#black snake millipede

[onenicebugperday]

Black snake millipede, Californiulus euphanus, Paeromopodidae, Julida

Found in Washington and Oregon

Photos 1-2 by corndog and 3-9 by wetlandwanderer

[rainbowsnakes]

Coil aquired

[transparentstickers]

Halloween Stickers made by American Greetings, probably late 80's.

This sticker sheet contains:

Three pair of brightly coloured eyes.

A ghost in flight.

Two spiders drawn as black circles with two eyes and eight legs.

A green snake with an underbite of sharp fangs.

A cheeky grinning frog with visible teeth.

A simplifed skeleton with a sympatheic expression.

A small grey rat.

A black kitten with green eyes.

A ten legged lizard like monster, with pink spikes running down their back that contast with its green skin.

Two bugs with a multiude of legs, one resembling a green millipede, the other pink with orange antenna, yellow eyes, and a curled tail.

A bottom-heavy jack-o-lantern

An egg-shaped bat with wibbly wings.

[mlmxreader]

Winter Holidays | Alan Grant x gn!reader

『••✎••』

↳ ❝ Hiya can I request "Just breathe for a second" with Grant please? ❞

: ̗̀➛ Holidays are always the best time throughout the year, as Alan Grant always comes home to you.

trigger warnings: ̗̀➛ swearing, mentions of snakes/arachnids/bugs

•───────────────★•♛•★──────────────•

spotlight fundraiser : ̗̀➛ Help Rahaf & Her Family Get Out Of Gaza

•───────────────★•♛•★──────────────•

The winter holidays were in full swing, which was always your favourite, as it meant that Grant was finally coming home from one of his digs; you always pestered him about taking time off, always told him that he needed to calm it down a little, but he always refused.

Until the holidays came around, at least. He always came home for that, just as he always tried to schedule a day or two to see you during the other holidays throughout the year; he tried, and you would never fault him for that in the slightest. Never. You couldn't.

The living room sofa was donned with a plush, forest green, cover that could easily be removed and used as a cocooning blanket; the lamps were switched on to create a warm yellow haze that left the room feeling snug and cozy, the small candles on the mantlepiece leaving behind a smell of peppermint that was dense but not stifling.

The fire was burning through the fresh small logs, crackling away with yellow and orange and red breaths that made the room so warm, so snug. It was all perfect, really, it was all set up just so he would be surrounded by home the second he stepped through the door.

The animals, of course, were all also fed; the snakes - from the small garter snake to the long bull snake and the pythons and corn snake in between - had all eaten and snuggled into their little houses inside their tanks for the evening.

The scorpions - from the large aggressive bastard to the small and timid baby and the middle sized docile one - had all been given their crickets and were happily munching away under their bits of bark and moss.

The roaches - the entire colony of them - were scoffing down their banana and apple bits; the snails and millipedes were all doing the same.

The small, yellow and slightly spotted, gecko was happily munching away on the eight beetle larvae he had been given.

The washing was done and folded and put away, especially Grant's dig attire; the sand and mud stains long gone and the frays and rips within them all sewn up and ready for another round.

The food was nearly ready, just finishing off in the oven for five minutes before it could be dished up; just in time for his hero's return at long last.

You sat on the windowsill, wrapped in a white, wool, blanket that sat just below your shoulders, waiting to see the car pull up; you knew that it would be the same old beaten up and dust stained old ford crew cab.

The scratched up dull reddish brown paint and its grainy looking, washed out, black top; the familiar windows that looked green from afar thanks to how much dirt and dust was caked on them.

Grant never washed that thing, he only cleared the bits of the glass that he needed to see out of, and he rarely let you take out the hosepipe and soap to clean it properly and thoroughly once in a blue moon.

But you would recognise it anywhere.

The clunky sound of that engine and the chug of the tyres crunching against the gravel road before mounting the pavement when he parked. You would know it fucking anywhere, and when your eyes caught that muddled, dulled and stained red paint, you immediately lit up.

You hurried to get the plates and knives and forks out, sticking the kettle on and chucking a teaspoon of coffee into a mug for him. Giddy with excitement when you heard the porch door open; two bags dropped to the floor, the door was closed and promptly locked. The bags were shuffled awkwardly to the side before the inside door was opened.

"Anybody home?"

You set down everything you had, and bolted towards him; practically knocking him off of his feet as you hooked your arms around his neck and excitedly yelped out a thousand and one greetings. Grant laughed, putting his arms around you as he raised his brows slightly. Amused.

