#there are too many snakes and coyote and kids with fast cars | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stagqueens · 6 years ago

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Florida gothic

• you always thought those palmettos were unappealing. after what you’ve heard shaking them last night, you look at them differently.

• the sand is too white sometimes. it strains your eyes. sometimes you think it looks like snow, but the thought is gone all too fast. you forgot what snow looked like anyway.

• the squirrels scream unusually down here. they stand there for hours. all they do is scream. you never find a body afterwards.

• you never knew coyotes got that big. good thing it’ll be gone in the morning.

• the people next to you are talking about red tide. they come up with all kinds of explanations for it. you don’t think anyone’s got it right yet.

• theres trails of something in the canal. its shouting at you from the window of your car. you don’t want to see where it will take you.

• the wasps talk to you like friends. there’s something in their eyes that says something else.

• you hear screaming in the woods. you really hope it’s just a cougar, because it sounds very familiar.

• why do they want to come visit? haven’t they seen the angry pines?

• something feels wrong about that house. It wasn’t there yesterday. none of them were. you don’t belong here

• the ground is thin. you feel the water slosh underneath your feet. somethings judging you from the canopy.

• you’re in a scrubfield. no one is with you, but the birds still shout like there is. what do they know?

• you hear the kids singing loud songs. they don’t know what they’re saying, but those eyes in the moss do.

• you saw a bobcat yesterday. Socks just went missing.

• sometimes you look at the horizon, and admire the mountain ranges. they’re so close.

• your friend jumps when she sees a snake, and you laugh. normal snakes don’t have only one head.

• you find yourself talking to the cardinals. they hate you. you hate them. who put them in charge?

• you broke off a branch of a pretty tree because you wanted to bring it back home. once you’re home, you feel the fire ants all over you. you should have known.

• you’ve never seen so many vultures. you never find the bones you’re looking for.

• you’ve never been to the keys. you think everyone’s just making that place up. deer don’t get that large.

• the cicadas haven’t stopped in years. you don’t want to see what happens when they stop.

• you tear down that ugly real estate sign. two more pop up the next day. when you see seven on the same plot the month after, you tell yourself it’s no use.

• the lizards always seem to be running from something. you hope it’s not you. you wouldn’t be ready for that.

• that alligator that just brushed your leg felt oddly smooth. what are they putting in the water these days?

• people are always throwing out TVs. you want to know what they saw on them. you want to see it too.

• the herons know your name. they don’t like it.

• those berries look delicious. why hasn’t anyone eaten them yet?

• I don’t think you can leave. I haven’t seen anyone try.

#regional gothic #gothic #florida #welcome to nightvale #this is my first time doing this lol

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imthedoctordonna · 7 years ago

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Lost and Found Chapter 5

I know I am extremely late with this (by like 2 weeks, its ridiculous, I know...) but I had a hard time getting it going and to where I liked it. I hope you enjoy.

If this is your first run in with Lost and Found, know that it is a sequel to my completed multi-chapter fic titled A Woman in Wolf’s Clothing. Felicity is a werewolf (of sorts), Damien Darhk is her father, and Team Arrow (circa season 3) are all ARGUS agents. I hope you enjoy this AU.

It can also be found on AO3 and FFN

Without further ado:

The team was gathered around the center island which was covered in fast food wrappers, cups, and bags when Felicity made her way out. “Good morning Sleeping Beauty”, teased Diggle.

“Not even close, but I am feeling much better, thank you.” She gave his arm a gentle squeeze then moved around him. Donna stepped in front of her daughter, put her hand to her forehead to check for a fever and looked into her eyes. “I am better mom. I promise.” She gave her mom a quick peck, grabbed a burger from the bag then plopped down on a stool, moving things aside so she can open her laptop. “Let’s see if we have an image of who ordered smoked Smoaks.” She took a hefty bite, dusted her hands on her comfy-pants and let her fingers fly across her keyboard. Within seconds she had the recorded video from her crafty cameras and began setting parameters to narrow her search. After a few minutes, a couple burgers, and halfway through her medium fry she exclaimed, “Gotcha sucker!” She hit a few more keys and sent the video to the big screen tv mounted on the wall.

