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It's time. Post the critters you've found here. Get help with critter I.D. and chat about critters. Same rules as before: wild, living critters only (if you have photos of captive animals that you want to post, the bird and wildlife threads in The Dorkroom allow those). If you have I.D. questions about a dead critter, please post images as links. Happy crittering! Links to past Critterquest threads: 2016 2014/2015 2013 2012 Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Jan 26, 2017 |
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Jan 25, 2017 05:30
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:19 |
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I saw a skunk yesterday
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Jan 25, 2017 05:32
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I recently got back from a trip to the bottom of the world and still have a ton of photos to work through, but here are some Gentoo Penguins and friends from the Antarctic Peninsula. They usually nest on rocky hills that have been smoothed over by glaciers, and build their nests from the pebbles deposited on the back side of the hill by the glacial flow. Nearly everything on the Antarctic Peninsula feeds on krill. The penguins there have barbed tongues to help capture the small crustaceans, which they later regurgitate for their chicks.  Theft of nesting materials is common, so fights break out between close neighbors fairly often.  Nonetheless, the whole colony joins together to fight off South Polar Skuas, which swoop in to try and knock chicks and eggs loose from the nests.  They wear deep trenches into the snow during their frequent feeding trips to the ocean.  They're fairly clumsy on land, but they're very quick swimmers and can cover large distances by 'porpoising' across the water's surface.  The chicks have to mature before the relatively mild Antarctic summer passes, so they grow pretty quickly.  Snowy Sheathbills, which eat penguin poop, can be found at most of the Gentoo Penguin rookeries. 
Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Jan 25, 2017 |
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Jan 25, 2017 05:48
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Anyone know good places to see reptiles in the Bay Area? I went to Lake Lagunitas last year and there were a ton of lizards and skinks there and I'm curious of other good locations!
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Jan 25, 2017 05:56
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holy poo poo, moon potato
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Jan 25, 2017 06:01
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Well, poo poo... Pick posted:holy poo poo, moon potato Crayons, god damned crayons. Great shooting Moon Potato!
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Jan 25, 2017 06:23
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Back in the summer I was driving at night and heard a conehead singing. It didn't sound quite like a sword-bearing conehead, so I turned around and hunted for him. Sure enough, he turned out to be a slightly musical conehead. I tried leaving him in a box in the kitchen to deal with in the morning, but he started singing so I had to move the box to the basement to get any sleep. Notice how much the background noise automatically cuts out for a second after he chirps, these guys are LOUD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G71e1_49Lak
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Jan 25, 2017 06:44
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I need to get an actual camera, but once it warms up I'll be keeping my eye out for a green heron that I've seen in a creek a couple times near here.
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Jan 25, 2017 07:05
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Thanks for the new thread, Moon Potato! AND THE BABY PENGUINS OHMYGOD. I hope to contribute soon.
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Jan 25, 2017 12:15
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Moon Potato posted:I recently got back from a trip to the bottom of the world and still have a ton of photos to work through, but here are some Gentoo Penguins and friends from the Antarctic Peninsula. They usually nest on rocky hills that have been smoothed over by glaciers, and build their nests from the pebbles deposited on the back side of the hill by the glacial flow. Pick posted:holy poo poo, moon potato What a start!
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Jan 25, 2017 16:35
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Here's the link to the 2016 thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3759659 Could people post links to the older threads so that Moon Potato could add them to the op.
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Jan 25, 2017 16:43
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Those are some drat nice penguin pics
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Jan 25, 2017 17:18
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Hogge Wild posted:Here's the link to the 2016 thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3759659 Glad you all enjoy the penguins. Here are some Blue-eyed Shags while I work through the rest of my Antarctica/Chile photos.  
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Jan 26, 2017 05:06
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Moon potato I still plan to use your photos as reference to do some drawings if that is o.k.
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Jan 26, 2017 05:24
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Blue herons are cool as poo poo.
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Jan 26, 2017 05:28
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VikingSkull posted:Blue herons are cool as poo poo. True, but they are also one of the most crotchety birds that exist, if not the most crotchety. Got startled a year or so ago when one swooped overhead from the tree it was roosting in (that I had unknowingly gotten too close to) and let out a loud disapproving croak. I swear it was the "GET OFF MY LAWN" of the bird world.
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Jan 26, 2017 05:42
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I was trying to find some photos of wild turkeys I thought I saved, but can only find ducks.  These two ducks were hanging out together, I assume they are a couple. Crazily colored ducks like these two were with a bunch of others like normal mallards. Why are some ducks white like this? Are they some kind of domestic breed? Wild? The white one definitely didn't seem like an albino, its eyes weren't red. This was at a pond inside a park by the way.
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Jan 26, 2017 05:43
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Possibly leucism, the other less well known type of condition involving loss of pigment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism Or it might be something else, I'm not a duck expert
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Jan 26, 2017 05:47
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Psycho Society posted:I was trying to find some photos of wild turkeys I thought I saved, but can only find ducks. Domesticated ducks are bred to hell and back and end up looking all sorts of ways. Same with Pigeons. Edit: White bird isn't a Mallard. Not even sure what species that barnyard duck falls under. The back bird has a fairly common plumage pattern for domestic Mallards. BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Jan 26, 2017 |
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Jan 26, 2017 06:23
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I didn't know anything about leucism or even that domesticated ducks were a thing. Thanks guys!
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Jan 26, 2017 06:48
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here's a beetle I saw that I thought was neat
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Jan 26, 2017 07:46
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Domesticated ducks are bred to hell and back and end up looking all sorts of ways. Same with Pigeons. You made me curious so I decided to do a bit of research into domestic ducks. Turns out the majority of worldwide barnyard duck breeds are in fact descended from Mallards. None of them have black bills like that though. It seems most likely that that particular duck is the result of a domestic duck mating with some wild duck with a black bill resulting in that one. E: Wow mallards (and as a result domestic ducks) are able to interbreed with all kinds of duck species which is apparently a big conservation issue because they're so common and are threatening genetic diversity in many other duck populations. Regy Rusty fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Jan 26, 2017 |
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Jan 26, 2017 15:03
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Yay, a new thread! I was worried it might not happen. Hawaii 2016 pt. I forget - Mammals There are not many mammals in Hawaii and most of them are introduced. One in particular was a surprise - I nearly ran over a small weasel shaped creature almost immediately after we left the airport (thankfully it passed between the tires) and looked it up once we got to our rental. Turns out it was a mongoose, and the Big Island is infested with them.  Way to go, humans. Now with that said, it was very difficult to actually get photos as they move quickly and are quite shy. I was following rustles in the bushes around in the jungle for several mornings in a row before I got any good shots.    Here are some aquatic mammals - spinner dolphins.    And one of the many feral formerly domestic creatures on the island, a particularly noble goat. 
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Jan 26, 2017 15:53
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Chows posted:here's a beetle I saw that I thought was neat watermelon beetle Polyphylla decemlineata, a kind of scarab they hiss if you annoy them but are harmless (other than their grubs being a crop pest, like most chafers) chafers are so great, they're such fat goofy fuzzywuzzy beetles and I love them 
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Jan 26, 2017 19:02
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Chinston Wurchill posted:Yay, a new thread! I was worried it might not happen. Those mongoose hop everywhere they're really cute and horribly destructive
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Jan 26, 2017 19:39
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Chinston Wurchill posted:And one of the many feral formerly domestic creatures on the island, a particularly noble goat. Dude owes me 50 bucks.
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Jan 26, 2017 20:00
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Regy Rusty posted:You made me curious so I decided to do a bit of research into domestic ducks. It's amazing how different that white duck looks from a Mallard in size/structure (head shape, bill shape, etc.), but when you consider that domestic dogs are all descended from Gray Wolves I suppose it's not all that amazing.
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Jan 26, 2017 20:20
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 Any idea what this graceful sea penis is? It washed up on the Morninton Peninsula, Victoria, Australia probably about this time last year, and we figured it was some sort of sea cucumber?
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Jan 27, 2017 10:57
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Did you do the test? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svTq3rvQ1EA
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Jan 27, 2017 15:44
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Ruptured Yakety Sax posted:
Looks like a giant bee larva. You could have had a giant bee but you just left it there!
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Jan 27, 2017 17:01
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 Found this guy at the lakehouse last summer   Nice goat  Bonus pic
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Jan 27, 2017 17:17
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naem posted:Moon potato I still plan to use your photos as reference to do some drawings if that is o.k. They're as cute as they are invasive  Time for Chinstrap Penguins.  The ones at the first rookery we went to had tiny babbies.  They wore a huge maze of penguin highways into one hillside.  HI I'M HOME  Like the Gentoo Penguins, these guys build nests from pebbles too.  This one totally ate poo poo while jumping down from the rookery.  Once they're in the snow, the trip downhill goes pretty smoothly.  A Snowy Sheathbill interrupted a feeding to try to get some krill vomit for itself, but just ended up being snapped and honked at. 
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Feb 1, 2017 08:29
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Whoa! Penguin highways loving rule! 
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Feb 1, 2017 09:45
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Moon Potato for poster of the year
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Feb 1, 2017 17:56
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I couldn't find the "identify this critter" thread, so I'll just ask here. I was out walking with my daughter yesterday, and saw this bug. It's about thumb-sized, and we live in San Antonio. What is this crazy thing?
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Feb 2, 2017 03:57
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hooah posted:I couldn't find the "identify this critter" thread, so I'll just ask here. I was out walking with my daughter yesterday, and saw this bug. It's about thumb-sized, and we live in San Antonio. What is this crazy thing? Looks like the pupal stage of a cicada if I had to take a guess.
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Feb 2, 2017 05:11
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hooah posted:I couldn't find the "identify this critter" thread, so I'll just ask here. I was out walking with my daughter yesterday, and saw this bug. It's about thumb-sized, and we live in San Antonio. What is this crazy thing? Uh... I don't think you should post that there. In fact don't be surprised if your town is evacuated shortly *EAS tone begins*
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Feb 2, 2017 05:27
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hooah posted:I couldn't find the "identify this critter" thread, so I'll just ask here. I was out walking with my daughter yesterday, and saw this bug. It's about thumb-sized, and we live in San Antonio. What is this crazy thing? Definitely some sort of grub (scarab or related beetle larva), guessing a Hercules/rhinoceros beetle based on its size? They live in the central USA, apparently. e: Forgot to mention that the best way to identify grubs is by looking at their butt hair. At least for small grubs. Abyssal Squid fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 05:35
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Yeah at that size I'm not sure what else it could be besides Dynastes tityus or D. granti, our two Hercules beetle species.
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Feb 2, 2017 06:01
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:19 |
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Thanks! Thing is crazy big; we didn't have grubs that large in Michigan (as far as I know).
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Feb 2, 2017 18:05
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