Gordon Grice's Blog, page 64

Pythons Probably Aren't the Problem

The recent study that blamed imported pythons and boas for devastating local mammal species is weak science, according to experts quoted in this Reuters article.
Are pythons overrunning the Everglades? Some experts now say no | Reuters:

"Heflin criticizes the authors of the study for failing to fully investigate and dispose of other factors that could account for their observations, including a decade-long drought, cyclical population fluctuations, increased development and pollution."

Photo: The yellow anaconda, one of the large constrictors recently banned from import and interstate sale in the US. Alina Zienowicz/Creative Commons.

Animal Attack Movies: King Kong

King Kong (the original). 1933. 


Plot: Filmmakers sail to uncharted island, meet incredibly racist stereotypes. Said stereotypes try to sacrifice the ingenue to a giant gorilla, which is pretty much how I react when people invade my home. Gorilla gets in fights with prehistoric animals of various sorts. Eventually he goes to New York and gets in fights with modern gadgets like trains and aeroplanes. 


Attack Quotient: Among the highest of all movies. Whereas most films waste time with tedious set-ups between attacks, this rolls irresistibly from one antagonist to the next, and the giant gorilla is as likely to get attacked as the humans. 


Cheese Factor: Massive. The premise is obviously pure fantasy, but also, the acting is stagy and the dialog melodramatic. 


By all accounts, the most horrific scene in the film was the one where men are knocked into a crevasse, only to be devoured by giant spiders and other such pesky fellows. Audiences reacted so strongly that the filmmakers cut the scene. It was subsequently lost. Above, we have a recreation of it by Peter Jackson. 

Return of the Giant Blue Marlin

Here's a popular photo I showcased a while back and havewanted to show again. It's by writer, educator, and photographer Jon Schwartz, whose work appears here.
In 2010, Jon was covering a billfishing tournamentin Hawaii. He wasn't there to compete, but a line trawled from the press boathooked this 550-pound monster. If they could bring it alongside the boat, the crew meant to tag and release it. In a longbattle, the blue marlin rammed the boat and then went under it. A crewmanmanaged to bring it nearly to the surface, but the hook broke and it escaped.
(Jon is currently giving away a couple of his amazing photos onFacebook.)

Swallows' Nest

Photography by Dee Puett

Doe Attacked by Golden Eagle

This is a domesticated eagle, which probably means this shouldn't be taken as its usual behavior. The deer escaped by running under a fence. 

Doe attacked by golden eagle - Telegraph:
"The eagle amazed watchers by dive-bombing the deer and trying to fly off with it."

A Beast for Perseus

Think when we talk of horses, that you see themPrinting their proud hooves in the receiving Earth.William Shakespeare

Aphorisms from On HorsemanshipXenophon (431-354 BCE)
In the hour of danger, it is certain, the owner has to consign himself, life and limb, to the safekeeping of his horse. 
*The golden rule in dealing with a horse is never to approach him angrily.
*The hollow hoof rings like a cymbal against the solid earth.
*It is the long steady course rather than the frequent turn which tends to calm a horse.
*What a horse does under compulsion he does blindly, and his performance is no more beautiful than would be that of a dancer taught by whip and goad.*The majesty of men themselves is best discovered in the graceful handling of horses. *A prancing horse is a thing of beauty, a wonder and a marvel, riveting the gaze of all who see him, young and graybeards alike. So long as he displays his splendid action, I venture to predict, they will never turn their backs or weary of their gazing.




