Category Archives: Nature Videos

What the hell is that?

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I love taking photographs and videos.  Of what?  Whatever.  Everything.  The slightest opportunity.  Even what others might describe as nothing.  Nature abounds with beauty and wonder, so it’s never difficult to find a subject.  Clouds and the patterns they form, The Kids, every insect wandering through my field of vision, wildlife transformed into every conceivable shape and size, plants both unexpected and mundane, the lake, weather’s many faces, plus a myriad of other sources spanning the pedestrian to the exquisite.  Hence the following.

It’s a simple question: What the hell is that?  I ask myself this very thing nearly every time it rains.  It is then a creature emerges from the darkness (having rarely been seen in any amount of daylight) that seems to be a leech yet does not live in water.  Sure, it looks like a worm of some kind, or perhaps a slim species of slug, but it doesn’t move like either of those.  It moves like a leech, like a creature hunting for something, a beast that lifts its head to look about and decide on direction, a slithering wet something that intrigues me to no end.

Let me apologize in advance for the quality of both the photos and the video.  As I said, it only comes out right after it rains and water reflects and refracts light in ways that greatly diminish visibility.  Likewise, it’s almost always dark when it appears.  It’s for these reasons I can’t offer something better.

Anyway, on to the presentation.

The slimy beast on my patio (143_4380)

In that photo, as in all the others to follow, its head is on the right and its ass is on the left.

One might easily say it looks like a gross example of unfamiliar excrement left behind as a gift from some hateful animal passing through these parts.  One would not be too far off in describing the slimy monster were it not for the fact that it moves on its own, and it reacts to my presence.  For instance, I tested it by putting my hand down in its path.  When it reached me, it briefly investigated my finger before lifting its head and looking over it, and then it turned and worked its way around the obstacle.

Another photo of the slimy beast on my patio (143_4379)

I wish environmental factors had not conspired to make it so difficult to see.  Nevertheless, here’s a brief video of it moving about.  If you watch closely (on the right side of the film) you can see the way it moves its head about in very un-wormlike ways, and certainly not like any slug I’ve ever seen.  Of note on the video: because it was so dark and wet when I captured this, I was forced to lighten each video format it to make them it at least somewhat presentable; this has unfortunately diminished their its quality., and that is especially true with the WMV file (again… damn Microsoft crap).  Also note the AVI file is not the raw video originally captured since it too was lightened.

I’ve seen only one of these small mysteries at any one time, but I suspect there are more living in the immediate area.  I say that because I’ve seen them in different locations around the patio on the same day and within only minutes of each other.  Because that would be insufficient time for one of them to move that distance, I can only surmise they are scattered about.

One more of the slimy beast on my patio (143_4377)

Regrettably, our drought seems to have impacted these unknowns.  The small amount of rain we’ve received in the last month or so has not prompted them to make an appearance.  I suspect they either died from lack of water, moved on to wetter areas (closer to the surrounding creeks or the lake itself), or are hibernating in some way until regular amounts of precipitation return to North Texas.

Irrespective of their present disposition, they are a cool oddity I’d like to identify if possible.  I’m still working on that.  Hopefully, I’ll see them again.

[Update] I have since identified this as a blue planarian (Caenoplana coerulea).

I’m SOOOOO scared

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Jenny and I spoke several weeks ago about how familiar I was growing with the individual animals who regularly grace me with their presence.  Whether discussing raccoons or opossums or cats or armadillos or squirrels or whatever, the more I watch the various creatures that come through these parts, the more I am able to recognize them based on both physical and non-physical traits.  I’ve been amazed, in fact, by the diversity of personalities I see.

There are those who care very little about my presence, those who distrust me completely but tolerate my presence so long as there’s food, and even those who totally freak out and can’t stand to be around me (I try not to take it personally).  There are those who ask me for food, those who have no clue where it comes from even if they’re standing right there when I put it out, and those who are sure I’m trying to poison them with the edible trinkets.  I could go on.

