Maui time (Pictures)

[Turd_Ferguson]

I thought spiders were supposed to have eight legs. Nice pics.

 

[Codeman]

The complete series of Planet Earth was released last week:

DVDEmpire
WallyWorld

 

[McGizmo]

Tx,

With family and friends, I got to watch the Planet Earth series. Very cool and thank you so much!!!

I have some Maui Snippets to add here and I will try to keep the post short.

In regards to my feathered friends, I built a couple rock towers a month or so back for the back yard. One is a small lava rock tower that has a 1/4" solid Ti rod imbedded in a large rock in a terrace wall. The large rock tower has a foundation of a 6' long Ti tube that is 7/8" in od and heavy wall thickness. I buried the tube 2' deep into the hard red clay ground. I stacked some coral rocks that had been through drilled over this tubing. The tower will wiggle in heavy winds or when bumped but appears to be quite stable and earthquake proof. I used some diamond grit tools to scoop out a dish on the top of the top rock with plans for hosting bird seed. I also found that the existing nooks and crannies and pukas in the coral rocks would hold bird seed. The Javas took no time in adapting to their high rise feeder:

The neighborhood cats visit but have not ben successful in catching a bird off guard.

***************

When my wife and stepson and his GF were here, at the beginning of the week, we went to Kapalua Bay to snorkle a couple times. On a previous visit while chasing an octopus (tako) I discovered that the loose rocks in the sandy bottom were shelter for numerous brittle stars which the local fish just love!!! Well on one of the trips there this time, I decided to take my camera because I noticed you could get very close to some of the fish, especially some puffers, when there was brittle stars on the menu! I found I could offer up a brittle star with one hand while taking a pic with the other:

I ended up catching the stars and handing them to family and friends so they could feed the fish.

Although the puffers were the most agressive fish and most inclined to swim up for food, others were nearby and partook in the frenzy.

There was one puffer we recognized that was on my heels both days and followed me where ever I went.

Well in one star hunt, I overturned a rock and exposed to large stars. I grabbed the first with my right hand and as I went in with my left hand for the second one, this puffer dove in but I got there first. Oops! The puffer clamped down on my index finger that had just moved over the brittle star. Ouch!!!

I had been hearing the puffer's teeth crunch the brittle stars and now that crunch was felt as I think one of the teeth may have even hit bone. Duh!!

I have since googled puffer fish and read on a few sites where they should not be hand fed because their teeth are capable of removing a finger. I believe it! Dang! If one of these were to discover they liked the taste of human flesh, it could be a real problem!! Under one rock was a small sea urchin and I carefuly held it as I took it topsides to show my wife. Half way up, my puffer friend darted in and chomped half if it right off, spines and all!

Only in Kapalua Bay have I seen puffers so willing to get close to swimmers and I suspect that swimmers have been feeding these guys; perhaps with frozen peas.

*******

Just last night I took a shower outside and after dark. There is no moon and the LD lighting I have on is enough to see by but not real bright. I was standing on the shower deck drying off when I caught a quick movement of something on the deck a foot or two away from my bare feet (hell, my bare body!!) What ever it was it was very quick and moved from the "trex" deck to the grass real quick! I grabbed the PD Mule flashlight that I keep at the shower and lit up the grass. Centipede!!

I went into the house and grabbed the camera and on second thought, put some shorts on (

) and grabbed another flashlight and went back to the scene. The centipede was still there and moving around looking for a place to burrough under the grass. I laid a light down in its path hoping it would crawl over it. Instead, it crawled under it.

In the pic above, you can see the head of the centipede to the left of the flashlight. The inset has a better image. As luck would have it, a common centipede can be seen on the grass to the left of the light's clip. This is a good example of the relative size difference!! These centipedes can move alarmingly fast and before I got carried away trying to get pics that I couldn't see well due to lack of reading glasses, I realized my number one priority was to go get the knife I keep handy and remove the threat of this intruder from my "turf". I left the head and two sections of this centipede in the grass for the clean up crew. The ants are still working on it today as I type. I am really inclined to a live and let live attitude but I have my work ahead of me when it comes to these centipedes!! There is a gecko missing its tail who has taken up residence in the master bath/ bedroom for the last 6 weeks and it seems to be catching enough bugs to keep from looking too skiny. I have named it stumpy and instead of trying to relocate it outside where it could be more active in the food chain, I am hoping it will have a good life inside with me.

There is a cute little baby toad that emerges from a sprinkler hole in the deck every night and I may try to get a shot of it with the camera. At some point it will be too large to squeeze through the small hole and I hope it is smart enough to figure that out!!

Well wife, family and friends have returned to CA for the time being and it's just me and the critters here.

 

[Sigman]

Talk about "being in touch" with the locals (OOOoooouch!!!)!

Always enjoy your pics & associated narratives Don! Continued thanks for the treats!