"Just breathe for a second!" He told you, laughter still dense as he tried and failed to hold it back entirely, moving to hold you at arms length. "How are you?"

You shrugged, putting your hands on his face and trying not to shiver when you felt the cold temperature. "Better now you're here. Tea's almost ready, I know it's late but I figured you didn't eat on the ride home."

Grant shook his head, of course he didn't. "The ecology department didn't give you any work to take home this time?"

"Well..." you looked away from him for a moment. "Sort of. There's some locusts upstairs and-"

"Locusts?" He huffed. "Really?"

"It's fine, I'm feeding most of them to the scorpions," you admitted. "We just needed them to see what we can do to prevent invasive species from becoming a thing."

He nodded slowly, taking a breath for a moment just to admire you; he hated that you couldn't come along with him to digs, especially as Sattler had told him to bring you along.

As your best friend, she would have seized every opportunity to bring you along on their jobs, but you never could; you wouldn't trust anyone with the animals at home, and you wouldn't take the time off of work either.

There were thousands of invasive species that were doing irreparable damage to native ecosystems, and it was down to you to try and curb it as best as you could.

But fuck, coming home was always the highlight of Grant's day.

"I love you," he breathed out softly. "I really do."

You smiled, dragging him into the kitchen and insisting that he sit down. "I love you, too... I'm gonna dish up and finish your coffee, then how about me and you head into the front room, sit down, and watch a really, really shit horror film?"

Grant relaxed almost entirely at the suggestion, handing you his hat. He never went fucking anywhere without that thing. "I would love that."

[paper-fowl]

WAKE UP CALL

An OC oneshot, featuring The Raceway AU

( Au by @thescarletnargacuga )

Let's wake up our favorite snake, shall we?

WARNING: Mentioned death, Character death (abstraction), and panic attacks.

------------------------------#------------------------------

"You are not my friend, and never will be. Leave, now." The voice echoed inside her head, similar sentences swarmed her mind, the blaring of engines making it worse as it went on.

She wanted it to stop, she needed it to.

Tick...

Tock...

Tick...

Tock...

"AH-!" She yelped as she jumped out of bed, hitting her head on the bedframe. She groaned, sitting up slowly as she rubbed the top of her head. A buzzing, irritating ring screamed at her from the nightstand, she clicked off the alarm clock, which had a bite taken out of it due to a certain soapy companion.

"How did I sleep in...?" She said to herself as she stood up and stretched.

She walked towards the door, the claws on her feet tapping along the floor boards, her tail quietly rattling as she moved. Each little section of her body made some type of noise, it wasn't anything annoying, in fact, it reminded her of an actual.. real human body... Something to remind her that she was still human.

She hesitated to grip the door handle, but broke through the fear when she heard a familiar voice from outside the room. A small, sleek, black millipede crawled in her room from under the door, she smiled as she picked up the tiny bug, finally finding the courage to step out of her room.

She looked around, walking down the hallway and stopping at a specific door, knocking on it.

"Hey... Queenie? I know that I... Messed up pretty bad yesterday.. I-" She looked up at the door's icon, a big, red X painted over the picture of what used to be, Queenie.

She stepped back, her tail curling around her body, she didn't think this would happen. She knew it'd happen eventually... But... She didn't get a chance to say goodbye...

"Hello, Motsi!"

"AH-! JEEZ-" She whipped her head around to face the figure, almost overshooting the action as her head clicked into place.

He greeted her with a smile, or, at least she thinks he was.

"Good morning, Kinger..." She sighed and returned the smile.

"Is this yours?" She handed him the millipede from earlier.

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Oh! Yes, thank goodness you found Robby." He gladly took the thousand-legged bug from Motsi's hand.

"AH!"

"ACK-!" She screamed back at Kinger.

"Stop- doing that!" She grumbled.

Kinger was already too distracted by the bug to pay attention.

She shook her head, her expression returning to a smile. She looked down the hall, new doors... New faces... Just how long was she out...? Her face turned into one of distress. She entered the lobby, looking around, no one had noticed her... That was good, at least.

She moved through the room, entering the cafeteria. She dinged the bell for a bubble chef to greet her.

"Just a regular cup of coffee, please."

"Bean juice it is!" The sharp-toothed bubble grinned, coughing up a cup of coffee for Motsi.

She'd forgotten how weird the bubble's inner working was... She took the mug, sitting down at a nearby table. She held the mug with two hands, staring down at her reflection in the dark brown drink.

"Motsi?" A male voice came from beside her.

"God, I thought you were dead!" He chuckled as he sat down beside her.