The team gathered around to watch as a blurry silhouetted figure, with a duffel bag in hand, slinked to the front door, the time stamp read 2330, the culprit knelt down, lifted the same rock Felicity had pulled the spare key from, and opened the front door. She looked at the screen with far too much focus, avoiding Oliver’s “I told you so” glance. The lights never came on, and he exited the house about 20 minutes later sans duffel bag.

“Do we have any shots of their face? Body type? Car?” Oliver asked.

“No, those cameras were a decade old and weather worn; but we do have an approximate time and I know for a fact that the security at the front gate is child’s play to get into.” She opened a new program and drew up the feed from the more updated security cameras at the security gate. They scoured through 3 hours before and after the shadowed figure rigged the bomb with no luck.

“Could he be a neighbor? Donna, who all did you tell about Felicity coming home?” Barry asked.

“I… I am not sure. I guess I mentioned I was excited to see her again, but I don’t think I told anyone that she was coming here or when she would get here… I am still pretty secretive over my baby girl. Up until earlier today I thought my ex-husband was still after her.”

“Any enemies you’ve made recently? Any neighborhood disputes? Issues at work?” This time it was Laurel asking.

“I’ve had a few people trying to snake my position at work. I work the VIP rooms on weekends and holidays and get paid a pretty penny for it. A lot of girls want the position, but I don’t think any of them would actually kill for it. I don’t have much of a life outside work.”

Felicity felt for her mom. This beautiful sunshine of a woman was a veritable hermit despite her extroverted personality all because her ex-husband made her daughter into a freak show. Not that her mother would ever use those words, but there were many nights full of teenage angst where Felicity had convinced herself she was a freak and her mother would spend all her free time convincing her otherwise. There was a sense of disappointment that even after her father was apprehended, her mother was still bound by the threat of him. Felicity needed to find the one that tried to kill them, almost as much as she needed to find those missing kids. “I’ll use an algorithm to estimate height and weight, we’ll have to make a guess on gender because the camera quality just sucks.”

“Can’t you just enhance a still? Ya know, like they do on tv…” Roy asked.

“All I would enhance would be his backside. He cut across the front of the yard through the cacti, so it was out of the driveway coverage...” She clacked away at the keyboard for a few more seconds. “So in reference to all the known measurements our boom-boom maker is Roy.” Everyone looked at Roy who paused mid bite, eyes wide with denial and shock. “That is to say he’s about 5’10 and between 160-190 lbs, depending on musculature.” Felicity finished.

“So a needle in a haystack is what you’re saying.” Diggle asked, annoyance lacing his voice.

“I will compare the stats against everyone living or staying in that neighborhood and we can narrow it down from there.” Felicity was compiling her list of possible suspects when Barry’s phone rang, he stepped away to answer it.

“That was Iris. She says Caitlin, Ray, and Cisco are helping comb through the crime scene evidence. They are with the LVPD now. Also, there is no evidence of a Damien Dahrk ever living in the Las Vegas area; but there are plenty of property records pertaining to a Noah Kuttler in all spelling variations. She is emailing a list. According to her source, none of the properties have been sold or foreclosed on, so they might still be in use. This could be what we need to find the bomber.” Barry said excitedly.

“Or the missing kids.” Felicity whispered.

“Alright, when we get that list in, let’s map it out and divvy it up. I want Laurel, Barry, and Roy on one team, it’ll be John, Felicity and me on the other. We will split up and start searching these properties. Laurel, you were a lawyer, could you find a friend in the LVPD and let them know what we’re going to be doing? I don’t want to be disturbed because the neighbors think were breaking in.”

“Excuse me.” Donna interrupted hesitantly, “Sorry. But that may not be the best idea. I know that Noah… Damien… had plants inside the force. The few times I ever tried to enforce the restraining order my brother fought tooth and nail for me to get; were all thwarted by the police officers. They would just drive by, wave at Noah sitting in his car or standing on the side walk and speed off. Who’s to say he may not still have some insiders? That’s why the only person in law enforcement I trust is my brother, the FBI agent.”

