Nature

[mrhitchens]

Some kinda horse^^

Pattaya Horse by mrhitchens, on Flickr

[Mousehound]

Lost its way and tried very hard to scare me.

Forest scorpion I reckon from googling.

I lured this one out of its hole. The Malaysian Forrest Scorpion is fairly easily handled but is reported to be unpredictable. I have no doubt it can give a hefty sting but not as much as the small clawed scorpions that rely on the sting almost entirely to kill their prey. This one has massive claws and I am told can draw blood with them. hence my slightly nervous smile.

[Goshawk]

^ here's one i prodded much earlier . . .

i got a lot stick for this . . even though i assured all 38k viewers, i never hurt it at all...

[jack2964]

I am led to believe by google that this forest scorpion is quite harmless but I ain't verifying it.

I was stung by a smaller one sometime back, it was pale yellow/beige and moved a lot quicker than this black fella. That one hurt bad!

[Mousehound]

After looking things up I understand that the Asian and Malaysian FS are very similar. Both are able to sting with the Asian FS having a stronger sting. I was told that the young hide on the adult after hatching out and when the time comes to leave the nest they have to make a break for it with many being attacked and eaten by the adult, as she has never actually seen them until this point. I was also told that the sting was like a strong Bee and it can also set of anaphylactic shock with some people.

[sunshine51]

MH...To add to the info heap...I was stung by one of these

and it hurt like the dickens. Not so much from venom injection

but from the size of the "stinger" itself. It's huge. The actual

envenomation was similar to a hornet/wasp sting and went

away in due course.

The scorpions out here to be very careful of are the amber,

brown ones which are kinda yellow brown in colour markings

& about one third the size of these big black monsters. That

sting has been known to kill humans.

There is one other to be very wary of and it's just a bit larger

than the yellow brown...it's grey with red or orange spots on

it's back.Was stung by one of these back in '85 and thanks to

a buddy's GF who grabbed my hand and slammed it into a pot

of near boiling water...I can tell the tale today. Seems that hot

water, very hot water (near or boiling) neutralises the venom.

Messes up ones hand though but thankfully the hand only

needs to be in the water for a few seconds...or so me buddy's

GF said/did with my hand.

Best idea for mucking about with insects that can & will hurt you

is to use a long twig/stick instead of fingers. And quite simply...

leave centipedes alone...even if you know which end is which.

BTW...most all scorpions can "sting" some are virtually harmless

to humans while others can be deadly.

Edited April 3, 2015 by sunshine51

[samuijimmy]

I wish butterflies would quit moving round so much !

[Mousehound]

I wish butterflies would quit moving round so much !

This looks like "The Julia Butterfly", Dryas iulia.

It has an interesting history. Originating in Brazil and into Mexico and Florida it has spread through peninsular Thailand after possibly escaping from the Phuket Butterfly Farm (Phisut Ek-Amnuay) in the 1990s. It was first recorded in Koh Samui at Ban Tai in 2007. It is generally uncommon but clearly spreading quite fast.

[samuijimmy]

Interesting Mousehound ^ I am a couple of kms from Ban Tai Samui, area!

Helping nature.... an Avocado pip .... looks more like an alien here!

[Guest]

Elephant making contact.

Hey there, what you are looking at? by pekkaoilinki, on Flickr

[sunshine51]

I have been keeping an eye & ear on a Bul-Bul nest that is located

in a hanging orchid which is right outside our bedroom window.

When I first got on the ladder to look insde when momma was away

all I saw was something resembling a wiggling blackish brown pencil

near the eraser end. Momma dive bombed me a few times so I left

the nest. The time was around 28 March in the afternoon & no pix

were taken.

Next look insde the nest was last week 1 April. While momma was

dive bombing me again I noticed little pencil neck had gotten its

down and what appeared some young, new feathers. Again no

pix were taken.

There was no chirping of any type going on the whole time. When

compared to the last Bul-Buls we had nesting in another hanging

plant outside our bedroom window...these Bul-Bul's were very

quiet...unless another bird or one of our dogs was strolling about.

Yesterday I grabbed a camera for the express purpose of getting

a baby Bul-Bul in the nest...dead or alive..to document the lil

critter for posterity. This is what I saw when I peered into the nest...

So...I get to thinking a murderous bird was to blame and went back

inside the house.

After a couple hours pass by I notice momma & possibly poppa

Bul-Bul flying from the direction of the nest over to the alamander

bush we have in the front of the house. They do this many times

and vocalise quite a lot. Then I hear some small cheep-cheep's.

I grab a camera, slip on some sandals, quietly walk over to the

alamander bush so as not to get the mutts interested....

and this is what I saw....

Lil pencil neck had grown very quickly into a flying

fledgling in less than 2 weeks. Must be due to delicious

& nutricious Ranong bugs!

All shots: D810, 70-200 VR2 @ f8, ISO 100, handheld

& greatly cropped/reduced in size.

Happy Easter!

[Goompa]

Nice work sunshine , and great IQ for a crop also

[sunshine51]

^^^ Goomps...36 MP has it's advantages and also has it's disadvantages too.

The main dis I have is when trying to reduce the image size MB > KB and still

keep it "forum manageable"...after the crop. The reduced size can still be

quite big in MB & I'm runnin low on remaining fuel for posting while still trying

to deliver a decent image. Thanks for the kudo !

