Re the manatee...

SO sorry I didn't get back to those who commented, here and elsewhere, about the manatee excursions! Stuff happens, knowwhutImeanVern?

Anyhow, I have no problem with a person who has a little sense swimming with the manatees, or even touching them. Unfortunately, common sense is extremely UNcommon, hence the laws regarding same. My major problem is how a pack of mow-rons treats the poor critters after shelling out a few bucks to be hauled out amongst 'em, as if their payment grants privileges unseemly. 'Nuff said.

Hope y'all are having a bodacious year. Mine's been pretty crummy so far, hence the even greater than usual dearth of postings. But one day, the sun will shine again, right? And one day, it'll be over 60° again, right?

I'm mad!!!

I was just thinking what a nice deal I found - 1/2+ off a manatee or dolphin excursion in Crystal River - when I read what the manatee tour included. Isn't touching a manatee in the wild illegal?! Apparently, the same people who are supposed to be working to protect these wondermous creatures see nothing wrong with issuing special permits to bottom feeders looking to cash in on the docile nature of Florida's state marine mammal. What's wrong with this picture?!

I just watched a short video of divers 'snuggling' up to a group of manatees who couldn't get into the warm springs, as it was already overcrowded. They were cold and hungry and trying their best to stay warm and conserve energy. You cold see that they were trying to get away from the people who used them to push off, rode on their backs and chased after them.

DAWG! There's a reason there are laws against this stuff! But if you shell out a little cash, we'll let you do it, anyway.

Now I realize that there are two sides to every story. If anybody can tell me any part of the other side that makes this OK, please enlighten me. Coz right now, I'm kinda sick to my stomach.

Mystery Solved

Suze correctly guessed it was a flower and KellyRae narrowed it down. We have to be really careful walking around the back 40, coz the prickly pears are sneaky. And if Duller happens to mow over one, the pieces produce more. I have yet to try a tuna salad, but I hear they're mighty tasty. Just make sure you get rid of ALL the 'bones'. 8-}

Florida Factoid Friday

The Manchineel tree - AKA death apple - which grows in south Florida, is one of the most toxic trees in North America. Its apple-like fruit causes sickness when eaten, and the tree’s sap causes blistering, swelling, and numbness. Even water dripping from the leaves can cause the symptoms.

Better late, right? Today is DS's birthday, so I haven't been home long enough for my 'regular' doin's. Late lunch at Red Lobster... and I'm still alive. 8-] Cake and ice cream coming up shortly.

Hope all y'all are having a bodaciously blessed Christmas season!

Mystery solved

Y'all were wise to go along with FC's guess. We can't hardly slip anything past him, can we? 8-]

I do wish I had a better picture for y'all, but I didn't wanna irritate Big Momma at an inopportune moment. I understand the substance they 'spit' can be excrutiatingly painful. If you look closely you'll see 'Little Daddy' procreating.

full view

Steve and SwampAngel were spot on. My original mistaken identity - pygmy rattler - has been sniffed out and corrected. It's a baby cottonmouth, AKA water moccasin.

He was in a dangerous place, in the middle of a forest road, so I grabbed a LONG stick and tried to gently encourage him to move. He was having none of it, so I just had to hope he would change his mind before a truck came along. There was no sign of him on the way back, so I reckon he finally got the right idea.

What's that smell?!

Every year about this time, one of these guys spends some time on the false aralia on my back steps. I've looked at 40 bazillion stinkbug pics, but have yet to come up with a match. The closest I did find was the green potato bug. But everything I've Googled says it lives Down Under. This picture is from last year.

Here are this year's pics:

Are there any buggy people reading this that might have a clue?

Please click the pics for a larger view.

To Kill a Cow

I spotted this lethal beauty in the driveway down by the mailbox last evening. She's a fairly hyper creature and it was late in the day, so the pictures are so-so.

If you ever see one of these, don't pick it up! The velvet ant, AKA cow killer AKA mule killer, packs an extremely painful sting. But she isn't really an ant at all. She's a wasp. You can tell it's a female, coz she has no wings.

Despite the nicknames, she isn't aggressive and her venom isn't all that toxic. If she's startled, she'll usually give a warning, by means of stridulation, before stinging.

Too young for wheels

Well, I didn't make it to the refuge this weekend, but I did have an interesting visitor. This young wheel bug was having supper right outside the front door.

I only got one decent shot before he dropped and tried to hide. Probably thought I was trying to steal his ant. The flying ants are swarming now, so he's welcome to as many as he can scarf down. When he grows up, he'll look like this:

Fascinating as they are, I don't handle these guys. Some people have allergic reactions to their bite. Others say it hurts ten times worse than a hornet sting and takes weeks, sometimes months, to heal. I'll take their word for it.

Y'all have a JESUS-filled day! ^i^

My good deed for the week

The other day, I was coming up our road and spotted a huge snake in the road. Naturally, I had to stop for pics. Boy, was I surprised when I got close enough to see that it was a Diamondback Rattlesnake. I'm pretty sure that's the first one I've seen up here. While I was watching and shooting it, another truck came along. Most people around here go out of their way to run over snakes, so I pulled up in front of it, on the wrong side of the road, and made them go around. They started to back up and turn around when they saw it, but I stayed put till it had slithered off into the woods.

The next day, I got an even bigger surprise! I was heading up to town and spotted, about a mile or so up our dirt road, a black cat ambling along the roadside.My first thought was how well-fed he looked. But something just seemed odd about him. He sat just for a second, still with his back to me, then got up and turned to go into the woods. HUH?! What on earth? That's not a cat! . . . . . It's a MINK! DAWG! I wish I'd stopped and used my binoculars for a better look. That is definitely a first for me.

Well, other than the deer, who now come by daily - sometimes twice - that pretty much wraps up my wildlife report for this week.

Y'all have a JESUS-filled day! ^i^