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  • Locked thread
Knormal
Nov 11, 2001

Greetings, and welcome to the Critterquest thread for (the remainder of) 2014. This is pretty much a straight-up continuation of last year's thread and only being moved to a new thread for cleanliness, so I'm just going to blatantly steal the old OP! Thanks to Mak0rz and Mr. Despair for writing up the thread guidelines so I don't have to!

Mak0rz posted:

Welcome to Critterquest: 2013/2014 edition! This is actually the 7th thread in the series, I think, but if you're new here we'll just go through a few guidelines, many of which I am shamelessly just going to quote from last year's OP, Mr. Despair:

Mr. Despair posted:

First, a few guidelines:

1. This is for wild animals. Don't post your pets please. Mak0rz' amendment: Everyone and their mother has a dog and/or cat and they are only so interesting and have dozens of threads in Pet Island dedicated to them. Note that "pets" includes exotics such as tarantulas and snakes. Previously we've allowed exceptions for people such as Slo-Tek who raises wild silk moths as a hobby (see below). If you do this, or keep mantids, spiders, or ladybugs in your vegetable gardens for pest-control purposes, then pictures of those are welcome!

2. We prefer live animals here! If you find a lizard on the side of the road, and you want to know what it is, that's ok, but don't come in here posting your lastest hunting trophy or boatful of dead fish.

3. Don't be scared of bugs! They're probably scared of you! (Be scared of Moose instead!)

4. Knormal's amendment: Bolding the gently caress out of this: If you post something, try and post where you found it. This makes it easier to identify!

5. If you post something from flickr, try and make the source available. Mak0rz' amendment: This means make the downloads available, if you can help it. The justification for this rule is to minimize source requests for wallpapers from restricted flickr accounts because they do have the potential to be irritating. I realize the urge to restrict downloads from flickr accounts but the restriction is easily circumvented by viewing the page source to grab the original image anyway, so in the end it's kind of moot and you should consider using watermarks if you are uncomfortable with the idea of someone getting your images.

To clarify: Making flickr images available for download is courteous and reduces thread clutter, but it is not mandatory. In the end it is you who dictates how your flickr account behaves. However, you should at least include links to the flickr album when posting images.

6. DON'T USE TIMG TAGS if you can help it. I know Imgur and flickr lets you put a smaller picture that hotlinks to the full size off site, so try and use that instead (so that we don't have pages with 200 10 megapixel images killing everything).

Last year's thread had a warning about this thread containing :siren:wild animals of all types:siren:. This is not limited to the cute and furry. It includes insects, spiders, fish, worms, and a number of other things big whiny babies think are scary or disgusting for reasons that are totally irrational and silly. If you think you will have a problem with that, then this thread probably won't be for you. Please don't poo poo it up by coming in here and posting about how you all think we're disgusting because we consider jumping spiders as the most adorable creatures on the planet. Thank you.


A new rule! Please post new pictures. Re-posting a couple from the previous thread(s) is not much of a problem, but it would be nice to not over-saturate this thread with old images. However, those of you from last year's thread whose pictures got tangled up in the last few pages, feel free to re-post those here!

Using imgur.com: If you're into photography then chances are you use flickr as a digital album and they automatically generate linked thumbnails for your sharing pleasure. However, some people don't want to deal with that fuss! Imgur is a super-quick image upload and hosting service. I especially like it because it doesn't require an account. I've had a couple of people in the thread say they are confused about how to get forums-friendly images from it. It's easy, but it does require an extra step to make sure you're not posting table-destroying 3840x2160 pictures.

All you have to do is head on over to their website and upload images from either a url or your computer. NOTE: Sometimes uploading from url fails (all they say is that the image is corrupted). To fix that, just download the pictures and upload from there. Once your images are up, you'll be hit with this page:


click for huge

The stuff in the red box is what you want copied to the forum post. However, this will also post the full-sized image! To post a thumbnail instead, you can click on the "Large Thumbnail" link to change the code. Large thumbnails tend to be a convenient size. Alternatively, you can change the code yourself by appending "l" (large), "m" (medium), or "s" (small) before the file extension in the BBCode. I find this more convenient, myself. I tend to do a little extra work to make getting to the full-sized image a little easier (i.e. the "click for huge" links underneath). Just quote my posts if you want to see how it's done.

You have to repeat this process for all of your uploaded images, accessible from the top bar on the imgur page (I have three in the example above).


:siren:Anyway, on to thread content!:siren:

Why Critterquest? Spring is springing and with it comes a variety of new seasonal wildlife! This presents a new opportunity for you to post pictures of any wild creatures you see. Bumble bees on your decorative flowers? Grab some photos! Spot a deer near your picnic table? Shoot it! (with a camera, preferably). Spider building a web? Get some footage! Don't know what your creature is? Post it anyway! This thread is full of naturalists, entomologists, and a number of other scientists and wildlife enthusiasts. We will be more than happy to try and identify something for you.

Important note: This thread is not in The Dorkroom for a reason. Don't fret about not having the best pictures and don't feel discouraged from posting something from your lovely Blackberry camera!

Updated list of past/related threads:
Critterquest 2013: It's venomous, not poisonous.
Critterquest 2012: Let's talk about bugs and stuff.

Wildlife Photography: Zooming with your feet may get you mauled The Dorkroom's wildlife thread for people who know what all those weird numbers on lenses mean.

The Reptile and Amphibian Thread vol.2: how to deal with the cricket stink Pet Island's thread on pet herps (stop giggling). Also sometimes includes some wild photographs too.
Ant Farm Learn how to raise your own ants to unleash on your adversaries.
One Stop Invert Spot mkII Ants not cutting it? Sic some spiders or scorpions on them.

Alright, lets see some bugs and stuff.

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enziarro
Sep 4, 2004

I'm not an angel - I'm a Galactic Pioneer.
This little dickwad brown anole was in a pipe in Leesburg, FL


Also reposting this from the end of the 2013 thread a couple weeks ago since this is the first post

ExecuDork
Feb 25, 2007

We might be fucked, sir.
Fallen Rib
I don't have any good pics at the moment, but I've got a big post in mind as soon as lots of other priorities get out of the way.

I do have a question! Can anyone recommend any good plant guide books (or, insect guides) for Austria? I'm going there tomorrow (from Canada) and I'd love to know more about the plants especially, as well as other critters. Something that describes the flora of the Alps, or the Danube, or central Europe, would be fantastic.

Thanks, new thread!

Also, here's a teaser for my upcoming (in like 2 months, don't hold your breath) big post about the critters of the Canadian High Arctic: Fuckin' Ducks!

Duck Courtship in a Pond 10 by Execudork, on Flickr

Jadz
Jan 8, 2004

Stuck in the middle with you.
These are from last summer, but I'm getting geared up for tomorrow - no class and it's supposed to be a beautiful day here in northeast Kansas, so hopefully I'll nab a few new things. I'm positive a couple are re-posts, but a few are new to Critterquest. Click for big!

What I'm pretty positive is a female Carolina Mantis - Stagmomantis carolina

carolina mantis by h. meadors, on Flickr


A teeny tiny Common House Spider - Parasteatoda tepidariorum

tiny spider by h. meadors, on Flickr

He was about the size of a pencil eraser. The background in this is the trunk of a tree - his tangled web was in the V created by a couple large branches.

tiny spider by h. meadors, on Flickr


What I'm pretty sure is a brand-new Robin!

robin nest by h. meadors, on Flickr


Widow Skimmer - Libellula luctuosa

widow skimmer by h. meadors, on Flickr

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

ExecuDork posted:

I do have a question! Can anyone recommend any good plant guide books (or, insect guides) for Austria? I'm going there tomorrow (from Canada) and I'd love to know more about the plants especially, as well as other critters. Something that describes the flora of the Alps, or the Danube, or central Europe, would be fantastic.
Does it need to be English? Because if you can read German, any souvenir shop will have as many of them as you could possibly need.

net cafe scandal
Mar 18, 2011

Knormal posted:

Alright, lets see some bugs and stuff.

Over my cold, dead body.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

net cafe scandal posted:

Over my cold, dead body.
That is where you'd generally find a wide variety of them, yes.

Kilo147
Apr 14, 2007

You remind me of the boss
What boss?
The boss with the power
What power?
The power of voodoo
Who-doo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of the Boss.

Captain Invictus posted:

That is where you'd generally find a wide variety of them, yes.

We should probably remove the beetles and maggots from his cold dead body before taking pictures, right? No dead things rule applies to people, correct?

nimh
Sep 18, 2004

by FactsAreUseless


Leaf-tailed Gecko, Australia



Massivus Grasshopperus?, Australia

nimh fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Apr 18, 2014

axolotl farmer
May 17, 2007

Now I'm going to sing the Perry Mason theme

Yay Critterquest! :neckbeard:

Let's start this year's thread off with some loving bees!



Colletes cunicularius, a solitary bee. Stockholm, Sweden.

enziarro
Sep 4, 2004

I'm not an angel - I'm a Galactic Pioneer.
I had no idea what this gorgeous dead blue finchy looking bird was, but it was even bluer than it was dead - spotted it from like 100 feet. Looking into it, I think this is an indigo bunting. Pretty sure it broke its neck flying into a mirrored window.



Mount Dora, FL

Frank Horrigan
Jul 31, 2013

by Ralp

enziarro posted:

I had no idea what this gorgeous dead blue finchy looking bird was, but it was even bluer than it was dead - spotted it from like 100 feet. Looking into it, I think this is an indigo bunting. Pretty sure it broke its neck flying into a mirrored window.



Mount Dora, FL

That's exactly what it is. Gorgeous bird, shame about the accident. :(

Zeth
Dec 28, 2006

Cluck you say?
Buglord
I rescued a coworker from this absolutely savage pink-spotted hawkmoth last fall. She ran out from the back room and told me that something was divebombing her and she couldn't tell what it was and was afraid it was some kind of enormous wasp. I naturally took this as a challenge and managed to catch it in an empty cardboard box and let it go in a display of potted mums out in front of the store.

http://imgur.com/p4R7C1x

e: Cedar Falls, Iowa

double edit: drat it all why isn't my picture working. Changed it to just a link.

Zeth fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Apr 19, 2014

EricBauman
Nov 30, 2005

DOLF IS RECHTVAARDIG
Is this the thread where people identify the disgusting insects I run into?

These guys turn up in my bathroom sink every couple of weeks.

http://i.imgur.com/6bSZLuK.jpg


I usually just flush them through the drain, but the idea of these bugs turning up over and over again isn't really hygienic.

I don't really remember whether they have three 'hairs' on the end, or that may just be a badly positioned nose hairs.

What are these things and what can I do to make sure they stay away.
For reference, I live in the Netherlands, in the middle of a city.

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

EricBauman posted:

Is this the thread where people identify the disgusting insects I run into?

These guys turn up in my bathroom sink every couple of weeks.

http://i.imgur.com/6bSZLuK.jpg


I usually just flush them through the drain, but the idea of these bugs turning up over and over again isn't really hygienic.

I don't really remember whether they have three 'hairs' on the end, or that may just be a badly positioned nose hairs.

What are these things and what can I do to make sure they stay away.
For reference, I live in the Netherlands, in the middle of a city.

That looks like your common, everyday silverfish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

EricBauman
Nov 30, 2005

DOLF IS RECHTVAARDIG

the wildest rear end posted:

That looks like your common, everyday silverfish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

Hmm, looks like it. I figured those would be bigger. Or maybe I'm just killing them early enough.

my cat is norris
Mar 11, 2010

#onecallcat

EricBauman posted:

Hmm, looks like it. I figured those would be bigger. Or maybe I'm just killing them early enough.

I don't think silverfish ever get very large, but a quantity living in your household can be damaging to certain items. Silverfish like to go nomming after books, for example, so although I think they're cute and hard to smush, I always murder them when I see them. :( Except for one lucky bugger earlier this year because I was just excited to see a living insect after the POLAR VORTEX kept everything so cold.

Taliaquin
Dec 13, 2009

Turtle flu
I'm moving into a house in a few weeks and it has its own private garden out back, full of bees, butterflies, other bugs, and most importantly, :swoon: wood pigeons! The portliest of all garden birds! I love wood pigeons so much, and I'm even taking the smaller bedroom upstairs rather than the nicer, bigger one because it looks out on the garden. Once we get settled, I'm going to try to set up a nice feeder and a birdbath. I'm told that wood pigeons muck up birdbaths by being fat and oily, but I'm looking forward to their fat butts being everywhere. I plan on taking loads of pictures.

Sid Delicious
Oct 31, 2007
:sidvicious:


i dont know what this thread is but here is a chipmunk i saw in my back yard, i named him nigga charlie

Somebody fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Apr 20, 2014

Maldoror
Oct 5, 2003

by R. Guyovich
Nap Ghost

Sid Delicious posted:

i dont know what this thread is but here is a chipmunk i saw in my back yard, i named him nigga charlie


ooo chippy :)

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

my cat is norris posted:

I don't think silverfish ever get very large, but a quantity living in your household can be damaging to certain items. Silverfish like to go nomming after books, for example, so although I think they're cute and hard to smush, I always murder them when I see them. :( Except for one lucky bugger earlier this year because I was just excited to see a living insect after the POLAR VORTEX kept everything so cold.
I wouldn't be concerned about that. Silverfish sometimes eat the starches that can be found in some book glues, but you need a really large infestation for silverfish to even go after that source of food. Most of the time they are perfectly content to remain in dark, enclosed and humid spaces where they feed on mold spores. I had silverfish for years in a dorm I used to live in and never even met them much outside of the bathroom. The fact that they eat mold actually makes them more of a useful cohabitant than a pest, as well as an indicator of possibly harmful mold infestations.

Still, if you're worried, there is a large selection of baited traps you should be able to buy at any drugstore. Just put them where you usually see the most of the little guys and the problem should recede quickly.

RustedChrome
Jun 10, 2007

"do not hold the camera obliquely, or the world will seem to be on an inclined plane."

Hi new thread!

I went out for a walk at Fort Pickens park near Penacola, Florida again the other day. There is a footbridge over a stream that runs through a marsh that's always a great spot to see some critters. As I was scanning for birds, this Florida Snapping Turtle popped up and swam directly under where I was standing. When I moved a little further down the bridge to get a better pic, it followed me right over, always looking at me like this. I guess someone has fed it from the bridge so it's waiting for food. Stupid humans!

It's actually a "Common" snapping turtle, as the Florida subspecies was eliminated at some point, but I saw it's a Florida resident. The shell was about 30cm from front to back.


After I got enough of it's hungry eyes, I went to the other side of the bridge. The turtle soon followed and I noticed a much larger one was swimming below.



The reddish color is from the water, not an accurate color for the turtle. The big one never surfaced but kept sticking its nose into the first ones "egg laying area" so I suspect it was wanting to fertilize some eggs. She wasn't having it and chased him off. Eventually she gave up on getting a snack from me or eating me if I fell in.

Freak Futanari
Apr 11, 2008
op, i was reading through this thread of Epic Catte Photographie when i saw a Wild animal ON MY VERY SCREEN...... i managed to take a picture of it, and let me jus tsay, gently caress the ocean... :eyepop:



i thinkk this picutre is of a wild rear end.... can an epic goon sire help me identifie it, m80s??

Sid Delicious
Oct 31, 2007
:sidvicious:


Freak Futanari posted:

op, i was reading through this thread of Epic Catte Photographie when i saw a Wild animal ON MY VERY SCREEN...... i managed to take a picture of it, and let me jus tsay, gently caress the ocean... :eyepop:



i thinkk this picutre is of a wild rear end.... can an epic goon sire help me identifie it, m80s??

:eyepop: hol fcuk!

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

Never seen something like that before. Maybe one of the taxonomists in the thread can help.

Taliaquin
Dec 13, 2009

Turtle flu

RustedChrome posted:


Hi new thread!

I went out for a walk at Fort Pickens park near Penacola, Florida again the other day. There is a footbridge over a stream that runs through a marsh that's always a great spot to see some critters. As I was scanning for birds, this Florida Snapping Turtle popped up and swam directly under where I was standing. When I moved a little further down the bridge to get a better pic, it followed me right over, always looking at me like this. I guess someone has fed it from the bridge so it's waiting for food. Stupid humans!

It's actually a "Common" snapping turtle, as the Florida subspecies was eliminated at some point, but I saw it's a Florida resident. The shell was about 30cm from front to back.


After I got enough of it's hungry eyes, I went to the other side of the bridge. The turtle soon followed and I noticed a much larger one was swimming below.



The reddish color is from the water, not an accurate color for the turtle. The big one never surfaced but kept sticking its nose into the first ones "egg laying area" so I suspect it was wanting to fertilize some eggs. She wasn't having it and chased him off. Eventually she gave up on getting a snack from me or eating me if I fell in.
This post just made me so happy. Snapping turtles are the best animals ever. :neckbeard:

Probably for the best that she chased him off. Snapping turtle sex is basically Game of Thrones: Turtles.

Freak Futanari
Apr 11, 2008
i wasse going outside to purchase ye epic mountain dewe and chettos, as i am wont to do, when suddenly a strange beaste appeared b4 me...... i managed to take a picture before runnin g away and i hope someone here can help me identify it... mayhaps it is a Catte.......??

Somebody fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Apr 20, 2014

Funkstar Deluxe
May 7, 2007

「☆☆☆」
freak futanari, pls stop trolling the critterquest 2k14 thread

thx

everythingWasBees
Jan 9, 2013




Have some pictures from my vacation about half a year ago to Zion National {ark. Unfortunately I don't own a DSLR, so all of these are phone pictures, which leave a bit to be desired and meant I missed out on lots of cool little buggies.

An awesome Moth, that I had previously identified, but cannot for the life of me remember what it was. It was huge, though.




A pretty damselfly that had these gorgeous bright red spots on its wings. I might have a picture of just the wings somewhere on my phone. (I found a whole bunch of disembodied wings in the water.)



Tadpoles



Pretty spiderharvestman



Baby :3:



A rather sizable fly



A lep



And then a ground squirrel if for some reason you like mammals.

everythingWasBees fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Apr 19, 2014

Jadz
Jan 8, 2004

Stuck in the middle with you.
EDIT: ^^^^^^ Harvestmen aren't actually spiders :eng101: But that's a neat picture - they're so goofy and clumsy when they run around.

EDIT2: ^^^^^ Your moth kind of looks like a Sphinx moth to me, but it's hard to tell exactly with the markings washed out like that. Do you have a picture that shows the colors/markings a little better?

RustedChrome posted:


Hi new thread!


I go fishing with a buddy of mine several times each spring and summer, and last spring we were fishing for catfish off a small boat in a little muddy cove. My buddy got a bite which we assumed was an enormous fish, since it was practically folding his fishing rod in half. He fought with it for easily ten minutes before he finally got it near the boat. I grabbed the biggest net we had, and scooped at the shadow just under the water's surface:


snapper by h. meadors, on Flickr

He sat there on the seat of the boat while we drew straws to decide who got to try to take the hook out of his mouth. In the end, after he'd swallowed the chicken liver, he spit the hook out on his own and climbed up and out of the boat by himself.

Snapping turtles are Goddamn sea monsters.