[Goshawk]

^ good one sunshine . . . a Yellow-vented if i'm not mistaken.

[shaggy1969]

Had a look around to see if I could find out what kind of snake this is.

Going by the markings I came to the conclusion it is a Burmese Python.....was I correct?

[Goshawk]

^ . . . that's a cracker! Burmese Python it is.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Goshawk

[sunshine51]

Had a look around to see if I could find out what kind of snake this is.

Going by the markings I came to the conclusion it is a Burmese Python.....was I correct?

You be correct Shaggy...Python Molurus...aka...Burmese Python...fine looking one too.

Nice pic matey!

[sunshine51]

^ good one sunshine . . . a Yellow-vented if i'm not mistaken.

Thanks GH...3 decent shots outta 20. Was a very windy day and it was just

a few meters away. By Yellow Vented...does that mean they have a yellow

patch back by their bum? It's parents do.

[Goshawk]

By Yellow Vented...does that mean they have a yellow

patch back by their bum? It's parents do.

[rhythmworx]

SS please Keep away from the nest.

Birds often abandon the nest and sometimes their chicks if they know you have been in the nest.

I like the building work, nicely woven together.

Edited April 5, 2015 by rhythmworx

[sunshine51]

@ GH...Thanks for that info.

@RW...I only look into the nest but never touch it.

I'm on a 12 foot ladder usually, if the nest is near

the house or in our hanging plants. Kinda awkward

to peer inside and for a shot it can be difficult to get

contorted for said shot. We have weaver birds up a

few trees behind our house, lovely nests & how they

build em, however me ladder ain't tall enough!

I reckon it's amazing how birds weave their nests

and what a fine job they do.

Belated Happy Easter or Happy Easter Monday!

[sunshine51]

A short bit about Pythons...of any kind.

It is said that the Python is the "smartest" of any snake and FWIW I believe it.

Back in '85 on Phuket a friend who worked oil fields in the SCS had a doozy

of a female Python named Grace...aka Silky...aka...the Cuddler. This critter

& I got along quite well as large snakes & humans can occasionally do.

Grace was 4 meters long when not tasting the air with her tongue. She was

a heavy girl...around 80 kilos just before a feed. She was fed one chicken

a week or a piglet every 3 weeks. Gotta feed a girl to keep her happy & content.

After a feed she'd slide into my bungalo, up on the bed and sleep for a long

time...a few days anyway. Actually not really sleep as we know it...more like

just a long relax. This was when she'd really enjoy a cuddle.

Another thing she really enjoyed & how I ended up becoming her caretaker

when Dan had to return to work, was to go for walkies. Walkies anywhere.

I swear that snake knew the word walkies....she'd get a bit excited and start

to climb up on me...all 4meters/80 kilos of her, gently wrap herself on

me body and place her head over my heart. People would come up and ask

me or Dan if she was "friendly" and we'd usually say that she was but if you

touch her, don't pinch her....she'll bite. And pythons have a very nasty bite.

One European chick pinched Grace and Grace shot out, grabbed that chicks

arm, didn't let go & began gnawing away. Of course the Euro chick freaked

out...so did her friends. Dan & I eventually removed Graces mouth from the

chicks arm but not before Grace had sliced it to shreds in the bite area.

Dan & I were not brought up on charges by the BiB because the Euro chick

didn't press any & declared it was her fault because she gave Grace a

good pinch after being warned not to. Some people, no matter how warned,

are just plain stupid. Not one single Thai kid ever pinched Grace after the

warning....but it seemed farangs always wanted to test it...and paid in pain.

Dan & I decided the following day to return Grace into the wild up on the hills

so we fed her and after her relax period off we went up the hills. Finding a

good spot we released "our girl" and walked away...later to get sloshed.

A couple days go by & Dan's returned to work while I'm hangng around the

bungalo on the front porch having a cold Khun Pan & trying to plan a day

of doing something. The cleaning lady was walking over to do my bungalo

& when she gets close...she let's loose a loud scream & runs away...

Grace had returned and was under the steps and soon to be sliding up

on the porch and onto my lap.

Hard to get rid of some Thai ladies....

g

Not Grace but a good example of why you really need to be careful around

Pythons...

[Ace of Pop]

These Critters are a bit more Cuddly. ..

[shaggy1969]

^ Khon Kaen Zoo Ace?

[Goompa]

This little guy is just hungry ..

Butterfly

[Goompa]

Kind of an odd edit this one , looks a little HDR but no application there,

I was shooting at about 20 degrees towards the sun trying to get a backlight

The image came out full of magenta , was an effort to save this shot ,

Ladybug

Cropped about 25%

[rhythmworx]

Last few posts....

An error occurred

There was a problem storing your reputation vote.

Ahh nevermind it worked after all

Edited April 6, 2015 by rhythmworx

[Goompa]

Last few posts....

An error occurred

There was a problem storing your reputation vote.

Ahh nevermind it worked after all

No problems , my reputation has always been a constant problem . cannot figure !

[Goompa]

Blue Butterfly

[Mousehound]

This little guy is just hungry ..

Butterfly

Excellent work - again! Where was this shot? Most likely Parnara apostata - The Dark Straight Swift. Common through Thailand.