"Good to see you too, Jax." She looked up at the purple rabbit, bearing a bright yellow smile as always. He leaned down over the table, tilting his head to look at her better. Motsi took a sip of coffee, looking back at him.

"What's with the stare?" She asked him.

"Nothing, just thinkin of new ways to get back at you for disappearing for who knows how long!" He laughed.

"How... How long was I asleep for...?"

"How should I know?" He chuckled, standing up and stepping toward the garage.

"Now come on, I wanna see if you're still as good as you were on the track!" He gestured for her to follow.

She did, and looked around for a moment.

"Where's my bike?" She kept looking around for it.

"Oh! That old thing, yeah I stashed it away while you were gone, it should be right.... Ah ha!" Jax pulled out an orange and white dirt bike, rolling it towards Motsi.

"Still has the muck and grime from your last race! How authentic." He teased.

Motsi chuckled, "Yeah... I'd forgotten to clean it..."

"Vial Swamps, was it?"

"Yup! Speaking of swamps... I wonder how Gummigoo would do in that track..." He looked to the side, pondering something.

"Who..?"

"You haven't seen em?"

"No...?"

"Huh." He shoved the bike towards Motsi. "Say hi to him for me, ya can't miss him."

She caught the bike, and getting pushed back a bit, giving Jax a thumbs up. "Will do."

She rolled her bike up to the default track, looking up at the artificial sky.

-----#------

"Good morning, my ravenous racers! I-" Caine paused, looking down at the red and white snake which looked back up at him, confused as to why he stopped.

He suddenly spoke up, pulling Motsi up to the front of the starting line in front of the line of racers. She squeaked.

"I would like to introduce a marvelous player to our new racers, say hello, to Motsi!"

The unidentified players stared at Motsi, most of them waving hello. She waved back.

Caine quickly placed Motsi into the line of racers, setting her in-between a red and blue jester, and a being of mitch-matched parts, both of the figures taking glances at the Motsi... She tried to keep her eyes on the track as Caine announced the new track and information needed, but she felt so... Out of place.

"Oh boy..." She whispered to herself.

The jester could sense her unease.. and spoke up.

"Hey... Are you okay?"

Motsi didn't respond, she gripped the handles of her bike.

"Motsi, was it?" The mixed figure said on the other side.

Motsi's eyes stayed fixated on the track.

The two strangers looked back at each other, talking with each other without words.

Red...

"Let's hope she does well..." One of the strangers said. Motsi couldn't tell who it came from.

Yellow...

She stared down the track. So many things have changed all at once.

She was told to rest, and get her mind off the problems she had faced before waking up.

GREEN...!

She immediately shot away from the crowd, speeding through the track. After a moment, she could see the other racers catching up to her.

"LOOK AT YOU GO! Still have the fuel after all this time?" Jax laughed as he made his way up to her.

He was the only one she could truly remember, and she responded, sounding much calmer than before.

"Uh- Yeah, I think so!" She replied nervously.

"You think, or know so?" He teased, now driving beside her.

"Absolutely no idea!"

Jax laughed, "Let's hope you don't fall into the cellar before you get to the finish line!" He teased as he drove past her.

Cellar...?

She gripped the handles harder, getting a gruesome reminder of how long she was away for. She started slowing down.

A voice came in on her radio.

"Motsi, my dear! Don't stop now, you just got back!"

"I-I... I can't.." She stuttered.

"Motsi! Are you-" Caine's voice glitched out, a different voice taking over.

"You're in my way... And you'll end up just like the others... Gone. And I'll make sure of it." The radio disconnected.

"Wh... What..?"

Her breathing quickened.

Everything was going too fast for her, but she couldn't see it. She tried to focus on the race.

Her hands gripped the handles as if her life depended on it.

Her mind was swarming with images of the cellar and what was inside, she had to stop. She needed to.

BZZZT-!

A blue flash of electricity jumped in front of her sight.

"AH!" She screamed as she swerved off the track, she tumbled over her own vehicle as it crashed into a large rock. She rolled out of the way just before it crashed.

She stood on her knees, her breathing being heavy.

A million thoughts were blaring in her head.

Stop...

Stop...

STOP!

she slammed her fists on the ground.

The floor beneath her shattered as she fell through.

A bright, neon eye, with swirling colors looked down at her from below.

-----#-----

"Motsi! I saw you crash, and-" The red haired racer slid to a stop, looking out of her vehicle with fear.

A beast, over ten times her size, a glitching mass of pitch black ink swarmed it's body.

