Community Chat

[gertrudecloset]

No matter how cuddly they look - and they look incredibly cuddly - they're not to be snuggled upon any circumstances. It's not that they're mean or that they have a taste for human flesh, they just like to have their own space.

How about this guy?

If a rhino is going to charge at you it's going to be the white rhino, not because it's the most aggressive but because there are just so many of them roaming the eastern hemisphere

A barn funnel weaver lies in wait inside his perfectly crafted web for his food to arrive

These spooky spiders can live up to seven years, which is a long time in the insect kingdom. Similar to grass spiders, these creatures tend to hang out in their webs. During the mating season in the summer you're likely to find two of these bad boys hanging out together, possibly with web sacks surrounding the area.

Here's the good news: Barn Spiders rarely bite humans. In fact, they're shy creatures that would rather avoid you altogether. However, if you do suffer a bite by one of these spiders it should bring on anything other than a little swelling. Still, keep a look out the next time you're crawling through an old barn.

I'd love to see this up close and personal at the Aquarium

Beluga whales have often been mistaken for mermaids.  

 

This viral image of a Beluga whale showing off its "knees" that are supposedly hidden beneath its thick blubber is actually a shot of one of the more important aspects of a whale. What's on display in this photo is actually a lengthy rail of extra fatty insulation that helps a Beluga whale stay warm in the harsh arctic waters it calls home. So why does this whale look like it has knees?

According to Carey Richard, the supervisor of cetaceans and pinnipeds at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut:

It was just a weird camera angle. The position of the camera is just such that they caught that blubber moving. I’ve never seen blubber looking like human anatomy.

[Snoopp]

Grizzly bears are terrifying.  I've read too many stories about them.

[gertrudecloset]

@Snoopp I have totally forgotten about the grizzly in favor of the black and brown bears.  I just don't know what I'd do.  Maybe if you stand still you don't intimidate them?  LOL

[Snoopp]

I think you respond differently depending on black bears or grizzly bears but I think with a grizzly you are in big trouble.  They have been known to chase people on the water from the river bank.

[chickenbutt]

Oh, he's so cute!   

By and large, I'm not afraid of non-human animals.  I used to swim with sharks and other water animals that are way bigger than I, and that was awesome.   

Well, I am terrified of bees but that's about it.   People always gave me a hard time (just funnin') about the sharks and how much I loved them and loved to be in the water with them, yet if a bee comes into my orbit I will likely go into shock.

I'm not saying I'd do something stupid, but they just don't scare me, right out of the gate, and I would love to be able to watch these large animals from a safe distance.  Well, ok, I'd love to pet them and hug them but I am a realist.    It's just a bit of fantasy on my part.

[gertrudecloset]

@chickenbutt I'm not messing with those bees.  I have "yellow jackets" in and around my hedges on the front of my house that I'm often afraid to go out the front door.  LOL.  Someone told me there might be a nest hidden in the hedges somewhere.  I had my son look (I was not going to) and there is nothing there.  They are attracted to me.  That's all there is to that.  

The pic of that beluga whale is amazing.  As a child I was fascinated with mermaids and thought they were real.  I think the photographer got luck with his shot of the whale at the time he took the pic.  

Swim with some sharks?  Huh???????

[Porcelain]

Yikers. Yet hippos are supposedly the most dangerous? They pop up out of nowhere at the water's edge and you're a gonner.

According to Scientific American:

"Every year across Africa, hippos kill an estimated 500 people, making them the world's deadliest mammal, after humans, and nearly twice as deadly as lions. Hippopotamuses are herbivories and rarely bother other animals."

[chickenbutt]

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@gertrudecloset wrote:

@chickenbutt I'm not messing with those bees.  I have "yellow jackets" in and around my hedges on the front of my house that I'm often afraid to go out the front door.  LOL.  Someone told me there might be a nest hidden in the hedges somewhere.  I had my son look (I was not going to) and there is nothing there.  They are attracted to me.  That's all there is to that.  

The pic of that beluga whale is amazing.  As a child I was fascinated with mermaids and thought they were real.  I think the photographer got luck with his shot of the whale at the time he took the pic.  

Swim with some sharks?  Huh???????

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Hi Darlin!    Yeah, bees (all of them for me - skinny ones, big hairy ones, ALL of them) are so terrifying to me.   I shudder just thinking about a bee being near me.

But, yeah, sharks are my fav for sure and had the pleasure, in my 2-300 dives, to swim with hundreds of them.

One time I was in Palau and one new one for me was the Napoleon Wrasse (will post pic below).  They are unique, for sure, and quite huge!  One of them would be bigger than if we smushed together all the divers who jumped off the boat that day.

In Palau they had this one fav NR who they had named Junior.   He loved hard boiled eggs (but I won't take that against him ) and the divemaster would bring some in his BC pocket.    He had me make a big circle with my arms.  Junior was on one side of my circle and, on the other side, the divemaster would hold out one of the eggs.  

Junior would push partly (no way he could fit very far) into my arm circle to get the egg.  Of course, I gave him a pat and hug.

So, the super cool thing was watching him eat the egg and all of a sudden the shell, in teeny tiny little bits came flying out of his gills.   I'd just never seen anything like that and, since Palau was one of my dream dive destinations it was just so awesome.  Lots of stories there, and Fiji too.

Swam with many a shark in both places, and also in the Caribbean, over those years and I just hope I never forget those amazing experiences.

(sorry so long)  *sheepish grin*

💖

[On It]

I am not familiar with how to deal with the chance encounter of a grizzly, but the black bear in our forest avoid human interaction for the most part. Talking loudly and making noise will cause them to leave. These bear become dangerous when they are surprised or startled. When we go outside after dusk we are especially vocal and noisy. It is almost impossible to see a black bear at night in the forest. They are quiet and make no noise. I never take out trash after sunset or before sunrise. I am most concerned about a mama bear with her cubs. That is the bear that I think is the most dangerous.

[gertrudecloset]

@Porcelain Here's your buddy....