“Good to know Donna, thank you. We’re going to change it up then. John and I will take half, Barry and Roy will take the other half. Laurel, you and Felicity stay here with Donna and be ready to help us if we get into trouble.”

“I can look for other security cameras in the neighborhood and see if anyone else got a better shot of his face or other identifying marks.” Felicity said, feeling more herself with a challenging task in hand.

Oliver laid his hand on Felicity’s shoulder and squeezed gently when she rested her cheek on it. “We’ll find them. All of them.”

Barry and Roy came upon the first property. It was an unassuming little brown house on the northern outskirts of Henderson with the closest neighboring structure, a homestead that was likely abandoned in the late thirties, 2 miles away. Barry ran the property line, a perimeter that enclosed close to 10 acres, to look for any threats or signs of life at all. All he found were the infamous Jumping Chollas, but he managed to escape their attack thanks to his speed. He then ran a smaller loop, checking the perimeter of the house itself and motioned for Roy to approach. Side-by side they entered the ramshackle, Felicity listening apprehensively on the comms as she skimmed through security camera footage.

“It’s empty.” Roy said, “Looks like it hasn’t been entered in decades. You’d need a shovel to clean out all this dust.“ He swiped a finger across the window sill.

“There’s no furniture, no art or pictures on the walls, no curtains… It doesn’t look like anyone has ever lived here.”

“Let’s get a team out there to do a full property search. Let’s include some cadaver dogs and ground imaging.“ Laurel said, casting a sympathetic look at Felicity.

“Um. Not to sound gross or ridiculous; but I’m as good as any cadaver dog. Better even, with the whole being able to talk thing. I can go out there now.” Felicity said.

“Honey, do you really want to use your abilities like that?” Donna was getting dangerously close to wringing her hands in knots.

Felicity reached out and held them in her own. “Yes. Because after dozens of cameras and hours of work I wasn’t able to pick up our friendly neighborhood bomber. So why not use the other half of my abilities. I might be able to find something.”

“Wait til I get there.” Oliver ordered. “I’ll take you.”

“No. You search the addresses on your list. I will stay with Roy and Barry. It’ll be fine.”

Oliver grunted in reluctant agreeance and Felicity bid her mom and Laurel farewell, promising to bring back some In-N-Out after her scouting mission.

Night had finally fallen, but that far out in the desert it didn’t really matter. It just meant the rattlers and coyotes had gone to bed and the owls were soaring in the night sky looking for kangaroo mice or a stray cat. The almost-full moon might as well have been a spotlight on the desert, everything was visible as if it were dawn. It also reminded Felicity that in a couple days, she would be useless for 24 or so hours. She had to do as much as possible before the full moon.

She pulled up in a black coupe, (which was so not made for the desert dirt roads) climbed out and inhaled deeply. The Santa Ana’s were pretty calm for now and the clean, dusty smell of the desert and warmed creosote bushes put her at ease. Home.

“What’s up fellas?” She walked toward the two leaning against their own car. “Where do you think I should start?”

“Inside.” Roy suggested. “We couldn’t find anything, but you might be able to.” He tried to hand her a flashlight.

“I don’t need it. I can see just fine. Could you guys stay out here for a bit? I want to make sure I pick up on any and everything, and it’s easier without any extra sensory input.” She had to focus her senses once again, catalog and ignore the familiar scent of hotel soap cloaking the two ARGUS Agents, the creosote bushes; bypass the chirping crickets and the distant sounds of cars travelling too fast on I-15; see through the dust motes floating in the air and the moths looking for their next meal.

The house smelled empty. She could tell Barry and Roy had spent some time in there; but otherwise it smelled… empty. Not like it wasn’t lived in, but unnaturally empty, and it was getting her heartrate ramped up. She looked around the small living room, her once blue eyes reflecting yellow, but she didn’t see anything out of place. It wasn’t until she wandered into the kitchen that she heard it. An echo of her own footstep.

There was a basement in the Nevada desert, and that was not normal. She studied the room, every nook, cranny and crevice; looking for the entrance to the basement. She found a too-wide grout line on the tiled floor and one slightly discolored tile hidden in the small pantry. She pushed on the tile with her foot and nothing happened. The dust on the floor was thick, thinking that maybe that had caused the discoloration (but why it would only be on this one tile in particular, she had no idea) she knelt down and went to dust it off with her hand when she felt the electric charge emanating from the tile. Curious, she felt the smooth tiles on each side of it, no charge. But hovering her hand above the one, she could feel the electricity. “I think I found something.”

