The Great Outdoors
- Thread starter Hauler
- Start date
Man, that is one mountain range that has been on my list for years. I need to make that a priority.
Beautiful dogs and scenery. Living the good life!
I love visiting Flagstaff and Sedona. Great mountain biking out there.
Had a long overnight in Flagstaff, Az a couple days ago, so I went to Sedona and took a nice hike. It’s beautiful there.
First time I’ve ever been there. I’ll be there again next month. Looking forward to it.
Love Sedona. Great pics, bro.
Had a long overnight in Flagstaff, Az a couple days ago, so I went to Sedona and took a nice hike. It’s beautiful there.
I've definitely been enjoying the cactus blooms. Nice pictures!
Had a long overnight in Flagstaff, Az a couple days ago, so I went to Sedona and took a nice hike. It’s beautiful there.
Nice man, looks splendid!On a whim, decided to book a flight and get some beach time for a few days.
Adult beverage in hand, a nice breeze, the Reds game on the radio, some tasty waves...
I'm a happy Hauler.
The heat index is 112 here today, and I was working outside all day. That water looks amazing to me right now
M
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So I went to Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge today to scope shit out. I considered kayaking but got there too late.
Anyway the whole point of my journey was to try to find a native lizard species - the green anole (the only anole lizard nativeto the entire U.S.). It had been since at least my childhood since I'd seen one, as invasive lizards have driven them higher into the trees and therefore more difficult for us to see.
So I decide to take the boardwalk trail and look for one. I see a bunch of Cuban brown anoles, so many actually that I gave up hope of seeing our native son.
Then at the very end of the trail:
I go to leave and I swear this fucking thing nods at me. He knew I was a native Floridian just like him. He was showing me a level of respect that the rest of you will never understand.
Anyway the whole point of my journey was to try to find a native lizard species - the green anole (the only anole lizard nativeto the entire U.S.). It had been since at least my childhood since I'd seen one, as invasive lizards have driven them higher into the trees and therefore more difficult for us to see.
So I decide to take the boardwalk trail and look for one. I see a bunch of Cuban brown anoles, so many actually that I gave up hope of seeing our native son.
Then at the very end of the trail:
I go to leave and I swear this fucking thing nods at me. He knew I was a native Floridian just like him. He was showing me a level of respect that the rest of you will never understand.
Green anoles are all over the place here. I have a pair that lives in my firewood stack in my back yard. Cool little critters.So I went to Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge today to scope shit out. I considered kayaking but got there too late.
Anyway the whole point of my journey was to try to find a native lizard species - the green anole (the only anole lizard nativeto the entire U.S.). It had been since at least my childhood since I'd seen one, as invasive lizards have driven them higher into the trees and therefore more difficult for us to see.
So I decide to take the boardwalk trail and look for one. I see a bunch of Cuban brown anoles, so many actually that I gave up hope of seeing our native son.
Then at the very end of the trail:
I go to leave and I swear this fucking thing nods at me. He knew I was a native Floridian just like him. He was showing me a level of respect that the rest of you will never understand.
Have they been displaced in your area by invasive or non-native species?
M
member 3289
Guest
Yes, mostly the Cuban brown anole
Apparently the same displacement is occurring in Texas.
The Green Anole, Your Resident Backyard Lizard, Is Being Pushed Out By Its Uglier Cousin
M
member 3289
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The brown anoles have been in Florida for over 100 years, but when I was young I would still see a fair share of greens.
Nowadays the most common lizard I see is another non-native, the Bahamian curly-tailed lizard. The males grow to about double the size of brown or green anoles, and they will prey on browns or greens if they get the chance, though it's more common with browns because the greens are higher in the trees and curly-tails are mostly ground-dwelling.
Predators drove a lizard population to extinction without eating them
I don't mind the curly-tails, though. They keep the sidewalks and paved areas bug-free. They're very tolerant of people but know to run if you walk in their path. Some people down here even hand-feed them:
View: https://youtu.be/HWyLVzYoiGs
Like clockwork, this guy was out on my wood pile by my shed tonight. The blue tarp is what I keep over the top of my firewood stack. He had started to turn brownish a bit as I was harassing him trying to get a pic.
M
member 3289
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@Grateful Dude do you use the inaturalist.org app?
On occasion, yes I do. I have found it useful for identifying plants or critters that I'm not familiar with, or haven't seen before. Categories such as grasses or invertebrates can get complicated, there are a ridiculous amount of species and I can't keep them all straight.
One example: We study the discharging springs of the local aquifer, and there are endangered/threatened species (aquatic salamanders) that are endemic to some of these springs. When we visit a spring site we try to characterize everything that we can - geologic setting, spring parameters (discharge rate, water quality with handheld meters, etc), vegetation in the spring run and the surrounding area, and all critters utilizing the area (reptiles, amphibians, mammals, invertebrates). It can be a lot of stuff to ID sometimes. There are things we see regularly and have a good handle on, but these sites are all a little bit different/unique as far as what we find at each one. Invertebrates are particularly tricky for me, especially if you don't know the difference between the larval and adult stages. Literally hundreds of species we could potentially see at one of these sites.
We do the same kind of characterizations in caves too. And again here, there are invertebrate species out the wazoo. I've got a pretty good list of species that I have a good handle on, but inevitably there is almost always something I can't ID on a given survey. The caves are also tricky as there are a lot of surface species that utilize portions of the caves, but then there are the cave-adapted critters that only live in the caves. It's a bitch keeping it all straight sometimes hah
Have you been using it for something?
M
member 3289
Guest
Just as a hobby to research and document invasive and native species. Florida is the world capital for invasive reptiles and amphibians, so it's interesting to see just what we have and how widespread certain species are.
Reptile invasions seem unending. All or nearly all are damaging to ecosystems. A week-long freeze would take care of half of them. Unfortunately we haven't had one of those since 2010.
Fingers crossed for the coming winter.
One of the biologists I work with spent 10 years working in FLA, some of the stories he's told me are crazy. Habitats/ecosystems have been completely altered/destroyed in a relatively short time. It makes protecting endangered or threatened species even more difficult and challenging.
Maybe you can pray to Jesus-Jorge Masvidal and the Soldier of God for a good long freeze?