Moving to the Moo Ban - Permanently????

[stroller]

This devilish thing appeared under one of my tomato starter pots. Evil looking sucker with vicious looking pincers and a tail that indicates ouch!

so what actually is this?

Btw, no offense to your efforts, but give me a French baguette anytime instead of a yank grinder roll.

[friscofrankie]

so what actually is this?

Some kinda scorpion. found sme pictures when researching the scorpions in my house. The whip-like tail indicates it's venom is not very strong and it uses it's claws for gathering food. I least this is what I read. I wouldn;t poke it to find out.

[El Gibbon]

This devilish thing appeared under one of my tomato starter pots. Evil looking sucker with vicious looking pincers and a tail that indicates ouch!

so what actually is this?

Btw, no offense to your efforts, but give me a French baguette anytime instead of a yank grinder roll.

I was hoping someone on here would know. FF looks like he's at least seen some info on it. None of the folks around here had a name for it other than '..that's not good .... to eat'

No offense taken re. the bun and baguette. One question though when using a baguette. How much crap can you load into it and still manage to eat it?????

E. G.

[El Gibbon]

FF got me going on this one so went and spent some time on the net and found ... whatsthatbug.com a very interesting site.

It is a Whipscorpion in the order Uropygi. They have a long whiplike tail instead of a stinger. They have no venom so are not harmful to people. We have a single species in the U.S. that is known as a Vinegarone. Most species in this order can secrete acetic acid, the mild acid found in vinegar, and this lead to the common name. Since they ravenously eat cockroaches and other insects, they are beneficial, and your killing spree amounts to unnecessary carnage.


During the search I came across some interesting 'facts'. Scorpions in Thailand have very weak venom. No more serious than a bee or wasp sting, unless of course your allergic to bees and wasps.

Recommended first-aid is to clean thoroughly and disinfect. Goes against the standard Thai treatment which is, kill the bugger and squeeze the shit (literally) out of him and spread on the wound. I have seen this practiced

E. G.

[Thetyim]

Since they ravenously eat cockroaches and other insects

Now thats very interesting. I wonder if vinegar would deter cockroaches.

Scorpions in Thailand have very weak venom. No more serious than a bee or wasp sting

Compared to Ozzie scorpions yes, but they still pack a nasty sting.
Most websites advise seeking medical attention if stung.
A friend of mine was stung on a finger tip by a baby scorpion about half an inch long and he couldn't use his arm for 3 days.

[William]

^given all these nasties: why do we keep our shoes outside?

[friscofrankie]

The scorpions I found in my house have weak-assed little pincers and thick, dangerous looking tails. I have found two. Both inside. both of them stung the hell out of the stick I used to kill them. I now check my shoes (OK, closed toe sandals) every time before putting them on if they're kept inside or out.

[stroller]

A friend of mine was stung on a finger tip by a baby scorpion about half an inch long and he couldn't use his arm for 3 days.

This sounds more like the pinky/white variety, not a "baby" who live under dead wood, they are the most poisonous in Thailand.

[El Gibbon]

Ms E. G. has been hit twice within the last 10 days. Both times she used the mentioned 'Thai treatment' and had no soreness after about 24 hours. First few hours they were painful to the touch... who knows?

Not like the little white that nailed me in the Arizona desert. Could hardly lift my arm for two days. The medic was johnny on the spot and put some antiseptic on it and gave me a shot.

Climate and food sources probably have a lot to do with strength of venom.

E. G.

[El Gibbon]

Ever since we arrived here I've noted a beautiful little creature that buzzes around the house on occasion. I've tried and tried to grab a photo of this bugger for months. Today, finally one hung around long enough for me to get camera and try and shoot some 'on-the-fly' pics. Yep, some are blurry but imagine my fat ass running around the yard trying to hold the camera steady and getting shots of this busy little flyer... The Ms was in histerics, but, I did finally capture this guy.



I was interested in getting some detail of the paddle like tail that make this baby distinctive. The red coloring indicates to the birds it is poisonous to them. This swallow tail, Pachliopta aristolochiae, gets if poisoness from eating pipe vines which have a fair amount of carcinogens in them.



On the above shot you can make out the odd tail that makes this butterfly look so bulky when flying around.



