# Encounters with nature



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

This is a thread in which to post your cool photos/drawings/philosophical musings about interesting wildlife or other natural phenomena you encountered. Not sure if there is already such a thread, but seeing as I can't find it we'll start a new one!

I'll start the proceedings with this psychedelic-looking grasshopper:









No, it hasn't been photoshopped. These critters are fairly common around here some years. The bright colours serve as warning to predators that they are inedible. If you pick them up, they start exuding a foamy liquid with a smell that is way beyond merely nauseating.

They are part of a whole family of other, similar grasshoppers, which include other brightly coloured but nauseating insects:


----------



## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

My encounters with nature can't be talked about on this forum, since this a family forum.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Wow, those pictures are fascinating 

Well, one time I was walking out in the El Dorado National Forest in Eastern California and I turned around and I saw this view:









This photo doesn't do it justice at all, but it will give you an idea. It was so green and verdant...and the sun coming through the trees...it looked like something out of a fantasy kingdom. I walked straight into it too; I just had to be absorbed in it


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

There isn't enough nature where I live(The Netherlands), I still haven't seen a wild boar


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

*My Asian encounters with nature?* Desert, Sea of Galilee, Red Sea, Dead Sea, Mediterranean Sea, camels.

*My Polish encounters with nature?* Well, I was in Warsaw.... It was colorful, though.  Pierogi!!!!!!

*My Airplane encounters with nature?* Ocean. Ocean. Ocean. Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean.

*My Canadian encounters with nature?* Niagara Falls! Beautiful, and on the Fourth of July, it's all lit up and everything....

*My American encounters with nature?* Forest, a big blue butterfly landing right over my heart and from then on myself being mortally afraid of butterflies, coyotes, rabbits, foxes, dogs, cats, flowers!, trees, the fall in Boston and CT, snow, and a whole lot of other things.


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Piwikiwi said:


> There isn't enough nature where I live(The Netherlands), I still haven't seen a wild boar


Just call it ugly, it'll soon get wild!


----------



## Pennypacker (Jul 30, 2013)

I've been to this place that contains about 80% of the beauty in this world. It's called New Zealand.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Piwikiwi said:


> There isn't enough nature where I live(The Netherlands), I still haven't seen a wild boar


I lived there for two years, and there is plenty of nature, at least in the "green heart" where I was lucky enough to live:

























Quite a lovely country, really, and with civilized, educated people too.



Pennypacker said:


> I've been to this place that contains about 80% of the beauty in this world. It's called New Zealand.


Saw any hobbits or orcs?


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Dramatic cloud formations a few years ago during a thunderstorm here:


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

An ibis stole my lunch when I was 5. I haven't been outdoors since.


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

I had a very unpleasent experience with wildlife two years ago when a very small spider (2 mm) entered into my ear!. I had to see a doctor because the thing got stuck there... alive!. Apparently, the animal's legs got tangled with the fine hairs we have inside the ear. From time to time the spider moved its legs and I could hear it, it was incredibly annoying... and loud!.
The doctor used some kind of ear vacuum pump to suck the spider and in a few seconds that was the end of the issue.
Definitely the most traumatic thing that happened to me in a couple of years!.


----------



## Pennypacker (Jul 30, 2013)

brianvds said:


> Saw any hobbits or orcs?


Well I visited Hobbiton.









The only exotic creature I've encountered was this one.









I know, I know. I'm a terrible person. 
I've been to mount Doom (Ngauruhoe) as well!









But no Sauron in sight.

(I wish we had a better camera on our trip than the piece of **** my friend brought.)


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I got up this morning to find _this_ in the bath...EEEK!


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Pennypacker said:


> The only exotic creature I've encountered was this one.
> 
> View attachment 25802


lol, that's just composer Morton Feldman. 
The camera is incredibly crappy.


----------



## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

brianvds said:


> I lived there for two years, and there is plenty of nature, at least in the "green heart" where I was lucky enough to live:
> 
> View attachment 25752
> 
> ...


A great, I actually come from the green heart.^^


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

techniquest said:


> I got up this morning to find _this_ in the bath...EEEK!











lol, poor CoAG.


----------



## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

Lots of rabbits on my campus which is nice, they're the least shy of any rabbits I've seen. Also a ridiculous number of crane flies which is not so nice, especially when they jump on your face in bed.


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

aleazk said:


> View attachment 25843
> 
> 
> lol, poor CoAG.


:lol: :lol: :lol: He's gotta see that!!


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

aleazk said:


> View attachment 25843
> 
> 
> lol, poor CoAG.


When I was 8, a spider bit several places on my face and my left hand when I was asleep. I had to go to hospital in the morning.


----------



## Pennypacker (Jul 30, 2013)

aleazk said:


> lol, that's just composer Morton Feldman.
> The camera is incredibly crappy.


Yeah, well... At least I've got all these breathtaking views in my head. But I guess in the facebook era if you don't have (good) photos, it didn't really happen. Next time I'm there I'll definitely bring a better one. Maybe one of those spaceship size 1000000x zoom cameras all the Koreans bring.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Oh man, I really wish I hadn't seen those spider pictures. Now I'm afraid to click on this thread again


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Tristan said:


> Oh man, I really wish I hadn't seen those spider pictures. Now I'm afraid to click on this thread again


Never mind, not all spiders are that fearsome. Here's a very cute and cuddly rain spider:

















They are fairly common around here during the summer.


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Pennypacker said:


> Yeah, well... At least I've got all these breathtaking views in my head. But I guess in the facebook era if you don't have (good) photos, it didn't really happen. Next time I'm there I'll definitely bring a better one. Maybe one of those spaceship size 1000000x zoom cameras all the Koreans bring.


Like this?, lol:


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

This is incredibly funny:


----------



## Pennypacker (Jul 30, 2013)

aleazk said:


> Like this?, lol:


That looks like a camera phone compared to what they bring.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

A Death's Head hawk moth that blundered into the house one evening. I had to pull out all the stops to save it from the cat.


----------



## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

Had this guy sunning himself in the backyard just now. A two-tailed swallow-tail. One of the largest butterflies in the western U.S.

It's getting a bit late to see these, and it's also rare to see one with his wings this intact. There are normally some nips taken out of them.


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

^^^^ Who here knows of my practical mortification of butterflies?  

Even so, I have seen those around too, as well as some painted ladies and monarchs.... Very pretty if you like them.  

Now, if I was not a kind mstar, I might ask you to kindly imagine a butterfly without its wings. PLEASE DO NOT POST SUCH A PICTURE ON HERE, I IMPLORE! (Such things do.... ahem, exist)....


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

EricABQ: Lovely butterfly! But seeing as they terrify Mstar, let's move on to birds.

A grey hornbill in the Pretoria zoo (but you also see them in gardens around here):









And a guinea fowl in the Pretoria Botanical Gardens:









Wish I had a better camera - my cheap point-and-shoot is not really the best option for wildlife photography.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

mstar said:


> ^^^^ Who here knows of my practical mortification of butterflies?
> 
> Even so, I have seen those around too, as well as some painted ladies and monarchs.... Very pretty if you like them.
> 
> Now, if I was not a kind mstar, I might ask you to kindly imagine a butterfly without its wings. PLEASE DO NOT POST SUCH A PICTURE ON HERE, I IMPLORE! (Such things do.... ahem, exist)....


Dragonflies are even more hideous.
UGGGGGHHHHHHH


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Dragonflies are even more hideous.
> UGGGGGHHHHHHH


Nah, they eat other insects, so I actually find them not so bad.  
Try harder. Or rather, don't. Hint: They spend the majority of their life not mature, living in the ground. They also have very greasy-looking wings. AGAIN, DON'T POST A PICTURE PLEASE!!! Thanks.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

mstar said:


> Nah, they eat other insects, so I actually find them not so bad.
> Try harder. Or rather, don't. Hint: They spend the majority of their life not mature, living in the ground. They also have very greasy-looking wings. AGAIN, DON'T POST A PICTURE PLEASE!!! Thanks.


No way Jose.
They are ugggggllyyyyyyyyy.


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Itullian said:


> No way Jose.
> They are ugggggllyyyyyyyyy.


What I'm talking about? Yes, compared to butterflies, they are something to be queasy about.... Thankfully winter is approaching, and the hopefully immensely crazy cold will drive all insects and such AWAY, away from me especially!!


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

mstar said:


> What I'm talking about? Yes, compared to butterflies, they are something to be queasy about.... Thankfully winter is approaching, and the hopefully immensely crazy cold will drive all insects and such AWAY, away from me especially!!


If you're going to insist on having a bunch of flowers as avatar, you are inevitably going to attract insects...


----------



## Yoshi (Jul 15, 2009)

Arachnophobes, this is the perfect thread for you!


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Yoshi said:


> Arachnophobes, this is the perfect thread for you!


I know, this went from an interesting nature thread to a horror show


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm literally scrolling down this thread with the UTMOST CAUTION, fearing that someone unbelievably unkind would scare me out of my wits with a picture of a mature *gulp* NEVERMIND!!!!!


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

mstar said:


> I'm literally scrolling down this thread with the UTMOST CAUTION, fearing that someone unbelievably unkind would scare me out of my wits with a picture of a mature *gulp* NEVERMIND!!!!!


Dragonfly? .....................


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Tristan said:


> I know, this went from an interesting nature thread to a horror show


How terribly vertebra-centric you people are... 

Well, here's a cute steenbok at the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary in Pretoria:


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Dragonfly? .....................


No, no.... Something much... um, if I say it, someone might post a picture!!


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Anyway, here's some nice scenery from Boston, MA:


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Hadeda ibis on a rooftop...


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Spotted bush snake. See if you can spot the spotted snake! It's wonderfully camouflaged (and not to worry, not seriously venomous and thus not dangerous to humans):


----------



## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

Some more for the insect lovers. A praying mantis on a dying rose from my backyard today:


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

EricABQ said:


> Some more for the insect lovers. A praying mantis on a dying rose from my backyard today:


Presumably praying for some tasty prey.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Two encounters with nature today. First, a halo around the Sun:









And then I found this little fellow in the house. The cat probably dragged it in here and then decided not to murder it, so I took it outside and put it in a tree densely overgrown with creepers.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'll post pictures later. Yesterday, 2 deer came by my flute professor's studio, just sitting in the shade of trees only a few feet away from the window, and they weren't scared at all. They sat there for several hours, witnessed a number of flute lessons. I guess they liked the flute.


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I'll post pictures later. Yesterday, 2 deer came by my flute professor's studio, just sitting in the shade of trees only a few feet away from the window, and they weren't scared at all. They sat there for several hours, witnessed a number of flute lessons. I guess they liked the flute.


I believe there have been studies to show that mammals' heart beats generally get slightly slower when listening to classical music.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

mstar said:


> I believe there have been studies to show that mammals' heart beats generally get slightly slower when listening to classical music.


Except when you play them The Rut of Spring.


----------



## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

This is a shot of the California countryside I took a couple months ago. I wanted to post it because this has to be one of the most silent places I've ever been. There was not a single sound except for faint animal noises coming from the trees. The silence was so odd at first because I had just gotten out of the noisy car and then I stood at the edge of the highway and looked out over this:


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Tristan said:


> This is a shot of the California countryside I took a couple months ago. I wanted to post it because this has to be one of the most silent places I've ever been. There was not a single sound except for faint animal noises coming from the trees. The silence was so odd at first because I had just gotten out of the noisy car and then I stood at the edge of the highway and looked out over this:


Very beautiful. It actually looks remarkably much the like countryside around here where I live.









The above is scenery around the Maropeng Cradle of Humankind museum, which is about an hour's drive from me. In winter, which is the local dry season, it looks even more like you photo.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Thunderstorm. I can hear the wind howling outside as I type this.


----------



## mstar (Aug 14, 2013)

brianvds said:


> Except when you play them The Rut of Spring.


Weeks later, I am still laughing whenever I look at that comment. :lol:


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

The deer I talked about last week (both visible in 2nd picture):


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

A recent encounter.

View attachment 28534


----------



## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I saw a spawning salmon on my walk to the train yesterday morning. I could smell the rotting fish, so I decided to look over the bridge, and saw a salmon. It's only a creek so the salmon is at the end of his swim upstream. The smell must mean there are many more fish. This explains the bear sighting earlier in the year.


----------



## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Yummy pine cone


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Norse said:


> Yummy pine cone


Here in Pretoria we have plenty of cool wildlife. But squirrels are the one thing we do not have, and that I wish we did. Even though I hear they can actually be quite a pest.


----------



## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

More dead salmon in the stream near my home. It stinks of rotting dead fish in my neighbourhood. But oddly, I don't mind the smell because I know it's natural. It smells like rotting garbage but it supposed to smell like this in November, so that's great. I know it's nature doing it's thing. 

There has been a really big effort lately to clean up Vancouver's water ways in the past few years. Some streams this year and last have salmon for the first time in over fifty years. 

And there have been killer whale and humpback whale sightings downtown, pretty cool. 

So the smell? Bring it on, if I know it means a return to a more natural state of existence.


----------

