Zookeeper Gabes Animal Thread 4.0

[Zookeeper Gabe]

we see plenty of bob cats, some really large ones sometimes. and our state game office swears there are no cougars in alabama anymore. i dont know what it was and in regards to the post above, because he followed the dont shoot unless you know what you are shooting at, we will never know. not complaining, he did the right thing.

Not at all, I hate sound shooters or in this case shadow shooters. Cougars are rare in the east but are expanding their populations. One got hit in Ct last year.

 

[Blitz55]

Blitz ,thats a bad ass pic.
That looks scary as hell.

Hold on to your kids.....The Harpy is after them.


Sucks about the leopard being shot. :icon_neut

 

[bosox32]

Keep up the good work Gabe. Enjoying the thread.

Animals need good people like you on their side.

 

[JBSchroeds]

I figured I'd share a quick animal story:
I've got a Barred Owl hanging out in the forest behind my house. I hear him hooting away almost every night. Recently there's been another one hooting with him, so he might have found a lady. The creepiest thing is when you hear it get a kill: there's a high piercing shriek of a small mammal being eviscerated followed by a triumphant hooting. It's happened a couple times, one of which was so loud it had to have been right in the back yard.

 

[Blitz55]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BN0XNA-CYAA0HCj.jpg:large

Extremely rare jaguar spotted near Arizona mountains

Photos of an extremely rare jaguar roaming Forest Service land near Arizona's Santa Rita Mountains have been published by the Arizona Daily Star, which got the images from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The male jaguar, believed to be the lone known unconfined jaguar in the U.S., has been in the area since at least September 2012, when its image was captured by a hunter's motion-detector camera.

 

[johnkilo]

I hope they don't kill the jaguar.

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

@Bosox- thanks man. I appreciate it.

@Blitz-love jags. Hopefully more will start to work their way north.

@John-hopefully they learned their lesson last time with that awful jaguar debacle. If they do anything with this one they will tread carefully.

 

[Blood Python]

Does anyone know if I should be concerned about this guy. I've seen two of them. One of them has a web close to where my little dogs do their business in the yard.

 

[Slick_36]

Don't be worried, the only thing they'll hurt is pests. I wish I had one.

 

[hohner]

Looks like a type of orb weaver. Probably nothing to really worry about.

 

[SevenSamurai]

Does anyone know if I should be concerned about this guy. I've seen two of them. One of them has a web close to where my little dogs do their business in the yard.

Looks like one of the many variations of a Garden or golden silk orb spider. Spins a new crazy web almost every night and eats it. Gardens are not dangerous but goldens silk orbs bite huts like a mofo and is the same venom as a black widow but not near as powerful -overall not very dangerous - in fact they are good to have around

Edit: I just noticed the zig zag in the web -definitely a garden spider

You shouldn't be concerned.

 

[JBSchroeds]

Argiope aurantia. Golden Orb Weaver, aka Yellow Garden Spider, aka Yellow Orb Weaver, aka Writing Spider, aka Black & Yellow Argiope, aka Corn Spider. Wikipedia says they are harmless. Though pretty unsettling to stumble upon them because they've got some pretty good heft to them. I almost put my hand right on one when cutting hosta stalks for my grandmother when I was little *shudders*.

 

[Blood Python]

Thanks for the info. Yeah i wasnt expecting to see it so it startled me with the size and it was quick.

 

[Blitz55]

Does anyone know if I should be concerned about this guy. I've seen two of them. One of them has a web close to where my little dogs do their business in the yard.

Wow, those are great photos and what an amazing looking spider. The patterns on it are awesome.

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Love argiopes. If you catch some bugs toss them in the web and watch the fun.

 

[jefferz]

What's your thoughts on wolverines? The Game & Fish here released 5 in my area and a lot of the locals aren't too happy about it. Do they take a bad rap for no reason like a fox or are they evil, and we're talking about the wolverines not the game and fish :icon_chee

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Wolverines are some of the coolest animals ever. They are also plagued by stupid people who believe stupid myths about them. I'm jealous you live close to them, as with any predator they may take some domestics but you will get reimbursed like any animal. They really are fantastic creatures though.

 

[jefferz]

Wolverines are some of the coolest animals ever. They are also plagued by stupid people who believe stupid myths about them. I'm jealous you live close to them, as with any predator they may take some domestics but you will get reimbursed like any animal. They really are fantastic creatures though.

There hasn't been any sightings of one in the state for almost a 100 years and they decided to reintroduce them. They're been doing the same thing in our area with moose, turkeys, mountain lions, and elk. They were going to introduce some sort of bear but the public back lashed against that.
I hope they stay skittish. I've had a couple of run ins with badgers that have balls of steel and they weren't fun.

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

People are ridiculous when it comes to predators. The dangers are always overstated by uneducated people being fueled by emotions. Cougars are probably the only animal I would actually be nervous about having in my backyard and even then you can avoid them.

 

[fightingrabbit]

Wolverines are some of the coolest animals ever. They are also plagued by stupid people who believe stupid myths about them. I'm jealous you live close to them, as with any predator they may take some domestics but you will get reimbursed like any animal. They really are fantastic creatures though.

Reimbursed with what? Money?