Whether it’s the newly discovered five-baby nursery of raccoons small enough to walk through the fence without effort or any number of their older and bigger cousins, or it’s the various baby and adult opossums coming through, or it’s the really big nine-banded armadillo who marches uncaringly through the world as though he owns everything, or some other part of the wildlife menagerie that is now so common here, I day by day grow more capable of recognizing the individuals and predicting successfully what to expect from them.  It’s more than entertaining; it’s amazing.

I said all of that to introduce this little guy.  He’s one of the many squirrels I’ve induced to visit me regularly.  There are some of these “tree rats” who know I feed them and come to the fence and practically beg for something to eat.  In fact, at least one of them has taken almonds directly out of my hand.  There are others who will move away to a safe distance while I put treats on the ground.  There are even some who totally freak out and run like idiots to whatever cover they can find.  This video is of one that fits in the last group.

I can’t say I’ve recognized this squirrel’s gender.  Some are obvious.  Some are less obvious.  Some, like this one, make it pretty much impossible to distinguish their gender since they always keep me at an angle that makes identification impossible.  Despite not knowing which way it swings, I do know it sees me as a major threat.  It reacts to my presence the same way all squirrels react to a cat or other predator.  It’s amusing; the little bastard runs to the tree and begins barking at me as a warning that it sees me, isn’t fooled into a false sense of security, and is willing to warn its brethren.  I, of course, am to be petrified by this display.  All the barking and other squirrel noises, all the tail waving, and all the running up and down the tree to make certain I realize his advantage, and you can no doubt tell how absolutely terrified I must be.  And sometimes he does this because he sees me through the window.

As I said, “I’m SOOOOO scared.”

Do let me in advance apologize for the quality of the sound.  I did not realize until after I recorded this that I was holding the camera with one of my fingers over the microphone.  Oh well.  Just turn it up a bit to hear the little rebel as he tells me how it is.

[eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger); I repeat myself: the WMV sucks in both video and audio quality; oh well]

We desperately need a lot more of this

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Portions of North Texas are now three feet (one meter) behind on precipitation for the past 24 months.  The drought in this area is critical, as is the fire danger, and yet El Paso and other portions of West Texas continue suffering devastating floods at the hands of the monsoonal flow.  This state is really getting its butt kicked by the weather.

Regrettably, even significant thunderstorms are nothing more than light bandages on a gaping wound.  As many climatologists and meteorologists have made clear, it will take a tropical system — a hurricane if we’re lucky — to really break the drought, and only then if it brings to North Texas drenching rainfall.  We must honestly hope for dangerous flooding in order to recover even partially.  Area lakes are suffering as closures become more common, and some are nearing 20 foot (6 meter) deficits.  Fresh water is a growing concern.  Long term forecasts show continuing lack of appreciable precipitation and higher than normal temperatures.  To abuse a cliché even though I loathe hearing them, for us, there’s no hope in sight.

Here’s a brief video of a thunderstorm as it moved through a wee bit earlier today.  With a record setting heat wave this year and the last several weeks nothing less than 80°F (27°C) at night and well over 100°F (38°C) during the day, and that representing just a portion of the awful heat we’ve endured since April, the cool refresh of a thunderstorm in the middle of the afternoon is a welcome respite.  We’ll take more, please.  A lot more.  We are expecting torrential downpours overnight.  Again, we’ll take as much as we can get.

Don’t expect much from this.  It’s simple.  With thunder rolling in the background, a steady rain falls on the canvas of the bushes that surround my patio.  I can’t make clear how exciting that visual is for those of us living in this hell.

An entertaining side effect of this is how these brief showers cause some of the birdseed to take root and grow.  What sprouts doesn’t last long.  Within a week, the little plants wither and die under the onslaught of the burning sun and lack of water.

