder-type tree stand. I heard some rustling in the leaves underneath my stand, and looked down. Directly underneath me was a tarantula the size of my hand, walking along. Tarantulas aren't supposed to be that far north...I have no idea how it got there. Maybe someone had one as a pet and turned it loose.

The strangest thing I have seen outdoors was in the Gulf of Mexico. A friend and I were tied up to an oil rig about 100 miles offshore, night-fishing for tuna. The action was slow and we laid down on the deck to try to get some rest. Sometime in the middle of the night, I got up and looked out across the port gunwale, and saw a school of what I could only describe as sea monsters. They looked like diminutive dragons. There were about 10 of them (whatever they were), and their heads were all sticking out of the water, facing the same direction (landward, or northeast). The heads were about 6 to 8 inches long and triangular, with sharp snouts. The eyes were huge, about 2 inches across, and shown silver as they reflected the light off the oil rig. They were not intelligent eyes. It was rather spooky.

After about 4 or 5 minutes, suddenly the creatures all submerged and I didn't see them again. I think they might have been oarfish, or some related species, but I've never heard of oarfish engaging in such unfishlike behavior.

Snakes don't bother me a bit. As a child, I whiled away summer hours by catching snakes and playing with them. Even the poisonous ones (and I've encountered many) don't bother me. I just walk around them.

I've never understood people's irrational fear of snakes.

I know why I don't like snakes. Two reasons. When you look into their eyes, they are cold & vacant. Secondly, I stepped on one.

I was probably 12 or 13 years old. I was on my way home from the school bus. I cut across our neighbor's yard. As I stepped off the grass onto the dirt road I stepped on it! Suddenly I had a three-foot long snake flipping around my bare leg! It was only seconds... I didn't get bit... But it did scare the heck outta me! Either way, I thought I was gonna die that day, and will never forget it!

I have no idea what kind of snake it was, but it scared me that day, and has certainly influenced how I view snakes for all these years... Still gives me the willies!! :new_weirdsmiley: I'd rather see a bigfoot than a snake, that's for sure!

You'll get a clue if you get bit.

I did.

Back in the early 1990's I was on a golf holiday with a couple of buddies down in Myrtle Beach, SC. One afternoon walking back from the beach to our hotel I turned around to look back at the ocean (about 75 yards away) to where I had just been swimming and this huge, dark dorsal fin breaks the surface. I could actually hear a "whooshing" sound and estimated that the dorsal fin was about 24" in height! :help: LOL!

And all sorts on hazards on southern golf courses! Signs warning to beware of snakes in low lying wet areas, and don't feed the alligators! :laugh:

Irrational???

1. Its gotta hurt - :ohmy:
2. A snake bite can KILL... :ohmy:


Thats not irrational fear - I think its called "Self Preservation" - my desire to live, keeps me from getting near snakes - YIKES !!!!


*edited cause I didnt want to quote Huntster - it was the person he quoted..... Ok, I tried. LOL

You can add python to my and Stacys list... the last 6 or so feet of hm trailing off the road into the everglades on Sunday morning... couldn't stop the vehicle in time to get a pic though.

I guess I can finally add to this thread, lol. I stepped on a copperhead snake the other day without getting bit but just about had a heart attack. :icon_bang:

Oh crap you guys! Snakes....**shudder**....

:icon_stressed:

Back in the late 60's, a cousin of mine, who was about 13 or 14 years old at the time, had a pet boa constrictor. He had occasion to fly somewhere on a jet, and wanted to take the boa with him. The airline wouldn't let him take the snake cage on board with him...so he ditched the cage, put the snake inside his shirt, and flew halfway across the country with the boa curled up next to his belly.

Couldn't pull that off today. In an age where nose-hair clippers are deadly weapons, a boa constrictor smuggled onto a commercial airliner might be a capital offense:

"Your Honor, the defendent was planning to hijack a commercial passenger aircraft by threatening the crew with a pet snake."

LMAO JayleeD - I hear you !! YIKES..

Edited to add: Painthorse, Im glad you stepped on it ... just reading that made me sweat. YIKES.

That's pretty funny. :laugh: I had half a mind yesterday to run screaming through the Atlanta airport " I still have my lighter !!! Nyaa nyaa nyaaa!!! " I mean really, what am I gonna do with it ? Bic someone to death ?

On two different occasions, in roughly the same spot, black bears swam right past me on the James River while fishing. . .saw a shark swim in front of me while scuba diving while I was in Panama City, FL.

Not very exciting, but I had to post something!!




"Ferral Human, some freaky bum that I found way out in the glades."

NOW THAT WAS FUNNY! Ferral Human, I love it. :new_lmaosmiley: