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Critterquest. If you live in an area that is even remotely wooded - go outside and just sit in a spot very quietly for 10 minutes and try as hard as you can to detect movement, to hear the slight rustling of leaves - the amount of life you could find in a relatively small radius may surprise you. I moved to Maryland from California about 7 months ago, and have since not been able to find a single person that I feel I can really relate to - not that they are all bad people, just so different that I spend my weekends and nights alone. Suddenly filling the role of the ultimate loner, I decided to start hiking with my camera - just to take some pictures to send to my friends back home hopefully illustrating how much Maryland sucked. I've always had very sharp eyes, better than 20/20 - and have what my family calls "crittervision" - to the point where I will swerve my car as to not hit a spider crossing the road. Mix good eyes, no friends, a macro lens, and a humid environment - and well, you've got your first installment of CRITTERQUEST 2008! Lets get this party started. First up, the Six Spotted Tiger Beetle! They appear to be cocky little bastards who constantly feel the need to land right in front of you, as if to remind you who's turf it is.  Next up we've got eeeeeeveryone's favorite, the Gold Backed Snipe Fly - now I know there is a thread about one of these fuckers every other week here on GBS, so hopefully this image won't count as a catchphrase.  gently caress yes! A nightmare factory! This is just your run-of-the-mill Wolf Spider with a party crew of fresh yucklings.  The chances of sneaking up on a Dragon Fly like this are slim, so I was lucky to get as many shots of him as I did.  Speaking of nightmare factory, here's a gross little Purseweb Spider hurriedly crawling off to some corner of the forest where he had an appointment to gross someone the gently caress out.  Hey, it's my favorite insect ever! One I thought I'd never see as well - a Giant Ichneumon Wasp. Her body was about 3 inches, and her ovipositor about 5 - bring the totally length of this critter to about 8 inches.  In a stroke of luck, I found this huge Eastern Eyed Click Beetle with a Pseudoscorpion along for the ride. From what I understand, this is actually a symbiotic relationship - with the Pseudoscorpion eating mites off the 1 1/2" long beetle.  But gently caress all these insects - how about some amphibians? Here's a Leopard Frog, eying my suspiciously.  It breaks my heart to see young toads go bad, so here I am scolding a baby toad for being a poo poo talkin' little fuckface.  This dude was chillin' hard.  Here is an Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake, trying his hardest to look like a Cobra. I wasn't fooled, and picked him up, upon which he immediately played dead - mouth open, tongue out - the works. I took his subtle hint and put him back on the ground, right side up - so he then THREW himself onto his back again and splayed his mouth, proving to me without a shadow of a doubt that he was dead. I laughed at this for a while, and while I was laughing some fat people on mountain bikes went sweating past me. I thought about how ridiculous I must look - a scrubby, tattooed kid standing in the middle of the woods, laughing at a dead snake. I briefly considered playing dead too.  Wait, back to some bugs: Here's everyones favorite shithead - a Harvestman.  A young mantis.  A Patent-Leather Beetle with a bit of a mite problem.  A Black Widow spider - something I've actually never seen in the woods before - usually they are on the overhangs of my house or camping out in boxes in my barn.  This little guy was mean muggin' me pretty hard. When I walked up, he was clumsily trying to get off the path, so I just reached down and gently plopped him in the middle of the path.  Toadbuns are loving cute.  Well, I've got tons more - all taken over the course of about 3 days in the same little patch of forest - but I'll refrain from posting them for now. Post yer critter pics as well, lets saturate this poo poo with peepers and creepers.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:21
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 14:35 |
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ursa_minor posted:Great shots, I love this one in particular. And jesus what the gently caress is up with that wasp thing? I'm not one to hate on bugs but that one does me in. you have any pictures of the snake playing dead?
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Jul 2, 2008 04:26
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Those are awesome. Good use of your time if you ask me. My lazy rear end just plays video games all day.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:26
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Any chance you have the fucker you plopped in the middle of the trail in a bigger resolution? It's awesome. I'm going camping this weekend, I'll make sure to have my macro lens on me.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:27
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I live in a pretty woodsy area, but all i ever see running around are your standard Squirrels, and Chipmunk. Occasionally a fox, but those only come out at night, so I cant get a picture of that.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:30
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Holy god man, get the gently caress out of Maryland.  That big black spider is gonna gently caress you up in your sleep!To contribute, here's a baby Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) that we found in our backyard after the fires out here. He's apparently learning to fly, and perhaps was raised by humans, since he flew right to my girlfriend and perched on her hand. He's so ridiculously habituated that we're handing him over to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum when he's big enough.  We call him The Dumb Bird. 
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Jul 2, 2008 04:31
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Book marking this thread to share some of my camping pictures on my other computer. I love doing just this to. Whether it is while camping for a weekend or just a few hour hike.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:32
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Snowmankilla posted:Those are awesome. Good use of your time if you ask me. My lazy rear end just plays video games all day. You mean your lazy FAT rear end. Awesome pics, please post the others that you have.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:32
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My Momma posted:You mean your lazy FAT rear end. Why must you tease?
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Jul 2, 2008 04:35
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Very sweet pictures man.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:36
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i love this stuff. what was the setup (camera, lens specs).
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Jul 2, 2008 04:38
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Those are some high quality pics, nice! The one of the giant ichneumon wasp has made me really happy, not because I love the things, but because I swear when I was eight years old I saw one at a park and NO ONE believed me when I told them how big it was. So now I know that I wasn't crazy.
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Jul 2, 2008 04:47
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This is amazing, I love it  I live in the city, so...no wandering to the woods for me. Sooo jealous, I'd go critterquesting with you, it sounds like a blast ('specially with the snake!)Those photos remind me to save up money already and get a macro lens. Also.... new term for baby spiders: yucklings!
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Jul 2, 2008 04:58
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Aww, I could've had some great pics for this. When I was leaving my neighborhood this morning I saw a vulture in the middle of the road eating a snake. After it saw me it flew across the street into my backyard, so I called my house and told my mom and little brother to come outside and check it out. Right when they did another vulture hopped up form around my house and started fighting the first one for the snake. I really wanted some pics but before I could tell my mom to get my camera some rear end in a top hat drove up and honked his horn at them and scared them off. 
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Jul 2, 2008 05:07
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Malalol posted:Those photos remind me to save up money already and get a macro lens. Also.... new term for baby spiders: yucklings! Oh thank god, I can dickwave about photo gear outside of CC for once. If you have an Olympus camera, check out the 35mm f/3.5 macro lens. It's only like $200, and it can take some loving nice shots... like, for instance, my ant buddy who was taking a stroll on a raspberry bush. 
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Jul 2, 2008 05:12
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ursa_minor posted:I laughed at this for a while, and while I was laughing some fat people on mountain bikes went sweating past me. I thought about how ridiculous I must look - a scrubby, tattooed kid standing in the middle of the woods, laughing at a dead snake.
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Jul 2, 2008 05:12
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Your photos are amazing, what kind of gear do you have?
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Jul 2, 2008 05:13
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Are you using a certain lens or do you just have a badass camera?
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Jul 2, 2008 05:13
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Well, here's some more pics - I wasn't sure what sort of reaction I'd get - but apparently so far, so good. Here's some sort of completely alarming Thin Legged Wolf Spider. He was about 2 inches in diameter.  Here is a handsome little Bluebelly/Fence Swift - Note the small tick in his armpit region.  Here's a Shield-Backed Katydid with a pretty awesome swordlike ovipositor.  Here's a Black Winged Damselfy - these little things are beautiful, the picture does it no justice.  A Venusta Orchard Spider - not a very good picture.  A jumping spider with his grill blinged the gently caress out!  This is a jumping spider I found on a low leaf in the shade, so I pinched off the leaf and carried it into the sun - the whole time he looked over the edge of the leaf like he couldn't believe how high he was:  Then he looked at me like "WHY YOU DO DIS?".  Some sort of massive, spiky caterpillar I found in the middle of the trail, and then relocated to more friendly environs.  A mean little Thrice Banded Crab Spider.  A Grass Spider chillin in a time warp.  An Antlion I rudely extracted from his own personal Sarlacc.  Just a bit of a size reference for the average size of Toad I was coming across.  Next update: Bizarre Fungus. OH, and camera gear: I just have a plain ol' Canon Rebel XT and a Canon 100mm macro. I'm not even an amateur photographer, and I barely know how to use my camera, as I haven't had it for very long. I'm by no means a photography geek - but I've been having so much fun doing this, I'm considering actually learning something about it. ursa_minor fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Jul 2, 2008 |
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Jul 2, 2008 05:18
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I wish I had a macro  . Maybe I'll borrow one from work. They're always using my telephoto anyway. Why are you so mean to the creatures of the forest? Calling them names and such. Edit: I hate spiders but this is adorable. Then he looked at me like "WHY YOU DO DIS?".
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Jul 2, 2008 05:22
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Awesome pics. Some of them make me wish there were giant insects I could put in a saddle. Keep them rolling.
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Jul 2, 2008 05:25
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TigerMoJo posted:Why are you so mean to the creatures of the forest? Calling them names and such. Haha, it's said with love - if I wasn't a complete critter dorko, I wouldn't go out hunting them out every weekend or reading my Audubon field guides until I fall asleep most nights. Plus the idea of a tiny toad baby being a poo poo talkin' fuckface seems funny to me.
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Jul 2, 2008 05:26
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I never see anything multi-legged in my apartment, and five minutes after reading this thread, an awesome spider buddy comes to chill on my balcony door. Of course, it was too dark for the autofocus to work at all, and manual focus is a bitch in the dark... vvv This particular nightmare spider was in Vancouver. SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Jul 2, 2008 |
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Jul 2, 2008 09:10
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I live in Canada... it's too cold for a lot of those bastards... This was pretty good so far, but I can't wait for bizarre fungus. You seem to know all their names o.O Let's check out your mycological knowledge.
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Jul 2, 2008 09:52
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I can't wait to see more. I am no bug or spider fan by any means but your pictures make them look fasinating rather than the usual creeped out feeling I get.
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Jul 2, 2008 11:02
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ursa_minor posted:This is a jumping spider I found on a low leaf in the shade, so I pinched off the leaf and carried it into the sun - the whole time he looked over the edge of the leaf like he couldn't believe how high he was: I can't even look at pictures of spiders without feeling uncomfortable, but this sequence is just so.. so.. nonthreatening. I love it! 
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Jul 2, 2008 12:51
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These pictures are all amazing! I can't wait for more.  And almost 12 years or so ago, I came across one of those giant wasps resting on the outside of our apartment building. No one would believe me when I tried to describe the size of the thing. Now I know I'm not the crazy one.
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Jul 2, 2008 13:28
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instant five for maryland. where are you? these are beautiful pictures. do you have any blue skinks? we always have half a dozen hiding under our garbage cans. their tails come off in a hurry.
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Jul 2, 2008 14:25
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TigerMoJo posted:Do you have this in a stupidly large resolution, it'd suit my desktop background well Awesome photos too, keep them coming
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Jul 2, 2008 14:36
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These are absolutely incredible shots. God I need to buy a macro for my Digital Rebel, there's some cool stuff out in NW Washington I've seen.
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Jul 2, 2008 14:41
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I saw one of these sitting in my back yard. It was eating my cat but I couldnt stop but to admire his markings and insatiable appetite.
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Jul 2, 2008 14:41
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This is some good stuff. Love the photo's and narration. Keep them coming. 
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Jul 2, 2008 14:42
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Hooray for bug shots. Very cool pics OP! I'll take the time to pimp a few of mine I just took recently, nothing real outlandish, I'm not having the best of luck finding the weirdo bugs right now. Or well, at least ones that want to cooperate and let me get into position.   Ants are such a pain in the rear end to take pictures of.  
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Jul 2, 2008 14:50
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Great thread! I like the descriptions and I think the antlion is my fave.
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Jul 2, 2008 15:02
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Can that Giant Ichneumon Wasp sting humans? Post more of that guy if you have them, he looks so awesome. I love Wasps and Ants, they're just so cool. At work I'd get ants on a spoon and put 'em in the freezer and see how long they would stay frozen and be able to thaw and come back to life. Other times I'd just watch them try to pry a fallen comrade who died in a sticky mess of flavour syrup and then get stuck themselves so that another ant tries to come haul off the body.
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Jul 2, 2008 16:18
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Wow ! I'm so pleasantly surprised to find this gem of a thread in GBS. I love insects and especially spiders. OP, I can't believe how great your sight is, seeing bugs on bugs. That's fantastical! gently caress the half wits in MD and continue your communion with nature. So we can live vicariously through you and your lens, that is!
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Jul 2, 2008 16:19
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Those toadlets are really loving cute. Awesome pictures.
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Jul 2, 2008 16:24
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I love threads like this. In which part of Maryland were this photos taken?
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Jul 2, 2008 16:39
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This is a really cool thread, f5'ing for fungus.
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Jul 2, 2008 16:53
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Awesome thread! I can't wait for the fungus either.
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Jul 2, 2008 17:08
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