Jadz fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Apr 19, 2014

Frank Horrigan
Jul 31, 2013

by Ralp

That's a harvestman, not a spider. :spergin:

everythingWasBees
Jan 9, 2013




Azurrat posted:

That's a harvestman, not a spider. :spergin:

If I believe hard enough it'll be a spider.
But now I know about tropical harvestmen and those are amazing. :3:

Jadz
Jan 8, 2004

Stuck in the middle with you.
Went out to my favorite spot yesterday. It seems like it's still a little too early in the season, since most of the fun stuff I usually find out there just wasn't around yet, but I still managed to get a few new pictures. Everything is from Manhattan, Kansas. Click for huge:


I didn't even see this Canadian Goose guarding her nest until I was almost on top of her. Snapped a couple pictures and left her alone. She was watching me like a hawk ( :haw: )

Canadian Goose by h. meadors, on Flickr


I'm not entirely sure what this little guy is. At first, I thought he might be a Corn Flea Beetle, but after looking at him a little more, I don't think so. Ideas?

beetle (unknown) by h. meadors, on Flickr


This area (like any pond-type area in Kansas) is just filled with Cricket Frogs. You seriously can't step anywhere out here without a dozen of them hopping away from you.

cricket frog by h. meadors, on Flickr


Some sort of ootheca. Is it from a mantid? I'm terrible at identifying big sticky globs of egg sack.

ootheca by h. meadors, on Flickr


ootheca by h. meadors, on Flickr

Zakka
Apr 27, 2010
Spring has come and I've gotten a camera with a sort-of macro lens! That means backyard crittering!

Here, have a jumping spider:

Hello!
by Alexahes, on Flickr

Also managed to get this picture with three (3!) critters in one shot:

3i1
by Alexahes, on Flickr

And if molluscs, arachnidas or myriapods aren't your cup of tea, how about a crustacean?

Woodlouse
by Alexahes, on Flickr

Zakka fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Apr 19, 2014

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

Sid Delicious posted:

i dont know what this thread is but here is a chipmunk i saw in my back yard, i named him nigga charlie


TOTES FUCKIN ADORBS

edit: also a really good picture u should b in the photographer business

Suicide Sam E.
Jun 30, 2013

by XyloJW

Jadz posted:

Went out to my favorite spot yesterday. It seems like it's still a little too early in the season, since most of the fun stuff I usually find out there just wasn't around yet, but I still managed to get a few new pictures. Everything is from Manhattan, Kansas. Click for huge:

...

Some sort of ootheca. Is it from a mantid? I'm terrible at identifying big sticky globs of egg sack.

ootheca by h. meadors, on Flickr


ootheca by h. meadors, on Flickr

This could be the cocoon of some sort of moth. I've seen a few disguised by leaf litter in similar fashion. From the photo it appears to be about the size of your thumb. Any other details about it?

Jadz
Jan 8, 2004

Stuck in the middle with you.

Suicide Sam E. posted:

This could be the cocoon of some sort of moth. I've seen a few disguised by leaf litter in similar fashion. From the photo it appears to be about the size of your thumb. Any other details about it?

That's pretty much an accurate description. It was about the length of my thumb, maybe twice as big around, and seemed made up at least partially of leaf matter. The area is mostly populated by aquatic and semi-aquatic critters (frogs, turtles, lizards, dragonflies, etc) - this was on some woody vegetation (not a plant guy, couldn't tell you what type of plant) about fifteen feet or so from a pond made out of dam run-off, and surrounded mostly by shale and flint rocks. The surrounding area is heavy with reeds and cattails.

EDIT: This area here, off to the right of this image:

tuttle runoff by h. meadors, on Flickr

Jadz fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Apr 20, 2014

DicktheCat
Feb 15, 2011

Oooh! Critterquest! I'm so glad it made a resurgance!

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012
so its just a bunch of people taking pics of bugs

uh, okay

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Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty

forbidden lesbian posted:

so its just a bunch of people taking pics of bugs

uh, okay

plz take a picture of a bug 4 me

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