Could also be in the "Nature is Horrifying" thread...
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 10:06 am
by wlu_lax6
Looking forward to the follow up correction story about the grad student who was too embarrassed to admit who could only had enough money for microwavable burritos. https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-a ... ters-away/
In these troubling times, sometimes we need to see something simple like this.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
by rass
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 6:13 am
by A_B
rass wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
It’s all fun and games til it flies into your house.
rass wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
It’s all fun and games til it flies into your house.
Yeah but cmon, when else do you get a chance to swing a tennis racket?
rass wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
It’s all fun and games til it flies into your house.
Could be worse ...
Capture 0822.JPG (19.13 KiB) Viewed 1503 times
This was in our dining room in the middle of the night back in January. (Apologies if I've posted it before.)
We don't even have owls anywhere near us.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:21 pm
by A_B
Did you just move?
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:39 pm
by Steve of phpBB
A_B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:21 pmDid you just move?
Lol.
It was surprisingly easy to capture and release. (By my wife; I was too busy freaking out and being useless.)
The best we can figure, one of our cats had grabbed it and lost control while bringing it through our cat door, and it ended up in the dining room. But we still have no idea where our cat would have found an owl - or had the skills to capture one.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:42 pm
by P.D.X.
Um... how big is your cat?
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:02 pm
by A_B
P.D.X. wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:42 pm
Um... how big is your cat?
A_B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:21 pmDid you just move?
Lol.
It was surprisingly easy to capture and release. (By my wife; I was too busy freaking out and being useless.)
The best we can figure, one of our cats had grabbed it and lost control while bringing it through our cat door, and it ended up in the dining room. But we still have no idea where our cat would have found an owl - or had the skills to capture one.
Jebus, that is crazy! We had an owl in the woods behind my house. We'd hear him in the late evening, and saw him perched in a tree a bunch of times. Way bigger than I imagined owls could be. Never got within 100 feet, but it freaked me out a bit. They just stare at you and their heads spin weird.
Used to see bats around the house, too, and yeah, they are sweet to watch. As kids, we used to play baseball in a clearing in the woods. Every night right as it got too dark to play, a bunch of bats would come out. Like idiots, we'd throw are gloves in the air, and watch the bats dive bomb at the gloves.
A_B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:21 pmDid you just move?
Lol.
It was surprisingly easy to capture and release. (By my wife; I was too busy freaking out and being useless.)
The best we can figure, one of our cats had grabbed it and lost control while bringing it through our cat door, and it ended up in the dining room. But we still have no idea where our cat would have found an owl - or had the skills to capture one.
Jebus, that is crazy! We had an owl in the woods behind my house. We'd hear him in the late evening, and saw him perched in a tree a bunch of times. Way bigger than I imagined owls could be. Never got within 100 feet, but it freaked me out a bit. They just stare at you and their heads spin weird.
Used to see bats around the house, too, and yeah, they are sweet to watch. As kids, we used to play baseball in a clearing in the woods. Every night right as it got too dark to play, a bunch of bats would come out. Like idiots, we'd throw are gloves in the air, and watch the bats dive bomb at the gloves.
This owl was pretty small, at least as owls go. Because our cats are basic housecat size, and he was able to - we think - grab it and bring it at least partway through the cat door.,
But yeah, it's a hell of a way to wake up.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:43 pm
by mister d
Bats are awesome. You can set your pocket watch by them going overhead here at night.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:43 pm
by mister d
Also, we made a few beach day trips last week while off work and on the last day we saw like two dozen dolphins swimming about 200 yards out. That was really cool.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:04 pm
by Steve of phpBB
mister d wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:43 pm
Also, we made a few beach day trips last week while off work and on the last day we saw like two dozen dolphins swimming about 200 yards out. That was really cool.
Were you folks out there with them or looking from the beach?
A few years ago we rented jet-skis down on the Florida Panhandle and at one point found ourselves surrounded by dolphins.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:43 pm
by Nonlinear FC
An owl recently took up residence somewhere in the vicinity of our backyard. Hearing that distinctive sound in the evening is one part awesome, one part disconcerting (for some reason.)
While hiking in Yellowstone many years back, we were in a wooded glade area, and 20 yards ahead we spotted an owl sitting on a log right off the path. Middle of the day, so the suburban brain that's been taught they are nocturnal didn't quite compute. We got a little closer, it launched and swooped right over heads... audible *whoosh*... thing had a 5 foot wingspan, easy.
Most awesome and frightening thing that's happened to me out in nature.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:47 pm
by mister d
Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:04 pmWere you folks out there with them or looking from the beach?
From the beach. There were two people out there who looked like they intersected the groups, but if I'd been out there I would have died due to being a very poor swimmer.
Full 6 minute video from a tweet that Rex Chapman posted.
Re: Nature is Awesome and/or Hilarious
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 3:42 pm
by The Sybian
Terrifying. I've battled with a 16 pound declawed housecat a couple hundred times, so I have no doubts that a 100 pound cat could destroy me in seconds. What is the best approach there? It clearly worked out for him, but I kept thinking he should throw a couple rocks to scare it off, or pick up a large rock to smash it if it attacked. I think backing away at that speed is best. If you turn, it could attack, and if you run it'll chase you and take you down. Just get away from the kittens and keep moving. Making noise didn't seem to do anything, and the bluff charges seemed provoked by his noises. I don't know, but that clip made me think about getting a gun.
rass wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
It’s all fun and games til it flies into your house.
Could be worse ...
Capture 0822.JPG
This was in our dining room in the middle of the night back in January. (Apologies if I've posted it before.)
We don't even have owls anywhere near us.
Do you have a fireplace? It could’ve entered through your flue, particularly if bigger birds of prey were swooping about.
rass wrote: ↑Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:43 am
I still get excited every time I see a bat flitting about, hopefully doing cool bat things like eating all of the mosquitoes in our neighborhood.
It’s all fun and games til it flies into your house.
Could be worse ...
Capture 0822.JPG
This was in our dining room in the middle of the night back in January. (Apologies if I've posted it before.)
We don't even have owls anywhere near us.
Do you have a fireplace? It could’ve entered through your flue, particularly if bigger birds of prey were swooping about.
Hm. We do, but we have mesh doors in front of it. The owl would’ve knocked them over. Noisily.