Wait! What is that thing?

 These incredible crustaceans, denizens of the sandy bottom of the shallows in the Gulf of Mexico, were caught a few weeks ago while I was playing in the surf.  The top left is what I believe to be a slipper lobster. This crustacean, while it has no claws, (that is not what it felt like to me), uses this enlarged antennae to dig through the sediment in search for food.  (Again, not what I am seeing, identification is welcomed).  They are opportunistic feeders and will eat whatever happens to come their way, whether it is a dead fish or some shrimp. 

This second picture is of what is commonly known as a sand flea. These small burrowing crustaceans, when uncovered, can disappear into their gritty home with startling speed and fluidity.  Simply digging a hole at the edge of the surf zone can uncover hundreds of tiny ones or maybe a fairly large one, one to two inches long.  My library of reference books has very little about the sand flea, so I don't know what they eat or their habits.  Help is wanted!!

Somethin' Sandy

This beautiful crustacean is what is known as a sand crab.  In shape, it looks just like any other crab.  In color, however, it is very different.  It has a beautiful reticulate pattern to help it camouflage  itself in its sandy habitat.  They are fairly adept swimmers, but when a predator is around (aka, me) they prefer to bury themselves under the sand with nothing but their eyes showing.  I would not have seen him if he hadn't been in the process of doing this.  The movement caught my eye.  They don't normally get as large as blue crabs, but it is still not something that 5 year olds should pick up, as they can still deliver a nasty pinch.  .... Still, it is a really pretty crab.

Phenomenal Phishes

These unusual fish have me stumped as to what they are.  I caught them over the weekend while at the Gulf.  The striped one was not like that when I caught him and did not have orange eyes.  When I caught him, he was a plain sand colored fish with brown looking eyes.  However, over a period of 30 seconds or so, he changed into this fish with chocolate stripes, orange eyes and gold rims around his pupils.  

The black fish may possibly be a young black seabass, however, because he has full coloration and is fully developed, I as unsure as to whether this is true or not.  Both of these fish were hanging out on the bottom very near the shore.  The sand colored on was in a small trough of sand with three others while the black one was on an area of crushed black shells which offered him excellent camouflage.  Because I did not know he was in my net until I took a close look, I hadn't even been aiming for him.  Besides them, I caught many other fascinating sea creatures over the weekend and you will hear more about them soon.

A Shocking Development

This strange shark-like creature is not a sting ray.  However, it is a close relation.  Commonly known as the electric or torpedo ray, this species, instead of having a whip-like tail with a sting, has two organs behind its eyes that generate electrical shocks powerful enough to recharge a rechargeable battery.  This particular species can most likely generate 30 - 50 volts of electricity.  This allows it to stun fish and hunt invertebrates beneath the sand.

I found this young specimen by asking a couple what they were looking at in the water.  They had mistakenly identified it as a small stingray.  However, I knew what it was because of a "shocking" experience we had had with several hundred of these a few years ago, some much larger than this one.  My family and I discovered them by accidentally stepping on a few of them while they were hiding beneath the sand.  I was shocked several times in quick succession by a ray four or five times larger than this one.  It wasn't exactly painful but it certainly made me jump.  However, this one seemed fairly relaxed in the tidepool I had placed him in because he only gave me one small shock. 

For any new followers who wish to join, I am hoping to start a small environmental organization in the next few months.  Please add yourself to the followers to be included.  More information on this later.

June Beetles, Pretty, but destructive

 The June beetle, more formally known as the Japanese beetle, is a pretty but destructive pest. About 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch long, this shiny green iridescent (only iridescent on the underside) beetle has an appetite for destruction. It was introduced by accident to New Jersey in 1916 and has since spread all over the eastern U.S. It is one of the few insects completely destructive to plants throughout its whole life, eating grass roots as a baby and chewing on over 300 different types of plant, including my grape vines, as an adult. Americans spend over $460 million a year trying to control them. I have a tough time myself try to get rid of the darn things. Besides my grape vines, they eat our fruit trees too.                                                                                    If you want to help stop the invasion, plant geranium plants in your yard. These plants contain a  substance that stuns the beetles and makes it easy for predators to get them.

       

 This fascinating amphibian is a barking tree frog.  This species of tree frog is one of the largest and stockiest that we have in our area (South Alabama).  It is called the barking tree frog because of the small-dog-like barking noise that it makes, and we have heard them outside our windows many times.  As far as we know, the two photos are of the same specimen, so it is fascinating that this frog can change color like a chameleon.  Going from the greyish green hue of our house to a bright lime green color.  The species is beneficial in the fact that it eats all sorts of pesky insects like mosquitoes, beetles, flies, etc.


It is amazing the diversity of creatures that you can find by simply walking out your front door.

The Harpy Eagle is the world's largest and strongest eagle. It's also one of the rarest.

Few other animals depend so heavily on pristine, unpolluted habitat as the harpy eagle. This magnificent bird  mates for life. Each pair needs at least 15 square miles of rainforest to hunt in with their relatively short but very broad 7-8 foot wingspan and talons that would make a grizzly bear envious. They nest in tall thick trees that burst out of the thick rainforest canopy. Unfortunately this is the kind of tree that loggers value. This is one of the reasons that this amazing bird is now so uncommon.  

