Sunday, June 07, 2009

The weekend (i.e...your thumb can make a good comparison object)

For all my complaining about heat, I do like Summer. Lots of time spent outdoors, critters to encounter.

First critter:
The biggest tick I have ever seen, which I plucked off my brother's dog:
Biggest tick ever

Oh, man, that is so gross. I did a full body shiver after I flung it into the weeds.
Biggest tick ever and my thumb
(My thumb for comparison)

Next, a great spangled frittilary that I enticed onto my fingers:
DSC07344
(You can see pollen on my fingernails!)


Taking my camera's life into dangerous hands....a macro shot of Storm the barn owl:
Storm Macro
"Dude. I don't know what that is in my face, but I will totally kill it if you bring it any closer."

Frozen critters:
RAPTOR freezer
Ever wondered what the food freezers look like at RAPTOR? Well, here ya go.

A former critter...the hugest screech owl pellet I have seen:
Huge screech owl pellet
(Thumb for comparison)
They are usually the size of a large marble.

Another former critter...I am addicted to pellet-pulling:
DSC07477
Great horned owl pellet and bones


DSC07469
Rat vertebra. Looks like a set of brass knuckles.

Isabelle became a Brownie yesterday:
DSC07519
(I hate that I have to cover up the Troup numbers...but you know there are pervs out there.)

Isabelle me Brownie ceremony
I'm proud that Isabelle stuck with this throughout the school year.
I think she's proud of herself, too.

11 comments:

KGMom said...

Shiver. . .gross..ewwww. Bleccchh on ticks.

Other things--way cool.
Cool butterfly.
Cool Storm.
COLD critters.
Cool owl pellet (although tiny shiver accompanies the cool).
Super super cool--Isabelle is a Brownie.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Fun summer activity: Show the girls how to pick ticks off the dogs and hit them with a hammer.
Ticks deserve it.

Yay to the Brownie!!!

Beth said...

I'm with Lynne - kill the ticks, kill the ticks, kill the ticks....

Beth (throwing up a little bit in her mouth)

Beth said...

I'm with Lynne - kill the ticks, kill the ticks, kill the ticks....

Beth (throwing up a little bit in her mouth)

Susan Gets Native said...

Donna:
COOL.
Lynne:
EWWW!!!!
Beth:
EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Kathi said...

Icky tick!

Big fat ticks like that are females, full of blood and ready to lay eggs. Tossing them into the weeds is what they want - kill them instead.

Don't hit the ticks with a hammer (or burn them or otherwise rupture their bodies.) When you bust a tick, you release its body juices, which may contain organisms that cause things like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme disease, or Erhlichiosis, depending on the kind of tick and your geographic location. Get those fluids in your mucous membranes, and you might get sick, too.

I prefer a dunk in a jar of alcohol or a good old fashioned toilet flush as the quickest kill with the least side effects.

In the "for your freezer" topic, I have another 4 or 5 HOSP for you.

~Kathi

Mary said...

THAT is the sickest tick I have ever SEEN!

I'll be complaining about the heat but I love summer more than any other season. Always have.

Yay Isabelle!

NatureWoman said...

That tick is just gross. Ewwwww!
Aww, I love the frittilary on your hand!
Wow on the Storm photo!!
Check out that huge pellet! I love it you still show us ripping apart the pellets - I love it too.
Congratulations to Isabelle! Yay!!!!

Stacy Hurt said...

Any day I get to see Storm & owl pellets is a FANTASTIC day BUT!!!

Issy!!!! Miss Browine! You GO GIRL! From a former Browine leader (me) & our troop that bridged to Jr.s by walking over the Golden Gate we say "Way to GO GIRL!" You rock & I'm looking so foward to seeing that sash fill up with every cool patch they make!!!

i could have done forever without the tick photo... (unless we could feed them to something like a black widow... Now THAT would be cool footage!

dguzman said...

Yay for your little Brownie! But hey--where's the dorky brown uniform dress and that little beanie that I had to wear????

Eeewwww on the tick, and thanks to KatDoc for the medical info! I too was thinking you should've killed that thing, not left it out there to breed. You old softie.

Dawn Fine said...

oh ughhhhhh...I remember seeing ticks like that as a kid..damn..tiny legs sticking out of blood filled body..
Oh and after reading the comments I will not smash or burn the nasty critters ..but always and happily place them in alcohol! Tell me...what purpose do they serve?

ok enough about ticks..
hee hee..u are lucky that barn owl didnt peck your precious camera to death...tee hee..
and yikes...what kind of frozen critters are in that freezer?
Congrats Isabelle on becoming a Brownie..
I was one once..
Thanks for the tour of your life.