 

[McGizmo]

Thanks Sigman. I have been on the rear deck this morning on the laptop; composing the post above as well as visiting the forum. I needed to get up and go inside to "pay for the coffee" and there in bright daylight (11:30 AM local time) was the baby toad sticking out of the puka in the deck!! Inside I went, intent on taking a quick leak and grabbing the camera. Up on the ceiling in the bathroom was stumpy. Now toads and house geckos are nocturnal critters so what the heck!?! Well two easy shots so I took them:

Stumpy is often on site there during the day but this was a first for the toad! I used a flash on the toad due to harsh back lighting and after the picture, the toad squirmed back into his den. You can see that he is already broader than the hole through the deck board. Just under the board is a sprinkler head that pops up above the deck when it's on. I worry that the toad may be on the way in or out at 5 AM when the sprinkler comes on!! Dang, he could get hole punched!!

 

[Codeman]

Great pics as usual.

I had a gecko that was missing a part of it's tail when I was in Saudi Arabia. They were considered good luck, so I welcomed him and his appetite for insects. At least, until the day I was sitting on the toilet and felt something crawl across my, uh, backside. I think I broke the sound barrier jumping up. A baby gecko must have been hanging out on the underside of the toilet seat, so when I sat down, he had new ground to explore.

Note to Don - check the seat before you sit down!

 

[McGizmo]

Codeman,

Been there!

Baby geckos show up in the darndest places!!!

Two weeks ago my wife and I were at airport beach. We had just got there and we were talking to some friends who are always there. I wear a speedo suit when I swim because it is much less drag in the water and besides, I think it excites Darell! Anyway I am standing there on the beach in my speedo when all of a sudden, something bites me on the scrotum!! We are talking tweezer pinch! I jumped and hand went to crotch but the moment passed. Needless to say though my wife and the guys on the beach enjoyed this. A couple minutes go by and then a major pinch on my butt!! Oi! That was enough! Without consideration I turned my back to my wife pulled down the back side of the speedos and implored her to find that damn bug! She saw something but it jumped off my *** and disappeared in the grass before she could see what it was. I have transported small shells in the back of my speedo and discovered a couple times that the shells were actually occupied when the hermit crab would grab some a$$. This bite was much more intense! Needless to say, my impromto moon on the beach did not go unnoticed by others and laughter could be heard from a number of locations. One of the guys we were talking to made sure that everyone heard this particular story.

I guess my point is not only do you want to check under the seat but best check inside the garments as well!!

Lots of critters like shoes but I only wear slippers. After that experience, I have taken to viewing shirts and shorts as well for freeloaders......

 

[BVH]

Don, I really enjoy this thread and your posts/pics in it!

 

[Groundhog66]

Great stuff Don, keep it coming.:twothumbs



Tim

 

[Codeman]

...One of the guys we were talking to made sure that everyone heard this particular story.

......

And now the whole world knows!

May I suggest one of these nice Kangaroo scrotum pouches from Art of the Hide?

It's thin enough that it shouldn't leave any "pouch lines" with the Speedo's, but it's tough enough to protect things for ya! :naughty:

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

I remember when you bought that Codey! Looks like his right one hung lower... :laughing:

 

[McGizmo]

Guys,

With one self portrait I took modeling the BananaShroud, I can put this thread on its ear and stop the discussion in the direction it is presently taking!
Trust my judgment here, you don't want to go there!

 

[tdurand]

Don-
After reading your story on the puffer fish encounters, I can't help but dwell on the warped poetic beauty that your life would have if the fish had gotten it's intended meal. Imagine this;

Titanium flashlight building, existential naturalist moves to Hawaii to make flashlights and become closer to Mother Earth. While there, uses his skills to become a world renowed Ti flashlight master craftsman in between daily(weekly?) jaunts to the ocean, where he communes with the power of fluid dynamics, while simultaneously indulging in photographic escapades. Tragically, during one said escapade he encounters a hungry local critter which leaves our subject with one less digit. Soon after, with help from his friends, it dawns on him to use his metal mastering skills to begin crafting a titanium replacement for said lost digit. And once completed this titanium super digit allows him to encounter many more (no longer dangerous) sea fairing creatures that he so loves enjoying spending time with.

Cue the Steve Austin Six Million Dollar Man theme music
(including the cool running sound effect that could play when "The Don" runs to dive into the water and while installing batteries in my Mule light)
During the credits we could have a behind-the-scenes making of extra footage thing showing how your finger really isn't gone but the viwers are fooled with a green-screen plaster cast and the post production crew at ILM actually adds the CG titanium finger afterwards.

I think I'm gonna pitch this as a pilot TV show to CBS. It could be ready for the fall schedule. I'd put it right between 60 Minutes and Cold Case.

T









Gosh I'm bored waiting for my Mule. Ya think?

