The Swamp

J-Lo's quote deserves it's own thread. I love freaks of the natural world.


30 photos proving Australia is the most insnae place.


A little sampling:

The flying fox. You can also see a snake devouring one.




Crocs everywhere, and fucking enormous! You can also See a picture of a snake devouring a full size croc.





Earth worms are fucking enormous!




Jellyfish are also enormous. Also see a minuscule jellyfish with a toxin 100 times more potent that a cobra's venom.

Oh good lord, mother of Hades!

The Sybian wrote:I love freaks of the natural world.

I see you looking, baby. What can I do 4 you?

How does "An echidna" have 5 posts?

Fucking wildfires.

Crazy reading about all of the complex multi-level infrastructure we have in place to fight them (which under other circumstances would be interesting to learn about on its own) and it just fails because it was quickly and fully overwhelmed.

There a fire burning up between Sedona and Flagstaff right now that is in pretty rugged terrain. They aren't even really trying to fight it other than by setting up fire lines at the nearest roads they can use to try to contain it. They have been able to protect the homes originally threatened, but they still expect it to get to about 20,000 acres before it's contained. Sadly, that's not that big for some of the fires we've had here over the last several years. There was one that burned over a half million acres 2 or 3 years ago.

We didn't have a very wet winter and monsoon season will be here soon, it wouldn't surprise me if we have another bad fire season here.

phxgators wrote:There a fire burning up between Sedona and Flagstaff right now that is in pretty rugged terrain. They aren't even really trying to fight it other than by setting up fire lines at the nearest roads they can use to try to contain it. They have been able to protect the homes originally threatened, but they still expect it to get to about 20,000 acres before it's contained. Sadly, that's not that big for some of the fires we've had here over the last several years. There was one that burned over a half million acres 2 or 3 years ago.

We didn't have a very wet winter and monsoon season will be here soon, it wouldn't surprise me if we have another bad fire season here.

For the long weekend, we were up in the Sierras, just south of the Lake Tahoe area. It is dry as tinder up there, and the locals we spoke to are really dreading the inevitable fires they'll be dealing with this summer.

The only possible saving grace is if an El Nino cycle really is starting as some meteorologists suspect. If true, it should result in more summer rain than average. Otherwise...it's going to be a horrific summer all over the West.

phxgators wrote:There a fire burning up between Sedona and Flagstaff right now that is in pretty rugged terrain. They aren't even really trying to fight it other than by setting up fire lines at the nearest roads they can use to try to contain it. They have been able to protect the homes originally threatened, but they still expect it to get to about 20,000 acres before it's contained. Sadly, that's not that big for some of the fires we've had here over the last several years. There was one that burned over a half million acres 2 or 3 years ago.

We didn't have a very wet winter and monsoon season will be here soon, it wouldn't surprise me if we have another bad fire season here.

So I know wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem out there, but do you know if they are naturally of this size and/or frequency? Or has human deforestation and yard-watering affected the amount of dry tinder out there? Also, I guess we're probably starting a lot of these fires too, right?

Shirley wrote:

phxgators wrote:There a fire burning up between Sedona and Flagstaff right now that is in pretty rugged terrain. They aren't even really trying to fight it other than by setting up fire lines at the nearest roads they can use to try to contain it. They have been able to protect the homes originally threatened, but they still expect it to get to about 20,000 acres before it's contained. Sadly, that's not that big for some of the fires we've had here over the last several years. There was one that burned over a half million acres 2 or 3 years ago.

We didn't have a very wet winter and monsoon season will be here soon, it wouldn't surprise me if we have another bad fire season here.

So I know wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem out there, but do you know if they are naturally of this size and/or frequency? Or has human deforestation and yard-watering affected the amount of dry tinder out there? Also, I guess we're probably starting a lot of these fires too, right?

My guess would be at least half of the fires each season are human caused. Either someone leaving a campfire behind that wasn't put out all the way, someone tossing a cigarette out their car window, even a hot tailpipe parked up against some dry grass.... In the 13 years I've been out here, it's not at all uncommon for there to be at least a couple of fires of 10,000+ acres each season. Every once in a while we'll have one that gets to 100,000+.