Over a thousand eyes opened up, each eye being different from another, yet all of them having one similarity, they were all glaring down at the doll.

[ask-a-bot]

I L9VE big creepy crawlies. I remember as a kid, my father took me to a pet shop that had a room where someone could ask to hold some of the smaller animals! Tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, hamsters, mice and rats! I asked him to take me and I got to hold a tarantula, I think it was a mexican red knee, and a giant black scorpion!! I think I also held a little snake, don't remember what it looked like. I think I also wanted to hold a rat but my mother caught us and yelled at my father 😔

I want to go somewhere like that. It sounds amazing! Know what I'd like to keep? A giant millipede!

Ugh...!

Is there anything you're not going to want killed, if I keep it as a pet? 😢

[spookierz]

whos up thinking about aardvarks, african painted dogs, alligators, alpacas, anacondas, angler fish, anteaters, ants, apes, arctic foxes, armadillos, atlas moths, axolotls, bald eagles, banana slugs, barnacles, barn owls, bats, bearded dragons, bees, beetles, beluga whales, betta fish, bison, black bears, blackbirds, black widows, blow whales, bluejay, blue whales, boars, bobcats, botflies, box turtles, brown bears, brown recluse, budgies, buffalos, bulls, bumble bees, bunnies, butterflies, camels, canary, capybaras, caribou, cats, caterpillars, chameleons, cheetahs, chickadees, chickens, chimpanzees, chinchillas, chipmunks, cobras, cockroaches, cod, coelacanth, condors, cougars, cows, coyotes, crabs, cranes, crocodile, crows, cuttlefish, deer, dingoes, dogs, dolphins, donkeys, doves, ducks, eagles, earthworms, elephants, elks, emus, ferrets, finchs, fireflies, fish, fishers, fishing cats, flamingos, flatworm, flies, foxes, frogs, garter snakes, gazelles, gerbils, giant isopods, giraffes, goats, goldfish, geese, gophers, gorrilas, gray jays, great white sharks, grey catbirds, groundhogs, guinea pigs, guppies, hammerhead sharks, hamsters, hares, hartebeests, hawks, heartworms, hedgehogs, herons, hippopotamus, honey badgers, honey bees, horses, hummingbirds, hyenas, ibex, ibises, iguanas, inchworms, jackrabbits, jellyfish, jumping spiders, kangaroos, kiwi birds, koalas, komodo dragons, lady bugs, large brown bats, lemurs, leopards, lice, lions, lionfish, lizards, llamas, lobsters, locusts, luna moths, lynxes, macaws, maggots, magpies, manta rays, millipedes, moles, monarch butterflies,  monkeys, moose, mosquitoes, moths, mountain goats, mice, mules, naked mole rats, octopi, opossums, orcas, orioles, ostriches, otters, owls, oxen, pandas, pangolins, panthers, parrots, pelicans, penguins, pigeons, pigs, plankton, platypuses, polar bears, ponies, porcupines, possums, pufferfish, puffins, pumas, pygmy owls, pythons, raccoons, rams, rats, rattlesnakes, ravens, red snappers, red tailed foxes, red tailed hawks, rhinoceroses, river bass, roadrunners, robins, roly polys, rosy maple moths, salamanders, salmon, sea bass, seals, sea sponges, sea turtles, sheep, shrew, shrimp, silk moths, skunks, sloths, slugs, small brown bats, snails, snakes, snapping turtles, snowy owls, spiders, spongy moths, squids, squirrels, starfish, steller's jays, stick bugs, stingrays, stink bugs, swans, tanuki, tapeworms, tapirs, tarantulas, tawny owls, tetras, ticks, tigers, toads, toucans, turkeys, turkey vultures, turtles, vampire bats, vultures, walruses, warthogs, wasps, weevils, whale sharks, whip-poor-wills, wolverines, wolves, wombats, woodchucks, yaks, yellow jackets, zebra, and zebra-fish?

[ntls-24722]

hello lgbtq community its ur (almost) daily music man content

Scopophobia and general body horror beware!

WD Gaster DJMM!

Honestly, this was literally just based off the fact I saw WD gaster artwork. For a guy with multiple hands Gaster just makes sense to be my latest victim of Music Man'ification. He was going to be a centipede because centipedes are terrifying but I opted for a snake because i was too lazy to draw a kajillion little hands (even though i've made millipede music men... two)

Buuuut the snake aspect also helps with another little detail - as a focus on Gaster's experience on being yote across time and space, his body extends infinitely, across the cosmos, different realities, different timelines. His body is likely to be found as a black line across space but as he gets more lost his face remains almost never seen.