The red body, indicating poison and the tails are visible here although the detial is a litt blurred.




Remember this mormon I had photo'd earlier? Looks pretty similar in coloring doesn't it. Initially I thought they were the same butterfly until I noted the longer tail on the swallow. Turns out that this female mormon is a mimic of the rose swallowtail. The red coloring warns off the predetory birds thinking it is a swallow tail.

Interesting what you see here when your eyes are open.

E. G.

[El Gibbon]

Yesterday as I was going out for a smoke I noted a rather large centiped crawling across the carport. It was big, about 4 inches, black and fat.

Deciding I needed a photo I went back inside to grab the camera. When I came out I was just in time to see the "slaughter at El Gibbon's". A blurr came out of the hedge next to the driveway, scarffed up Mr. centipede and basically swallowed him whole.

I've run across these little critters before I believe they are called skinks or skenks, they are a common lizard here and have a noticeable ridge along the spine. I think the Thais refer to them as Fence Lizards.

Anyway I went looking for the executioner and here I found him, back near his hidey hole in the bushes.



You can see he is checking me out from behind a rock.



Since he was in a nice profile I took this shot with full zoom from about 2.5 meters distance.



This shot is without any zoom and from about 2 feet. I may have mentioned here about approaching wildlife with the cameral in front of your face. Sometimes it allows you to get a lot closer than normally possible. This happens with critters that watch your eyes as a sign of danger. If they can't see your eyes they have no fear. Believe me it works, I've done it on more than one occasion.

This morning I was outside taking care of the orchids and Ms. E was hanging the wash. Ummm Ummm I hear and turn to see her pointing, in that typical Thai way of using pursed lips, at a large butterfly that was basically at my feet.

Sure enough there is a big black, no red, butterfly bouncing around. Inside for the camera and out to see that he is still hanging out, slurping up somthing from the ground. He flew and I chased for a few minutes but he always came back to the same general area to feed. He hung out for 30 minutes of more allowing me to shoot away. Luckily using a digital camera I didn't waste two rolls of film... He like to move a lot.




Here he is sucking nutrients from the ground.



Here is a shot of his distinctive tail structure. I believe it is a Common Swallowtail. Can't seem to find an exact picture like this one with the same colorings but assume its at least of the same family.

In the meantime there were several butterflies flitting around the yard. I think with a lot of recent rains and the very high humidity they are really active now.

Its like living in a minny zoo here. Lots of critters that are around if I keep my eyes open.

E. G.

[dirtydog]

It's a Gin Gar Lizard, no idea what they are called in English though, very brave lizards, I caught one before and put a little string round his neck like a collar and chain for a dog, he didn't seem to be bothered about it, but let him go about an hour later.

[blackgang]

I think thats the kind we got as well, the female looks like that and the male has an orange head, always trying to pork that female one.
At least I think they are male and female, cause he sure gets on her and is a little more colorful

And funny you should call em that, ours can always be seen setting on top of a cement fence post or crawling around on the chain link..

[blackgang]

Took these with high XX I couldn't get close to him.

[El Gibbon]

That's Im... try holding the camera up in front of your eyes and slowly approaching...

BTW these guys are tree dwellers I think. They like high places off the ground.
Watching them run on the ground is a total hoot. Up on two hind legs waddling like crazy with their forlegs waving in the air.. Balance is achieved by the dragging tail me thinks.

Good Luck

E. G.

[blackgang]

I don't think so, they wild as hell cause my dog tries to get em every time they get low.
But anytime ya see em they jump from the ground up on the wire and run up and set around up high on the fence.

[Curious George]

El Gibbon and blackgang -
You've got some nice photos of Calotes versicolor. They certainly are cute little guys, and by the Latin name 'versicolor', you can imagine they will display a rouge colored neck and head. Most often they are referred to as a fence lizard (ging-gaa rua), but also when displaying, are called red headed (ging-gaa hua daeng) or red collared (ging-gaa kor daeng). On occasion they all are just called (oriental) garden lizards.

I know a little about this lizard, because I took several photos in my MiL's yard. I was surprised how close I could approach them, being very different from the lizards we have here in the US. We also have rough scaled lizards here, that are also called fence lizards, but they are of the Genus Sceloporus. By they way, they are considered to be arboreal dwellers.