“What is it?” Oliver said tensely.

“Not sure. But I think you are going to want to pull Ray and Cisco from the bomb and put them on this. We are going to need their help.”

#olicity fan fic #olicity AU #werewolf AU #ekikamess #Lost and Found #Chapter 5 #Shameless self promotion

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wendyimmiller · 5 years ago

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Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my!

Facebook has its negatives, but does offer insights. Without running a formal poll complete with statistical analysis, you get a feel for the general population’s reactions to certain things. Some posts go ignored while other posts garner dozens, even hundreds of excited comments, and no, I’m not talking about politics. I’m talking about reactions to unpopular creatures in the natural world. Photos of snakes generate enormous response, and unless you are on a page that is slanted toward wildlife conservation, you get a whole lotta haters. Many comments are assertions of how fast that snake would be chopped into little pieces, or riddled with bullets. Others are panicky statements of pure horror at the very site of the vile creature. Spiders get the same kind of love (not)! Granted, gardeners are usually the exceptions and I do like to think we are more cognizant of the workings of the natural world, but truly, I’m confused by the reactions of so many. Could it be possible that the majority never learned the simple concept of predator/prey balance in nature? Was my education something truly exceptional? Remember I’m from Mississippi, so that’s unlikely. (Don’t send me hate mail! I love my home state but once again, we are ranked very near the bottom.) The concept is simple. When a prey population gets plentiful, the predator population that feeds on them prospers. Once numbers are reduced, the predator population ebbs and the prey population surges again. This system of checks and balances worked pretty well until man got in there and started playing favorites. Predators were not favorites.

This was likely justified in pioneer settings when a hawk eating your chickens might mean your family went hungry, and I would still feel entitled to use lethal means if necessary to combat any creature preying on my pets or livestock, but indiscriminately killing those predators minding their own business is just dumb. Gardeners accept the roles of beneficial predator insects, but even some of them seem to have a harder time extending that appreciation to spiders and snakes. These valuable allies help keep in check the populations of plant damaging insects and rodents.

I was lucky and had a mother that loved spiders. She told us that spiders eat lots and lots of flies and mosquitoes that were worse enemies by far. What is the saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yet a common reaction is to knock the spider to the ground for a quick stomp or make a run for the spray can, but not my mama.

Years ago, as I was working on a piece about spiders, she told me a story that happened before I was born. A big yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) had taken up residence on the porch and she taught her two little boys (my older brothers) to catch grasshoppers and throw them into the web for the spider to eat. She said they spent many happy hours catching bugs to feed their spider friend. One day a man knocked on the door to deliver the cleaning, and told her cheerfully that he “killed that big spider for you, ma’am.” She didn’t have the heart to tell him he had done her no favor. The moving thing to me was that I could still hear the sorrow in her voice for a spider killed half a century ago.

It isn’t the only reason I am truly fond of spiders. Driving leisurely down a deserted country lane years ago, I saw something the size of a small mouse trucking slowly, but purposefully across the road. I stopped the car and walked up to see it was a large wolf spider, carrying dozens of tiny babies on her back. As I bent over her, she reared toward me brandishing her front legs and her babies fled down her back legs and into the grass. How could I not feel a rush of appreciation for this small creature that so bravely threatened me as her children raced to safety? I bowed in respect as I stepped back, and she settled back onto her eight legs. I was astonished to see the baby spiders run back to climb her legs and resume their positions on her back, and on they went. I was mystified on how she was able to summon them back once she felt it was safe to continue, but I know what I saw., so was certain she had. A little research confirms that spiders can and do communicate with one another using smell, touch, sight and sound. Do a search for acoustic signaling in wolf spiders and be amazed! Besides their touching familial relationships, I return to their usefulness. I wonder what the ratio might be of mosquito bites to spider bites? Sure, a venomous spider bite can be painful, and even occasionally serious, but should one investigate the deadliest creature in the world, mosquitoes rank No. 1. By far. Humans rank second, by the way. If you break it down by country rather than globally, in the United States the biggest category of deadly animal is listed as “farm animals”. Yes, cows and horses, yet you don’t see people virtually shouting on Facebook that “the only good cow is a dead cow!” I’ll give you that it isn’t easy for a cow to be lurking under your potted plants on the deck. Spiders can do that.