Long.

@linxprime's Space Guard DJMM!

I notice more details that I missed the more i look at this. I missed two whole arms! and i wish i could've shown his freaky two-thumbed hands, but these were all done in school and i had limited references. I'm probably redrawing your guy tomorrow because there's just simply TOO MANY mistakes.

Though I seriously have to ask you how you came up with the pant contraption. I feel like spiders are one of the the most ridiculous creatures on Earth you could attempt putting pants on and somehow you figured it out.

Pink Legacy! One of the few music men in my roster whose story i can actually explain in a single post.

They're not Music Man - They don't take the role or name of him. But they did take his head and are now wearing it like a trophy!

Way back before Pizzeria Simulator, before Music Man was even auctioned, someone noticed his suspicious demeanor and began to work at the company that created him to be able to secretly inspect him. They cracked him open one night and realized in classic FNAF fashion, "oh shit, there's bodies in this robot" and said robot proceeded to smash their skull between his cymbals before they could squeal about it to anyone, leaving their body to rot in secret.

The insects that aided in their decomposition, for some weird reason, ate them and received their memories. Memories of how to move, how to think like a person, and the very last thing they remember - getting totally murdered. Taking over the rest of their corpse they became this horrific bug colony and turned Music Man into scrap metal and wore his head as a trophy like the freak bug colony they are.

However, while they had their revenge, now as this new being they were haunted by the memories of not what was within him but the person they used to be, with attempts to come back to the friends and family ending in said friends and family being horrified of what just arrived at their doorstep. Eventually they had to flee to the wilderness and leave their humanity behind, though this bug colony began to embrace their new existence (Despite their appearance, Pink Legacy is just a creepy ass hippie).

But eventually humanity finds them again with a high schooler named Tillie finding Pink Legacy in the wilderness, and, despite the creepy haunted atmosphere constantly oozing out of PL, Tillie is admittedly too fascinated by them to not try and fuck around a little.

Despite PL's creepy vocabulary and... everything about them, somehow Tillie is able to discover that PL is harmless and the worst they will do is accidentally cause an ant infestation in your home.

[pleistocene-pride]

Xenesthis immanis, better known as the Colombian lesser black tarantula, is a species of terrestrial bird spider endemic to the lowland rainforests, marshes, swamps, and cloud forests of Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru. Like many tarantulas these spiders will dig fairly spacious burrows which they may line with silk to stabilize the walls and improve structural integrity. Here they spend most of the day venturing out at night in search of prey: typically crickets, cockroaches, beetles, centipedes, millipedes, and other spiders as well as the occasional rodent, bat, lizard, snake, or small bird. They dispatch said prey using powerful chelicerae tipped with long chitinous fangs that can inject a mild venom. As previously mentioned the Colombian lesser black tarantula has a symbiotic relationship with the dotting humming frog. The two species frequently live together, with the tarantula sharing its food with the amphibian and protecting it from predators, whilst the frogs care for the tarantulas eggs and protect the spider and its burrow from various pests. Colombian lesser black tarantulas are also known to sport a similar relationship with the Bolivian Bleating Frog: Hamptophryne boliviana. In some cases a tarantula may share its burrow with both amphibian species. Reaching some 7 to 9 inches (17.78 to 22.86cms) in length, they are a relatively large species of spiders. Females sport a dark purple colored carapace with long black velvet legs and an abdomen is covered in long blondish setae hairs. Whilst males are smaller with a brighter purple colored carapace and legs and more redish setae hairs on the abdomen. They are equipped with urticating hairs on their abdomens which they can rub off into the air to deter would be predators. These bristles can be quite irritating especially if they get it the nose, mouth, or eyes. Mating typically occurs once a year, during which time a male will seek out a female. When they meet he will perform a series of signals to lull the female into a calm and aroused state, once she is receptive he will mate as quickly as possible and then flee. Unlike many other species of spiders Colombian lesser black tarantulas rarely eat there mate. After mating a female Colombian lesser black tarantula will lay 50 to 100 eggs in a silken egg sac which will hatch in six to eight weeks. The young spiderlings remain in the burrow for some time after hatching being guarded and cared for by there mother and her associated frogs. Under ideal conditions a Colombian lesser black tarantula may live up to 15 years.

[tatzelwyrm]

I've been pining over how perfect the aesthetics of Bloodborne are for years. I can't believe I hesitated to play it until now because internet memes made me think I wouldn't be good enough to enjoy it.

What an experience this was.

This game scratched so many itches. It scratched all the itches.

