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Obstructions
Some recent obstructions remind me not to complain too much about that
annoying traffic light on my daily ride. Most them expand in Explorer if you click on the lower right. None of them are squirrels or dogs. Absolutely limp, motionless, and hoping that it won't be noticed, stretched across the path: http://i11.tinypic.com/52fvkno.jpg Obviously, it _was_ noticed, but my first attempt at one-handed photography is embarrassingly fuzzy: http://i15.tinypic.com/4utq8mh.jpg This unharmed idiot was sunbathing on the path a few days later. The one-handed focus is better, but a more intelligent photographer would have checked that his automatic shutter had opened all the way: http://i15.tinypic.com/6ccz2iw.jpg Another unharmed idiot, caught a few minutes later, also sunbathing on the path: http://i10.tinypic.com/673ty4n.jpg This poor foot-long devil was still alive, but couldn't rattle, coil, crawl, or hiss, so I had to put it out of its misery. (Handling this kind is foolish--most fatal bites in the U.S. involve the head or neck and a bizarre religious belief that rattlers won't resent handling.) At first I thought that a car had hit it, but it was almost undamaged. The fatal wound, an ugly, unseen gash on the far side of its neck, probably came from a beak: http://i13.tinypic.com/53rtreu.jpg These two camera hogs were too big for one-handed photography. The first is about three feet long, the second about four feet long: http://i6.tinypic.com/4ztygba.jpg http://i18.tinypic.com/4xqogfs.jpg This nitwit was playing why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road, as they often do, and finally ran over my shoe. They have a disconcerting habit of near-sightedly charging at you instead of fleeing: http://i16.tinypic.com/5z6l5y8.jpg Here's his little brother, next to a bottle of bug repellant: http://i9.tinypic.com/4uxcfa1.jpg These three adults just stood there, while the two recently born kids ran happily back and forth past them. The second kid is just visible between the middle and right hand adults: http://i13.tinypic.com/6g1xe1s.jpg One kid has already zoomed past the left edge of the picture. The other is following: http://i14.tinypic.com/5z20k09.jpg If you look closely, you can see the other kid, now running back the other way, its head just past its sibling's tail: http://i7.tinypic.com/4muhbbl.jpg And now it's raced back the other way, past all three adults: http://i7.tinypic.com/4yhvh42.jpg These two versions of four horns have already been posted, but you might as well see them again if you've browsed this far: http://i8.tinypic.com/4yjyjvn.jpg http://i7.tinypic.com/4y7cbgx.jpg Finally, here's about ten pounds of expectant mother, a bit bigger than a bike helmet. Inflamed by a thunderstorm, she foolishly dug a nest this afternoon at the edge of a sandy but poorly drained two-rut road, fifteen feet from her marsh: http://i12.tinypic.com/6gxpi1g.jpg Tails are often broken or truncated, but this tail is pristine, ready for the show ring. (Yes, I once kept them as pets, but no, there are no formal best-of-show competitions.) http://i13.tinypic.com/4zvf9nb.jpg Excellent shell, little moss, no leeches, no holes: http://i17.tinypic.com/6434ia9.jpg The tail has been moved to one side to show to advantage, while the eye catches the camera flash: http://i8.tinypic.com/5y9huds.jpg Cheers, Carl Fogel |
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