[let me say yet again how degraded the WMV file appears to be compared to the MOV and AVI formats; yes, the AVI file is the original (raw) data, so it should be better than the other two, but so much of the clarity, color, and sound depth is lost in the WMV file compared to the other two; not only does its color seem washed out, but the thunder is almost laughable compared to the others; it’s really a pitiful comparison that one would hope embarrasses Microsoft, yet it does not]

Out for a casual stroll

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During a recent walk at the lake, I spotted a great egret (Ardea alba) strolling through the shallows searching for a meal.  As I watched the wading bird, various ducks crossed its path at various times, and eventually I spied a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in the distance who likewise was searching for food.  This video starts with the egret, includes some ducks in the middle, and ends with the egret in the foreground and the heron in the background.  Oh, and the damned plane flying overhead that remains heard but not seen.  Argh.

Also notice the great blue heron in the background catches and eats something immediately following his appearance.  It was unexpected by me as I didn’t even know he was there, so you can’t see much detail other than the end of the hunt, the quick catch, the head thrown back to accommodate swallowing, and the return to a lazy afternoon fishing.

This video is intended to lower your blood pressure.  It works as well for me when I watch it as it did when I was filming it.  Very casual.  No hurry at all.  Just relaxing…

[I apologize for the video quality based on my distance from the birds; I was out on the pier next to where I live; the only other option was to be on the shore, which is further away; I could have stripped down and gone into the water, I suppose, but a bleached white ape jumping into the lake would not have been conducive to keeping the birds calm — or in position]

You’re just jealous of my fluffy tail

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Mockingbirds are violent.  They chase and attack whatever threats violate their territory (such as red-tailed hawks, other mockingbirds, and cats [and, collaterally, people, although I can’t guarantee they don’t attack humans directly under the right circumstances]).

I stood outside today watching a squirrel get smacked around by a mockingbird.  I realize the birds have a nest in the tree out here, and I realize squirrels pose a risk to the nest from simple carelessness.  Still, the birds attack the squirrels regardless of where they are and whether or not they’re even close to a nest.  I guess they have the same mean streak blue jays have.

This is the same species of mockingbird seen in this post: Mimus polyglottos, or the northern mockingbird.  (As a side note for those who don’t read Latin, that scientific name is equivalent to “many-tongued mimic”, an appropriate name for a bird that can learn the songs of more than three dozen other species for inclusion in their own calls.)  These avian warriors are the state bird of Texas (calling into question the “northern” thing).  You’ll see the bird attack the squirrel twice, and twice you’ll see the squirrel weather the storm with aplomb followed immediately by returning to lunch.  He has his priorities right, eh?

To make it interesting, the graphic I used below is a slow-motion version of one of the hits.  I was enthralled with it because the squirrel starts to react before the bird even arrives (watch his tail).  This happens the second time he’s hit as well.  Notice it’s only the bird making noise when he hits the squirrel.

And right after the bird hits him?  Well, the “tree rat” goes back to munching on the seeds and nuts I’d tossed out there for his kind and the birds.

I tried to get a shot of the bird near the end of the video.  You see a quick glimpse of him sitting on the fence quite near to me.  As soon as the camera is on him, he flies away (chicken!).

The video is 2:16 (two minutes sixteen seconds).  The image links to the WMV version and is 22.8 MB.  You can also see the AVI version (33.4 MB) here.  You can see the MOV version (28.2 MB) here.  Finally, you can see the MPEG4 version (6.3 MB) here (trust me, it’s not worth it).

Slow-motion of a mockingbird attacking a squirrel while he tries to eat

And yes, the bird continued to torment the squirrel for quite some time, and as the video infers, he was hitting him every two minutes or so.  Cranky bastard.

For those with a few minutes and the interest to do so, I’d appreciate some feedback on the WMV, MOV and AVI versions.  I’m trying to figure out which format I should go with for videos here.  I prefer MOV because I have more control over the video rendering, but I know WMV has a much larger audience (still, I prefer not to support MS with that silliness).  AVI and MPEG4 are industry standards and are generally supported on all platforms.  The former is the raw camera data and generally is a very large file (no compression), and the latter uses great but significantly lossy compression (so the quality plummets).  Anyway, are there preferences?  Does anyone see a difference that would warrant one format over another?  Any other comments?