It's got The Most™ setting:

Cosmic Horror in a non-modern, non-sci-fi setting

Fantasy with early modern firearms

Plot centered around a bloodborne curse that turns everyone into blood-drunk beasts and there's a lot of blood drinking and blood transfusions and blood in general, but it's not about vampires

No vampires

But werewolves

So many werewolves

Set in a decaying, once great metropolis (think Victorian London but more apocalyptic)

NO VAMPIRES

Moon's haunted

and Themes:

The thing that strengthens you is irreversibly changing you, body and mind.

Blood (blood as power, blood as a means of healing, blood as a carrier of corruption and disease)

Moon's haunted.

Monster hunters slowly and inevitably turning into monsters.

Scholars pulled on too many threads of reality until it became unravelled. Leading to:

Morally orange-and-blue Great Ones who just do normal Great Ones things and don't understand or care that their effects on humanity are horrifying

Panacea revealed to be a curse

The Veil™ being ripped from your eyes, allowing you to see behind The Facade™

Themes tied into game mechanics and vice-versa, e.g.: The more insight (about the world/the truth/the moon) you have, the more vulnerable you are to certain effects and some mobs will have crazier abilities and you will hear the song more clearly and you will get to see THEM early.

Lighting lamps

Reflections (in dreams, in nightmares, in mirrors, in water, in a doll)

Holy Church associated with Light and Healing is actually a Corrupt Church Ruining Everything for Everyone because of curiosity and lust for power. Leading to:

Clergy involuntarily, painfully turning into beasts

MOON'S HAUNTED!

Something something moon phases and blood and conception and ascension through (re-)birth and female monsters

and the Aesthetics:

Street lamps and cast iron fences and broken church windows

Everybody's wearing cute hats and embroidered vests and long coats and capes...

or tattered nazghul robes

Tentacles!

Moon phases

Eyes where eyes shouldn't be

Haunted Gothic Horror Castle! Haunted Gothic Horror Castle!

Tattered ghostly black driverless horse-drawn carriage taking you to Haunted Gothic Horror Castle!

Snakes growing out of headless people's empty neck holes

Crow lady with plague doctor mask

Spear guns and hand cannons and swords that turn into hammers and the lollipop saw

So many eyes

Fluffy deer-dog beasts!

Laurence, where is your skull?

Laurence, where did your legs go?

Laurence

So many distinct but beautiful designs for the Great Ones and their kin

Moon Presence goes brrrr.

Moon's haunted.

Graceful and fluffy ethereal millipede

The Mad Ones' whole anime demon aesthetic

The final boss fight(s) take(s) place in a field of white moon flowers, under the blood moon.

... and the rest:

Cthulhu death laser

The brain juice lady

The lake is upside down. That's why you can't see the moon.

If you raise the staircase, the level layout changes.

Dude's a horse now.

[lokidokeyartichoki]

Excuse me, what?? You fought a huge python???? You can't just drop that in the tags and not explain how that happened

Lmaoooo I forget not all of you were here in 2015.

This all happened in the very exotic area of the northern suburbs of Chicago. I used to pet sit for a guy who owned a reptile roadshow, and he had like 2 black throat monitor lizards, a few ball pythons, a couple of boa constrictors, a sulcata tortoise, some more lizards and snakes, a tarantula, a snapping turtle and an African millipede. Anyway, I got to feed the smaller animals because they needed to be fed more often but the Burmese python (pictured above) and the adult monitor lizard were fed before he left every time.

They’re all show animals, so they were trained that they were only getting food in their enclosures to minimize incidents at shows. I misunderstood the directions to mist the python’s moss bed and stuck my hand and squeeze bottle into the Burmese’s enclosure.

At the time I had two small dogs and I wasn’t a familiar smell so I don’t blame the snake at all, but it struck my left hand and threw coils around my arm. The snake constricted and let me tell you that thing was 80lbs of pure muscle. Pythons have four rows of teeth on the roof of their mouth and they’re all hooked back to aide in moving food down their throat. So I’m like, “fuck okay” and started pushing my hand back further into its mouth to unhook the teeth.

By the time I managed to get the snake off my arm (it was turning purple) I hadn’t figured out how I was going to close the sliding glass door and my grip weakened enough for it to turn around and bite my right wrist. Which is my dominant arm and all I can remember thinking was “oh okay I guess this is happening now” in the calmest and most resigned way possible. So now the 17ft snake has thrown coils again, is constricting my dominant arm, immobilizing a joint and I’m like “wtf did Jeff corwin and Steve Irwin teach you dumbass”. So I struggled with the snake as gently but firmly as I could until I unhooked it again from my arm. I’m talking prying a hand sized snake head off my limb with my usually useless left hand. It was all in all a 20 minute fight that ended with me getting the snake off and quickly locking the enclosure.