The RunawayRobert Frost
Once when the snow of the year was beginning to fall,We stopped by a mountain pasture to say, "Whose colt?"A little Morgan had one forefoot on the wall,The other curled at his breast. He dipped his headAnd snorted to us. And then we saw him bolt.We heard the miniature thunder where he fled,And we saw him, or thought we saw him, dim and gray,Like a shadow across instead of behind the flakes.The little fellow's afraid of the falling snow.He never saw it before. It isn't playWith the little fellow at all. He's running away.He wouldn't believe when his mother told him, 'Sakes,It's only weather.' He thought she didn't know!So this is something he has to bear aloneAnd now he comes again with a clatter of stone,He mounts the wall again with whited eyesAnd all his tail that isn't hair up straight.He shudders his coat as if to throw off flies."Whoever it is that leaves him out so late,When all other creatures have gone to stall and bin,Ought to be told to come and take him in."




from "The Horse Show"William Dean Howells
In all times the horse has been the supreme expression of aristocracy. They had distinction; they were patrician; they were swell. They felt it, they showed it, they rejoiced in it; and the most reluctant observer could not deny them the glory of blood, of birth, which the thoroughbred horse has expressed in all lands and ages. Their lordly port was a thing that no one could dispute, and for an aristocracy I suppose that they had a high average of intelligence, though there might be two minds about this. They made me think of mettled youths and haughty dames; they abashed the humble spirit of the beholder with the pride of their high-stepping, their curveting and caracoling, as they jingled in their shining harness around the long ring.




from "Evolution of the Horse"Thomas Huxley
Among the works of human ingenuity it cannot be said that there is any locomotive so perfectly adapted to its purposes, doing so much work with so small a quantity of fuel, as this machine of nature's manufacture—the horse. And, as a necessary consequence of any sort of perfection, of mechanical perfection as of others, you find that the horse is a beautiful creature, one of the most beautiful of all land animals. Look at the perfect balance of its form, and the rhythm and force of its action.




adapted from Henry VWilliam Shakespeare
I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns. Aha! He bounds from the Earth, as if his entrails were hares: the flying horse, the Pegasus with breath of fire. When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk. He trots the air; the Earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.
He's of the color of nutmeg and of the heat of ginger. It is a beast for Perseus; he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him; he is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts. It is the prince of palfreys, his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage.
The man hath no wit that cannot from the rising of the lark to the lodging of the lamb vary deserved praise on my palfrey; it is a theme as fluent as the sea. Turn the sands into eloquent tongues, and my horse is argument for them all. 'Tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and for a sovereign's sovereign to ride on, and for the world, familiar to us and unknown, to lay apart their particular functions, and wonder at him.


Photography by Wayne T. Allison

A Quiet Rattlesnake

Reader Bob Haynie photographed this rattlesnake near his home in Washington state. It was near some water Bob leaves out for birds. The snake was not aggressive and didn't even rattle as it retreated from Bob's presence--though its posture here does seem defensive. 

Bear Attack Leads Florida Woman to Her Dog

Interesting article on a Field and Stream blog. A stolen dog reunited with its owner because of a bear attack.
Bear Attack Leads Florida Woman to Stolen Champion Hound | Field & Stream:

"Despite the IVs, Hosker was able to identify George from the white markings on his chest. The irony: Had George not been injured, Rhodes probably would not have returned to the website and seen Hosker's ad. Rhodes said he had been hunting bear with George over the July 4 weekend. George, a "bay" dog who surrounds the game and barks to send the bear up a tree, was charged by the animal instead. "

Animal Attack Movies

Croconut asked me for my top ten animal attack movies. I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. For openers, though, there's Terror Is a Man, a 1959 take on The Island of Dr. Moreau. Beautiful photography and inventive direction more than compensate for a low budget and a slice of cheese. Grab some popcorn. Here's the whole movie:



More dangerous nature movies soon. 

Big Crocodile of Zimbabwe

Jessica pointed me to this impressive photo, which has apparently been circulating on the web for more than a year. At a glance, this Nile crocodile seems shockingly large. To get an idea of its true size, look just at the front row of people. That trick reveals that it's not really as long as dozens of people standing side by side. To my eye, it looks about fifteen people long. An article reprinted on Snopes.com mentions estimates of fifteen or sixteen feet, which is well within the normal range for a Nile croc. Some sources claim they can reach twenty feet. 


The article also mentions that this animal was shot because it was killing cattle.