I made an edit to include a photo last time I was at the MiL's house.


E.G. - since I cannot give you another greenie, let me compliment you here on this thread.

[El Gibbon]

CG
Thanks. It seems you know or have researched this guy somewhat. Do you know if they are 'partner' critters i.e. mate for life?

Also is there an easily seen marking that identifies male/female?

I love to watch them run... .tooooooo funny.

E. G.

[sabang]

In Ubon they dry them, pound them with a mortar and pestle and make a Thai salad out of 'em.

[Thetyim]

^ Did you hear that, Stroll ?

[dirtydog]

My staff just used to skewer them and bbq them

[Curious George]

CG
Thanks. It seems you know or have researched this guy somewhat. Do you know if they are 'partner' critters i.e. mate for life?

Also is there an easily seen marking that identifies male/female?

I love to watch them run... .tooooooo funny.

E. G.

If reptiles are monogamous, I am not aware of it. The Calotes versicolor is sexually dimorphic, becoming more pronounced when reaching adulthood.

Adult females and males differ in size. Females on average are smaller than males, but tend to have a shorter and broader tail. While the midbody is not broader, there tends to be a higher number of Dorsal scales in females.

Males may measure 140 mm snout-vent length (SVL) and have a slender tail 295 mm long (Radder et al., 2001). Adults have large heads, massive shoulders, expandable dewlaps, and laterally flattened bodies with a crest extending from the neck almost to the tail. The ground color is typically dull brown, gray, or olive with irregular dark brown spots or bars, but breeding males have pale yellow bodies with a large black patch on each side of the throat. Breeding males also develop bright orange or crimson areas around the head and shoulders, but this brilliant coloration can change rapidly depending upon mood or environmental conditions. This red coloration accounts for these lizards sometimes being called bloodsuckers.

Here is a stock photo of a male, that I found on the Internet. He is an impressive creature when in breeding color, with his handsome sharp crest, orange head and colorful dewlap or throat flap, which is expanded during territorial displays.

[blackgang]

GEO, yes that seems to be exactly what we have, when I took the pic with the telephoto ran up to +6 the color didn't show, that is the male and the one I thought was the female is smaller and never shows the orange color.

[El Gibbon]

CG, thanks for the info. I do have a male apparently in the area. I see him only occasionally, not as brilliantly colored as your photo but none-the-less does exhibit the redish shoulders and head. I also have a couple that love to play in the netting above my orchids. They are almost like pets.

BTW folks, if your looking for a nice quiet place for future Songkran time.. I have it!

Was on all three main 'street's (houses, shops etc. quite urban) never saw a drop of water. It seems 'playing water' is not a local tradition here. I did see two truck loads of kids heading towards Makham or Chantaburi fully equiped with barrels of water and squirt guns.

Went to the store to buy beer for the 'dinner' at Bil's and saw a young woman with a boy about 4/5. As I passed he tried to squirt me with is pistol but could only get the stream about half way across the street. Mom and I had a good laugh at the disappointment on his face. I was tempted to go back and let him have another go but decided against it.

As it is right in the middle of harvest season for mangosteen, longan and lychee everyone is too busy getting crops to market to flock around wasting time with water. Who said Thais are not industrious????

A few posts ago I laid out the pricing for mangosteen. Well the market has plummeted. They no longer are categorizing the fruits, they are now buying in 'mixed' condition. The price yesterday was 11 Baht per kilo... whewwww.

The BiL, his wife, a SiL, a neice and Ms. E picked 450 Kg yesterday in a few hours. (about 13 12 boxes)

Interesting that mangosteen do not ripen together either on the tree or as an orchard, like apples do. Instead you have to search each tree for the 'ripe' ones and pick selectively, what a pain in the butt. There are hundreds and hundred on each tree to visually sort through. I also found out that a mangosteen tree can produce up to 80 or 90 years. At that time though they are so high that harvesting becomes a problem.

Will try and get some photos later, its a beautiful day with the air just THICK with butterflies.

I think I like this place !

E. G.

[blackgang]

God damn EG, but you do make it sound fine over there,Nice here but yours sounds better..