Snakes can do that too, but the odds of being bitten by a venomous snake in your lifetime are one in 37,500. Being struck by lightning is one in 15,300. Actually dying from a venomous snakebite is extremely rare. In the United States, only one person in every 50 million will die, according to figures from the US Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. That works out to be about 6 people per year. In that year, more than 37,000 people will die in car and motorcycle wrecks. Car wrecks are sometimes caused by deer, which leads me to defending another predator, the coyote. Wolves, bears and cougars suffered a bad rap first. The virtual eradication of these large predators in the eastern US contributed to deer populations erupting into such huge numbers that they are now costly and devastating pests in many suburbs. Coyotes moved in as they were decimated and are filling a needed predatory role, yet many hunters happily brag on their efforts and successes killing coyotes, feeling justified because of their mostly negligible impact on deer populations. Guess what, coyote-hating deer hunters? We need more predators and fewer deer – lots fewer deer. In the gardening world, we know that the topic of marauding deer dominates many forums, but beyond that world, the negative impacts should not be ignored. In a typical year, deer are struck by motor vehicles more than a million times, killing more than 100 people. That is more than the combined total of deaths caused by sharks, alligators, bears and rattlesnakes. Vehicle damage totals more than a billion dollars, and you can add on another billion for the damage done to farm, forest and landscape. Yet cute pictures of little fawns in the yard don’t seem to inspire comments on how fast it would be chopped up into tiny pieces. Folks might offer to shoot it when it gets past the cute fawn stage, and certainly more deer hunting would be helpful, but hunting isn’t as effective as it could be when the focus is on taking out the trophy bucks. Shooting more does would help. Hunting laws do encourage that practice these days, but the trophy buck mentality still wins out. By the way, I’m from hunting stock and whole-heartedly condone hunting when done legally and ethically. As a carnivore, I feel better about that free-range locally harvested meat on my plate than I do about the store-bought meat that lived caged until killed for my consumption. I realize this offends those that are vegetarian or vegan and some will lambaste me for my carnivorous ways. If you choose to do so, it is my choice to respond this one time with a thought gleaned from reading Joseph Campbell’s writings. I am paraphrasing here but it went something like…”don’t kid yourself. Life is a process of killing and eating other living things, whether animal or vegetable. It is whether we do it with respect and gratitude.” Period. I also know that there are people who have lost loved pets to coyote and cannot bring themselves to see any good in the killer. I can only ask you to refrain from condemning the entire coyote clan for that personal tragedy. Darn right I would I kill a coyote that threatened my dear four legged family members, but I would never consider that a reason to shoot a member of the pack that keeps their distance in my valley. So far, my dogs and cats have managed to peacefully co-exist. The only strife has been the howling rivalry at dusk or during moonlit nights. Look, I get that something in our genes makes us jump when startled by a spider in the tub or a snake suddenly writhing underfoot. I’ve been known to levitate out of a john boat when I discovered a snake under the seat. I’ll admit to the lurch in my adrenalin when I make a turn on a woodland trail and get a glimpse of a coyote’s yellow gaze, but here is what I don’t get. Why is that most people don’t go on to the next logical thought – that these creatures have valuable roles and for the most part, are harmless. Why are so many people that frightfully unenlightened? Do they ignore data because they enjoy killing harmless creatures? If they are of religious persuasion, do they think the Creator made some terrible mistakes along the way? Maybe I’m the one skewed, but it seems to me the more dangerous animals are the human beings that continue to choose ignorance.

Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my! originally appeared on GardenRant on September 4, 2019.

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turfandlawncare · 5 years ago

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Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my!

Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my! originally appeared on GardenRant on September 4, 2019.

from GardenRant https://ift.tt/2LlVFGr

#GardenRant

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