(I did not realize it at the time but if I had stood up and tried to use gravity to get the snake off or moved it out of the enclosure so I had more room I could easily have died if it decided to throw coils and constrict my chest. But that comes into play later.)

ANYWAY, I then wash all my puncture wounds out with antibacterial soap and call my mom who was hysterical and told me to go to the ER. There’s nothing quite like showing up to the ER in a suburb like “yeah I got bit by a very large nonvenomous snake 😔” and they’re like “?????” So all my punctures get washed out with saline and then they take X-rays to make sure no teeth broke off inside my arms.

The funny bit, the funniest part of this whole thing was I was in an intensive out patient group therapy program at the time. Imagine your new patient of like 2 weeks suddenly walks into group one Thursday morning with their forearms and hands all professionally wrapped up with gauze and shit. They were all like “did you self harm” and I was all “no I got bit by a 17ft 80lb snake” and they were like “we haven’t heard that before but we need to unwrap them to verify”. But I was like “Peggy you don’t understand if you unwrap them I can’t wrap them up again and the doctors told me to keep them covered” but Peggy was like “I need to make sure you didn’t cut or self harm” so she unwrapped my arms and was very surprised to find out I had, in fact, been attacked by a large snake instead of lying about it.

Anyway, I then found out that I’m more terrified of open communication and conversation about relationships than possibly dying fighting a snake so I learned a lot about myself that week lmao.

[raybeetle]

shrimp cows wasps turtle hippo rhino dog cat iguana damselfly dragonfly scorpion-fly fly scorpion katydid grasshopper butterfly moth mosquito millipede centipede the million parasitoid wasps bees ants stag beetle ground beetle rhino beetle japanese beetle orb weaver black widow tarantula (sorry im not familiar with arachnids) slugs snails box jellyfish lion tiger squid cheetah leopard panther bobcat puma angler fish great white shark lemon shark tiger shark human zebra horse mule donkey those big ass horses from middle asia wolf otter sugar glider snake gecko salamander dust mites silverfish cockroach guinea pig bed bug horsefly housefly dinosaur earwig isopod crab lobster starfish seahorse sea cucumber sea snail sea bunny sand dollar mudskipper that wasp named “aha ha” whales dolphins unicorn python ball snake cobra sea lion seal praying mantis that one katydid that kinda looks like a msntis and a grasshopper fucked stick insects whatever the fuck this guy is

parrot cockatiel pigeon crow

[amaze-animalia]

Mountain Chicken - Leptodactylus fallax

The mountain chicken, you may be surprised to learn, is not a chicken at all. This animal is also known as the giant ditch frog and is a critically endangered species native to the Caribbean Island of Dominica and formerly Montserrat. The name “mountain chicken” has unknown origins, however, one theory is they are named that way due to being eaten as a delicacy and tasting like chicken. Another theory suggests it is due to the way mother frogs and their froglets stay together for some time after leaving the foam nest they hatched in, similar to how hens raise their chicks. 

This frog is one of the largest in the world, reaching 2 lbs (1 kg) in weight and can be up to 8.7 in (22 cm) in length. Females tend to be larger than males. Their coloration varies but is typically reddish-brown and cream colored, allowing them to camouflage in the forest floor. A black line runs from the snout to the angle of the mouth, and the upper-legs often have broad banding. These frogs are carnivorous and will eat almost anything they can swallow whole. This includes crickets, other insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, and vertebrates such as smaller frogs of other species, snakes, and bats. 

The mountain chicken’s population was drastically reduced by two-thirds due to a volcanic eruption in 1995. In 2002, a fungus called chytrid arrived in Dominica, causing mass deaths among the frogs. In 2009, the fungus spread to Montserrat, eliminating the mountain chicken population from this island. Conservation groups such as the Mountain Chicken Frog Recovery Programme (MCRP) are working on bringing the frogs back to Montserrat and overall increasing the population. 

All information comes from Wikpedia, [here], and [here]. Images are found [here] and [here].

