Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Uroctonus mordax

(+12 insets!!) The White Rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland" is reading my mind with this quote: “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” It's long past due to post my picture today, eek! Having a house guest definitely makes schedules more difficult to keep, and so I'm behind but I hope you won't mind! :) We didn't end up going out today as planned because Steve's sister was under the weather. I was feeling cooped-up though so at about 2pm I popped on my rubber boots and knee pads, grabbed my camera and made a beeline straight up our steep hillside to the ridge line trail. From there I walked the half-mile or so to the trail's end and kept my eyes open as I walked along. I hoped that I might find the white/creamy yellow Oregon Fawn Lily. This little beauty can only be found near the end of the trail, far from our property. I knew I would probably strike out because these flowers are long past their blooming time but I couldn't help myself from trying to find one. Though I did find a few bedraggled Henderson's Fawn Lillies, I didn't find the creamy-colored ones. Boo. Well, when I took the pictures of the purple ones the other day, I knew that I should really to go find the yellow ones too. But it was late and about to rain and after that it didn't stop raining for days. It's ok though because I got some awesome pictures of these in the past. (I'll show my Oregon Fawn Lily pictures as insets!) I ended up spending a couple of hours up there just enjoying myself. I got pictures of so many things--flowers, a mushroom, huge burls on an oak tree, pine cones, curls of manzanita bark, beetles and a bee on flowers, different species of leaves glowing in the afternoon light, I even got a picture of a frog! It was a lovely, wonderful, peaceful adventure and I felt very much connected to the land. Pure bliss! There are two logs at the end of the trail which I always look under because they are so lucky for me. I found our California Mountain King Snake under one many years ago. I've found beetles and other insects, and I've found scorpions on many occasions! And so, when I lifted up one of the logs today, I was delighted to find a little scorpion huddled on the dirt and very much unimpressed with the blasting light accosting him. This darling little guy is a Northwest Forest Scorpion and measures about an inch long--very small! I've seen them more than twice that size but in any case, they are barely poisonous to humans. I think they are totally cool and wonderful! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get really good pictures because of where he was positioned but they are good enough to post. After taking pictures I carefully replaced the log…I think I heard him swearing at me for turning on the lights when he was trying to sleep! I don't blame him! :D (I've also included several insets of other pictures I've taken of these fascinating creatures for you to enjoy!) Pam, do you have scorpions where you live? I was totally amazed when I found the first one many years ago after lifting a log up to see what was underneath. I also thought all scorpions were really dangerous but they aren't. These guys are a "1" on a scale of 4 for dangerous. Now…once I was in Costa Rica…at about 2am I got up to use the bathroom and saw a shadow on the ground…turned on the light and HOLY EXPLETIVES, BATMAN, it was a 3" black scorpion on the floor, right where I would have walked!!! Can you say totally freaked out? We ushered the unwelcome guest out of our bungalow and checked regularly every night afterwards in the different places we stayed. YIKES! The only thing I found on your photo stream that looked menacing was a wood wasp picture you took. I'm glad it wasn't aggressive towards you, it sure looked nice on that lantana! Let us hope all is well for you today and I promise not to put a scorpion on your floor! *BIG HUGS*

In April I found a wonderful little Forest Scorpion and was able to take many pictures because this gentle fellow didn't run away. This is one of my favorite pictures because he looks like he's raising his claws and tail to yell, "OLÉ!!" (That would be Scorpion for "GET OUTA HERE KID, YOU'RE BOTHERING ME!!") :D I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! Janet's profile (sfhipchick) This image was taken in April, 2012.

Yesterday I posted a collage of creepy crawly critters I've found under rocks and logs I've looked under. Well, the other day I was on our hillside looking around, and I found some old logs. I carefully rolled one over...nothing there. After replacing the log, I went to the next one. Fully expecting to find nothing there, I lifted it onto its end and LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!! A SCORPION!!! *bounces up and down in glee* This docile little guy was sitting very still on a bed of decaying wood and I was free to take as many pictures as I wanted. I'm not afraid of these amazing creatures because I know they're not interested in hurting me unless I'm unlucky enough to step on one. Even then, I'd be concerned but I know the the odds are the sting would only be something like a bee sting, or at worst, like a very bad hornet sting. Not fun at all, but not deadly either. However, I treat animals like this with great respect, and I felt so lucky to see this awesome predator! The Northwest Forest Scorpion, also known as the California Scorpion, is native to the Pacific Northwest, and is the most common scorpion in Oregon. These are very unaggressive as scorpions go, and live in rotting logs and other humid places. They eat small insects and prefer to use their pincers to kill their prey, not their stingers. Their venom is considered to be a "1" on a scale of "1-5". This image was taken in April, 2012. Explored on April 13th, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] The other day I posted a picture of a scorpion that I found under a log on our hillside, but it wasn't the only image I took! I thought it would be interesting to show closeups of different parts and explain what each one is! Upper Left: This is a face only a mother could love, and looks like a Predator's mouth to me! That bump on its head are two eyes, and there are two more eyes above its mouth to the left and right! The mouth is called a chelicera and has little finger-like appendages to pull food in and chew it up! Upper Right: The end of a scorpion's tail is a modified segment called a "telson", which contains the venom gland. Lower Left: This is one of a scorpion's two claws (chelae), also called pincers. They serve many different purposes, from defense to mating, and some scorpions like this one, prefer to kill their prey by using their pincers. Lower Right: This is an overall view of the gentle Northwest Forest Scorpion. If you would like to see a detailed image of scorpion anatomy, you can find one here: Scorpion Anatomy If you would like more information about scorpions, Wiki has a great page here:: Wiki: Scorpion This image was taken in April, 2012.

Today it was very cold and windy and those are conditions I really can't stand. But I thought I could just walk up onto our hillside for a bit of exploration and the trees would act as a windbreak. As I was headed that way, I saw some logs and couldn't resist carefully rolling them over to see if there was anything underneath. Log 1: Nothing...and I rolled it carefully back. Log 2: Drat...a little bug that scurried away...and I rolled it back into its original position. And then, Log 3: JACKPOT!! Standing motionless and in a state of hibernation was this beautiful Northwest Forest Scorpion!! I discovered one last April and since then have found others when looking carefully under logs. Although they are poisonous, they aren't terribly venomous, but I am always extremely respectful of all the animals that I am lucky enough to find on my adventures. This one never moved as I quietly took my pictures and then very carefully replaced the log exactly as I had found it. Chanakya (c. 370–283 BCE) was an Indian teacher, philosopher and royal advisor. Wikipedia: Chanakya