 

[TxTroubleMaker]

Don,
Glad to hear that you all enjoyed the DVD's, it really is a great series.

 

[Codeman]

BananaShroud was all I needed to hear to know that I don't want to go there!

How's you finger doing? That bite looked nasty.

 

[McGizmo]

Finger still looks like the pic but it doesn't hurt at all and I think it is well on the mend. We went to the beach that day in my son's rental car and consequently I didn't have access to hydrogen peroxide until I got back home. When I did get home, I broke away all the clotting and got the blood to flow again and then douched the wound with the hydrogen peroxide. I followed up numerous times after that. Staph is in the air and water over here and I have been informed and come to believe that any cut or open wound needs to be flushed with the hydrogen peroxide liberally to ward off infection. With coral cuts especially!! One time I had some tiny abrasions on my knee from coral and didn't bother with treating them. Within a week there was swelling and infection and I had to take antibiotics.

OT but it would be interesting to have a thread in the cafe about first aid tools and equipment and gear. I used to help people get set up for long term crusing on sail boats and the first aid kit and drugs were a very important consideration! Hundreds of miles from land and a bad bone break or nasty laceration had to be dealt with by those at hand and often by the injured person themself! I recall in a single handed race around the world where one guy had to perform minor surgery on himself and stitch himself up!

Back to the puffer and some of his friends, many visitors to the islands don't realize that the beautiful coarse sand beaches they enjoy are the result, to a great extent of the puffers and parrot fish and others poop! I have heard that a parrot fish can produce a ton of coral sand anually. Strong surf and wave action breaks up coral and the shells of animals who have died and combined with fish poop give us the beaches!

Those beautiful beaches are bones and poop.

By the way, the little toad came out of his hidy hole again later in the day yesterday and disappeared under the house via a different access route. I believe yesterday was the day he chose to find new shelter. Cool! Last night, I spoted him perched and waiting for prey up on one of the rocks in the rock terrace wall you can see in the pic above. I also spotted a full size toad near it. I think my back yard is finally green enough with sufficient ground cover and moisture to support some of these bufos. Up to this time I had only seen a toad twice in the yard and I missed seeing these goofy guys! With a flashlight, their eyes reflect back like a pair of white diamonds.

EDIT: Well Duh!! In regards to a first aid kit, I just noticed THIS Thread!

 

[McGizmo]

It's spring time here and there will be toad, gecko, skink, bird, critter and fish keikis showing up as summer comes on. For the most part, they will just show up in all of their cute and playful glory. However there is a group of local lounge lizards who can't afford a room and their keikis come as no surprise given their public coupling and displays of amour!

 

[nakahoshi]

I thought this was a family forum

Great pictures as always
-bobby

 

[McGizmo]

Bobby,
It is a family forum; both functional and dysfunctional! :nana:

I posted the following moon rainbow as well as moon over sun generated rainbow on EDCF during the CPF down time:

I ran across the Madagascar gecko this weekend in the back yard and it looks healthy and like it has grown some. The little toad now comes out from under the deck in a new spot and the last three nights, between 7:10 and 7:20, it hops out from hiding and makes a bee line to the ground cover under the Arica palms. It's like clock work!

There is a red cardinal that I might have mentioned before. I got a shot of it on the fence just as its mate was taking flight. Had I been quicker with the camera, I would have caught these love birds in a compromising position much like the anoles above. This was a few months back. Last week, a fat rolly poly bird flailed into the back yard and made a crash landing on one of the banana leaves. It kept slipping down the leaf and would catch the very edge and hang like a bat. It would flutter its wings like crazy and scoot back up the leaf half way and try to hang on. At times its wings were spread and flat on the leaf, making it look like a giant moth. It had an insistant chirp much like the cardinal's and when the red daddy showed up in the yard watching this bird, I figured out what was what.

The chick couldn't get a good perch on the banana leaf and it struggled like crazy but ultimately fell about 6 feet into the ground cover. I watched for it to emerge but it didn't. It was getting on dusk and the father would fly back into the yard obviously looking for it. I went out and lifted up the leaves of the ground cover and found the chick quietly shaking underneath. I picked it up and it let out a cry that brought dad over immediately. I placed it up high in a branch in the pine tree and after some time, it again took to erratic flight and left the yard.

If I didn't know better, I would guess that this chick and at least another sibling left their nest prematurely for some reason. I could hear it in following days as well as another that was coming from a different yard and the dad (red) visits my yard for bird seed often during the day and heads off to feed the kids. I haven't seen the female in about a week and hope she didn't succumb victim to one of the local cats! I have seen a couple of the javas get nabbed by this one black cat that now comes hunting in my yard every day. Regardless, red has his work cut out for him!!

 

[Oddjob]

Don,
Always a pleasure to see your pics and read your posts!