[catsxratsxbats]

I love you rats I love you bats I love you "unlucky" black cats I love you coyotes I love you pigeons I love you snakes I love you raccoons I love you possums I love you slugs I love you spiders I love you owls I love you mountain lions I love you toads I love you lizards I love you millipedes I love you moths I love you pillbugs I love you squirrels I love every unliked misunderstood animal considered creepy gross or bad <3

[willinglyghoulified]

I was gardening and cleaning up the lawn with my sister recently, and here in East Tennessee, we have a ton of shit in our yards. So I have to address that yard safety doesn't just apply to ticks. This includes:

Ticks

Mosquitos

Fleas

Hammerhead Flatworms

Fire ants

Grass spiders/Wolf spiders/Brown recluses/Black widows

Yellowjackets

Biting centipedes/millipedes

Brown scorpions

Snakes (but that's a different beast)

You should always, always, always take precautions while working outside, gardening, hiking, camping, etc. These kinds of bugs are known to be parasitic, carry diseases, spread staff infection, and even be venomous/poisonous. Watch where you step, look for holes in the ground where bees could be nesting. Look for fire ant mounds. When picking up large rocks or stepping stones, do so carefully as there could be things like hammerhead flatworms underneath. (Never touch those with your hands. Don't cut them or squish them, because they regenerate. Kill them safely with salt.) Do not touch any of these bugs or attempt to get rid of any nests yourself! Stay protected like the above post explained with tucking in your clothing and changing immediately when you get inside. It also helps to spray some kind of deterrent on yourself like OFF spray or some other more natural / less chemical-y spray that you can make at home. If you have sensitive skin and can't spray it directly onto yourself, spray it onto your shoes and pants. Always use gloves when working outside, but never leave your gloves outside unattended as bees or spiders could crawl inside. Same with shoes: never leave your shoes outside, even on your porch. Scorpions and small snakes love shoes.

AND IF YOU HAVE DOGS THAT GO OUTSIDE OR REMAIN OUTDOORS, please remember to be thorough when checking yourselves over for ticks and fleas. Dogs are breeding houses for these kinds of insects. Be vigilant and don't just rely on feeling with your hands. Some ticks literally are as small as a speck of dirt, and we usually call them "seed ticks" here.

I also have to mention: always check a tick bite to make sure that the head didn't detach from the body. Sometimes, with certain breeds, a tick head will come off when you try to pull the tick off of you. If this happens, use an alcohol swab and place it over the tick head for a few moments and it will eventually let go. You can remove the head easier afterward. (I know it's gross, but it's important to mention.) I've heard of people using the "credit card trick" to remove ticks. I've never tried it myself, but it's worth a go.

I'm trying to write a post about tick safety and avoiding tick bites, but a lot of the info on websites is like "Avoid going in the woods, in plants, and where there are wild animals" and "Activities like hiking and gardening can put you at risk" and I'm like thanks! This is worthless!

As ticks and tick borne illnesses are expanding their range, I think it's important for people to be educated about these things, and I think it's especially important to give people actual advice on how to protect themselves instead of telling them to just...avoid the natural world

Rough draft version of Tick Advice:

Ticks don't jump down on you from trees, they get on you when you brush against grass, brush, bushes etc.

Ticks get brought to an area when they get done feeding from an animal and fall off them. In the USA, the main tick-bringing animal is deer, but I've seen plenty ticks on feral cats and songbirds.

Ticks get killed when they dry out so drier areas with more sunlight are less favorable to ticks.

The above is useful for figuring out whether an area is likely to have lots of ticks, and how vigilant you have to be in that area.

Wear light-colored, long pants outside. Tuck your pants into your socks, and tuck your shirt into the waist of your pants. Invest in light, breathable fabrics idc

IMMEDIATELY change out of your outside clothes when you come back from a tick-prone area, wash them, and dry them on high heat to kill any ticks that might be stuck on.

Shower and check yourself for ticks after coming inside. Hair, armpits, and nether regions in particular. You can use a handheld mirror or rely on touch; an attached tick will feel like a bump kinda like a scab

While you're outside, you can just periodically check for ticks by running your hands down your legs and checking visually to see if anything is crawling on your clothes. Light colors make them easy to spot, and they don't move fast.

Combing through each others' hair to check for creepy crawly critters is a time-honored primate ritual and is not weird. When hiking, bring a friend who will have your back when you feel something on your neck and need to know if it's sweat or a tick

If you're careful, you can usually catch ticks before they bite you, but if one does bite you, it's not the end of the world. Since tickborne diseases are different regionally i suspect this advice will differ based on where you are, but the important thing is remove the tick with tweezers (DON'T use butter, a lit match, or anything that kills the tick while it's still attached, please) and contact a doctor to see what to watch for. Most illnesses you can catch from ticks are easily treatable if you recognize them when symptoms first appear

[courtycupcake]