They range from Panama to southern Brazil and are vary rare across most of this.  They nest once every two years and raise one chick, which they feed a very similar diet which they themselves eat.  This includes monkeys, sloths, porcupine, large birds and young deer.

 

This alien like creature is a baby stone crab. This species can grow as big and even more intimidating than an adult blue crab. They are very aptly named as they both look like and live on rocks and stones. This young one had a purplish tint to it as did the adult I caught on my vacation. Stone crabs are edible but have very little meat in their bodies. The common practice is to break off one of their claws and allow the other to grow big. The torn off one will grow back, so causes no permanent home to the crab.  In areas near people, stone crabs occur more often than not with one claw larger than the other because of this.  The claws on a stone crab are probably the largest in comparison to body size of any crab species, which is why the claws are the most desirable part of the crab.  However, the crabs are fascinating to watch and unless you intend to eat the claw soon, it is best to just leave them be.

Summer of Bugs

 This tiny but fascinating creature is a baby praying mantis, one of many I have found this summer. This one was probably only a few weeks old. However  its innocence hides a dark secret. This mantis is the product of one of the most violent mating rituals in the animal world, in which the female bites off the male's head to move along the process. Still, they are cute when they are small.

When they grow up however, its a very different story, they ambush prey with their forelimbs and slice it apart with their razor sharp jaws. While watching a nature program I saw a large mantis try to ambush a baby rat snake. The snake managed to twist free before either combatant was seriously injured. This was a testament  to the mantis's boldness, that and the fact is eyes were bigger than its stomach..
 

Still -- no news on the turtles...  Will keep you posted.

Wait!? That's a fish?

 These are some of the strangest catches from my last week's vacation.  The top picture is of a box fish.  Its tail does look very tiny, but it uses its front fins to swim.  Its tail just steers.  This is a young box fish, as they can get 4 or 5 times larger than this at least.  From my knowledge, they live on reefs, so I was shocked when I caught him by our hotel dock in Orange Beach, AL.  He is a very amazing fish. 

 This photo is of a ribbon fish, which I had never seen nor heard of before.  Surprisingly, I caught him on a hook when I was fishing for speckled trout.  This surprised me because his jaw is as thin as a needle fishes and the fight he put up was exceptional, especially since he has no apparent tail fin.  He swam up and down using the fin on this back, which traveled all the way up and down his body.  We saw others of his kind while there and they would bite a small fish, go back down, and then come up and eat it.  Above water, he shimmered like a piece of silk ribbon.

The bottom photo is of a fish that I have never seen or heard of and still do not know the name of.  They swam in small schools that resembled bunches of small floating leaves being tossed in the current.  I only realized they were fish when they swam against a wave and started swimming towards deep water.  They were kind of cute the way they zipped around in the bucket. 

Overall I had a very fun vacation, being mesmerized by these amazing products of the sea.

On another note, my grandmother's snapping turtle nest should be hatching this week.  I'll keep you posted!

 This is Myrtle, a common snapping turtle. We found her as a hatchling, crawling across the ground in my grandmother's yard. We raised her for approximately 1.5 years. In that time, she tripled the size she was in this picture. I account this partly to her high protein diet. When I  could, I would try to catch her live  prey. The most plentiful prey I could find was tadpoles.  I would catch two or three hundred of these and put them in  her aquarium. She would eat them like popcorn, and within two days they all would be gone. However as big as she was, she has a a long way to go be before she reaches her mother's size. We found her mother on my grandmothers front steps once , and she was around one and a half feet long or bigger.    In comparison, Myrtle started out only slightly larger than a quarter, but one day she could become the second largest turtle in north America.   

P.S   Her mother was seen laying eggs this year, more on that later.

Its a leaf--Its a vine-- Its, a snake?

 This vibrant little creature is a rough green snake. It's a small species of snake and they only get around this big, but to make up for this they are extremely camouflaged among leaves and vines. It's not venomous or very aggressive, it rarely bites even when picked up, so it poses no threat to humans. Large insects, lizards, and small birds eggs however are much less safe. It stalks its prey in the trees, hides in plain sight, but once it's close enough,  it grabs and swallows its prey whole.

Don't Bug Me .... I'm hunting

 The creature in the center of the photograph is a Bolas spider, named so because of its strange hunting technique. In Latin America, the bolas is a hunting tool made up of a long leather thong with stones tied to the end. A Bolas spider's weapon is made of a silk strand with a ball of sticky, scented silk at the end. The scent mimics a pheromone put off by  female moths. When a male comes to investigate, the spider swings its weapon expertly and catches the moth on the sticky end. The bottom picture appears to be a pair of egg cases dangling from the tree in our yard where we found this amazing arachnid.

Fabulous Fungi

 Fungus-- normally people think of mushrooms and such, but as you can see fungi can can come in a wide variety of shapes,colors, and sizes.Fungi aren't plants so the can't make their own food. They leech off roots and rotting vegetation, nutrients that are already there that just need to be broken down. One of these pictures is of an enormous rose fungus,named so for obvious reasons, it was four times the size of a human hand.The other fungi were unidentified. All of these pictures were taken at the Prince William Forest Park in Washington D.C.

Things aren't always what they seem...

Natural fires; some say they are a curse, but strangely, without them many of the pine forests of the southeast wouldn't have grown. These fires burn away the undergrowth and allow young pines to get a head start. Certain species of pine tree can't even germinate without fires. The cones open after the heat of the fire and drop their seeds unto the newly cleared forest floor, where the nutrient rich soil will have been enhanced with the ashes of the competing undergrowth. 

     It may not seem like it, but most animals that live in and around the pines will be safe from the fire, because they have evolved ways to escape the heat of the blaze. Box turtles bury themselves into the forest floor,  snakes lizards, toads, mice ,and frogs retreat to burrows,  and faster animals simply run or fly to escape the fire. Also, their food supply will regrow quickly.   Within a few weeks young pines, palmettos , and other such plants will have put on new growth, just as it has happened for thousands of years. 

This picture is of the Gulf Coast fire currently happening at Orange Beach, Al.  This was started by a careless camper, however it will benefit the forest because it is getting rid of old hurricane debris.  It is inconvenient for beach goers, but it will be ok in the long run.  (It is currently under control.).  Warning:  Never leave your grill or heat source unattended, especially during droughts.

Alligator - Modern Day Dinosaur

 From eight inches long and a few ounces to 10 feet long and 500 pounds, that's the life of the American alligator. It's one of the largest reptiles in North America with a bite force of up to 2000 psi; the jaws of death to any animal unlucky enough to be caught in them. Surprisingly, these same jaws can tenderly be used to take its babies to the water when they hatch and protect them for a year or more. They can lay up to 100 eggs and will guard them fiercely against any and all intruders.The nest temperature regulates how many males or females are in a nest, cooler temperatures equal more females, warmer, more males. This awesome reptile can reach a maximum length and weight of 14 feet and more than a 1000 lbs, however, few ever reach that size, but for those who do, they have no predators, except for man.  These pictures were taken at Alligator Alley in Summerdale, AL, a very interesting place to visit.

Trees

They say the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the the second best time is today. Trees make oxygen, provide shade, and make homes for birds, squirrels, and lots and lots of insects. They make fruit, nuts, and in some cases maple syrup. My family and I have planted hundreds of trees in our yard and I encourage other people to plant trees too.  The tree in this photo is in Canada, and is a type of conifer.  My three favorite types of tree are the weeping willow, the Douglas fir and the giant sequoia.  Please post yours!

 These are two baby flying squirrels we raised and released after my older brother found them last winter.They had  fallen from their nest and would have frozen to death if he hadn't rescued them .We could play with them more at night because the flying squirrel is a nocturnal species.  When we first got them we had to feed them a puppy formula mixture through a medicine dropper, and they were thirsty little critters! (This was recommended by our vet.)  After a few weeks, we fed them nuts and seeds like they naturally would eat in the wild. It was fun to watch them nibble away until the nut was gone or they were full. This went on for a couple of months, and then, when they were big enough, we found a nice tree in our yard and let them go.

Little Miracles

Do you see the spider in this picture? Look closely to the right of the brown ball in the center. The brown ball is the egg sac of a female Green Lynx spider, who is guarding it closely. This shows that even arachnids are capable of parental care. However, if an unlucky cricket, fly,or other small insect wanders too close, this skilled hunter will pounce on it like a cat, hence the name. This little miracle was found in my backyard fence row. I identified it using my book, Expert Guide, Mini Monsters: Natures Tiniest and Most Terrifying Creatures.

This is a Polyphemus moth I raised from a caterpillar. I found it on a oak tree while gathering leaves for some other caterpillars. I took it to school at the beginning of the school year, and it hatched seven months later. When it emerged from its silky cocoon, it had a 5 - 5 1/2 inch wingspan, which is what makes this moth species  the second largest in North America. As you can see its also very beautiful, with is gorgeous spots and stripes.It was amazing to watch it fly away into the blue,and, just before it left, it stopped, turned around, and hovered 30 feet away, and seemed to say goodbye. It was amazing. 

My turtles

These are two of seven hybrid slider turtles who I gave a head start on life by raising them for a couple of years. We released them a few years ago. I learned that they were hybrids of red eared and yellow bellied sliders in the book "Turtles and Tortoises of the Southeast."  Please don't take turtles from their nests.  (We dug their nest up accidentally). If you see a baby turtle, make sure it gets across the road, but otherwise leave it to nature.  Little things like this make all the difference in nature. They were very entertaining to watch, and it was satisfying to watch them return to their parents' pond.

First Post

With this blog, I intend to help others learn to respect nature and to do things to help it.  I will discuss different things you can do at home and in public to help nature and get other people excited about it too.  I'll post photos of interesting occurences in nature in the area around where I live.  First Post. Dylan Taylor June 19, 2011