There are a few issues affecting the forests in the northern part of the state. Obviously, it's dry here, but some winters are particularly dry - meaning there is a lot of dried up/dead vegetation ready to fuel a fire. Some forests have also had infestations of bark beetles, killing trees in their wake, so there is no shortage of fuel there. And, something that article on Yarnell touched on, in trying to manage forest fires, they may not happen as often but with the extra years worth of growth, there is more to burn when there is a fire.

Luckily, this isn't an issue in places like the Phoenix metro area, though smaller brush fires do still happen. There's just not enough for much of any sustained fire.

One of the points the article makes is that we've almost gotten too good at fighting fires for our own good. Areas that haven't had a good burn (enough to take out the undergrowth but leave the bigger trees) in sometime (in part because we spent decades putting out fires too fast, and part because there are more areas we try to protect now due to development) have built up a lot of potential fuel. Add that to the current drought and it's a bad situation, no matter how he fire starts.

MUTATED SUPERFIRES

Nope.

sancarlos wrote:For the long weekend, we were up in the Sierras, just south of the Lake Tahoe area. It is dry as tinder up there, and the locals we spoke to are really dreading the inevitable fires they'll be dealing with this summer.

That fire near Hwy 50 about halfway up from Sacramento to South Lake is a shock. Never would have thought that part of the world would be dry enough for a big wildfire. Shit, they get snow most years in Pollock Pines and vicinity.

Nope.

BSF21 wrote:How does "An echidna" have 5 posts?

Jerloma most certainly should get all of the credit for putting the "random thoughts" concept over in the Swamp.

Seals rape penguins.

I'm guessing the theory is they're never gunna survive unless they are a little crazy.

Johnnie wrote:Seals rape penguins.

I'm guessing the theory is they're never gunna survive unless they are a little crazy.

Not gonna watch that video...

It's what happens when the Sealfisting league goes defunct. They're frightened, confused, and cannot handle readjusting to a normal life. PTSD is a motherfucker. Or should I say penguinfucker.

Post Traumatic Sealfisting-league-termination Disorder

"No, no. It's just ice cream!"

Shirley wrote:"No, no. It's just ice cream!"

I love that joke.

More penguin slaughter. See if you don't recoil in horror and possibly lose your lunch during this video.

18,000 Hungarian Forint for a rub, rub, rub, rub, tug, tug, tug, tug & blow from a hot Vizsla is totally worth it.


In keeping with the thread though, I think I have mutant Feline AIDS. Dirty bitch.

Why I will never set foot in Africa - Reason #537

Hippos.

Holy fuck they can swim fast. The video below is a good starting point to help GPJ write the next song in his series of animal safety tips. How to survive a hippo attack:

Weasel don't give a shit...

Who wants to go for a dip? Any open sores?

Ah, another Chris Christie infrastructure project in Jersey.

Damn. What happened from there? Do you have the story?

Asked my buddy Google and sure enough he had the scoop

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/2 ... 40342.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and no one was hurt in the incident

Damn.

Wait.

You know what I mean.

DC47 wrote:Ah, another Chris Christie infrastructure project in Jersey.

More like Boston's Big Dig. I saw a longer video that wouldn't embed. The front wheels fell into hole, and all the passengers walked off the bus before it fell in. Fucking crazy how it gets thrown around like a toy.

The Sybian wrote:Fucking crazy how it gets thrown around like a toy.

Maybe "tour bus dropped down a Brazilian sinkhole" could replace "hot dog down a hallway" as a euphemism for, you know... I mean, it's a situation I've certainly never personally encountered, but I'm sure you bunch of goanna dicks know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for that picture.

I hate spiders.

And I will NEVER visit Australia...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015 ... vironment/

Where it rained spiders.

The article does a good job of explaining how and why this happened. But who would live in such a place?!

Those are spider webs by the way...

Not as horrifying as a rain of spiders, but look at the build on this jumbo Kangaroo.

I bet he doesn't shut the fuck up about Crossfit.