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Lake Accotink, Virginia

1/19/2015

A walk around the lake, which is about four miles long, on a fine day in January.. I wanted to get out for a walk, and our son Connor wanted to come along. And it was a fine outing.

The first thing we saw of interest, was a bald eagle circling around before heading off.

Bald eagle at Lake Accotink.

And then more cool bits.

Folks along the trail. Yes, it was wet and muddy, but we had proper footwear

Red berries. I think this is smooth sumac, but didn't take the time to ID it. My bad.

Mallard shaking its wings

A bunch of Canada geese. With a guy photographing them on what seems an iPhone. So somewhere out there might be a picture of me taking a picture of the geese

A gray squirrel with a mouthful of leaves, heading home to insulate his nest.

And the squirrel looking out of its home after adding the leaves.

And finally, a great blue heron in the little bit of open water where all else is ice.

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Yellow Sac Spider bite

1/18/2015

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There really aren't all that many spiders in the US that can do any damage to a human. The black widow and brown recluse get most of the press, and even with those, bites are fairly uncommon. But there is one spider that typically lives in houses, likes to nest in textiles like sheets and blankets, and can give a bite that is mildly nasty.

As a wildlife biologist, I have been bitten and stung by quite a number of things, from hundreds of bats of many species, to insects of all kinds, and even an ocelot. Sometimes it hurts a lot, and sometimes it just itches a lot, but such is what I do and I usually don't complain about such.

And I am not complaining now, just giving an introduction to a yellow sac spider bite.

The yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium sp. probably mildei) is a spider found in many houses, that minds it's own business eating bugs that might make it into your house. Having spiders in your house is generally a good thing. But this spider has a toxic bite if you scrunch it while it is in the sheets. I have found and killed a couple at my current abode, but one got me.

Here is a photo of my little finger, between the knuckle and first joint.

yellow sac spider bite

This is the spider bite, between my knuckle and the first joint of the little finger on my right hand.

So what is going on here? First, the area puffed up like most bites/stings do from any insect. This is a reaction from my body's immune system and is normal, even though this is a bite from an arachnid not an insect. But there is more.

Arachnids, and in this specific case a yellow sac spider, can deliver different toxins and do some specific cell damage. Here, you are seeing the result of a cytotoxin, which liquifies cells. Yes, that is what is going on in the photo, the destruction of cells in my finger. Depending on how much venom was introduced, the damage will be such.

I have photographed this species of spider before, but no hope that I can find such this evening. So just the bite for now.

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Cockpit karst in the Dominican Republic

1/15/2015

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I had a chance to fly over the cockpit karst of the Dominican Republic, back around 1999. This is one of the photos. It is an amazing bit of geography and I mapped some caves within it.

But it is quite difficult to adventure into such terrain, and not a simple bit of exploration. I think this aerial view gives a great shot of what the cockpit karst looks like, and probably some idea of how hard it was to work here.

Dominican Republic cockpit karst

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Cueva Escalante, Dominican Republic

1/15/2015

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Don McFarlane buried in cave dirt as a student from Puerto Rico records the finds. Sifting for fossil bones in Cueva Escalante was a long process.

This cave, in the Dominican Republic, was not a long or very interesting cave, but we found it and mapped it. Yet it had a great deposit of small bones under what was likely an owl roost near the entrance. A large number of bones were found, relating to many species, and we spent a total of 8 hours working on this. Yes, this was fully permitted work and in conjunction with the Museo del Hombre Dominicano.

I spent a lot of time sifting for bones, and for my efforts I got Histoplasmosis, a lung fungus. Fever of 104, hallucinations, and breath that smelled like bread mold. I had it bad, but others get it worse. I was mostly clear of it after a coupe weeks, while others have complications for many months.

Seems that has given me immunity to further bouts of Histo, as in the years following I have been in a lot of bat caves with no Histo infections. Kinda good, since that is a big part of what I do.

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fun stuff

1/13/2015

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Okay, no photo today. I got out but only took about three pics with my phone.

Cold and high winds were the weather for the day. Really rough conditions for pics.

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Cueva Fito Santo, Dominican Republic

1/12/2015

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The Dominican Republic has a ton of caves. Here is a photo from Cueva Fito Santo.

Don McFarlane in Cueva Fito Santo, Dominican Republic

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Cueva Nay, Dominican Republic

1/10/2015

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A long time ago, Don McFarlane and I visited the obscure Cueva Nay in the Dominican Republic. Here is a photo I took back then, and have scanned to make it digital.

Don McFarlane in Cueva Nay, Dominican Rupublic

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Gaming center

1/9/2015

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Connor fills the seat at a gaming complex, between games.

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Ice bits

1/8/2015

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Ice, ice baby

It is cold here

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Starling story continued

1/8/2015

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As noted in Mr. Wallace's backhanded comment, William Shakespeare is part of the story.

Apparently, in the early 1890's, the American Acclimatization Society which was trying to introduce European plants and animals to the US, decided to import hundreds of European starlings into Central Park in New York City. Which they did in fact do, and thus we have the starlings here now, which are listed as a pest species in many states.

Those seem to be the facts. But many folks believe a side story about the starlings is also true. The chairman of the Society at the time, Eugene Schieffelin, thought that all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays should be among those introduced. The European starling is noted in Henry IV, so he made sure they were released in the US.

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Lake Accotink, Virginia

Yellow Sac Spider bite

Cockpit karst in the Dominican Republic

Cueva Escalante, Dominican Republic

fun stuff

Cueva Fito Santo, Dominican Republic

Cueva Nay, Dominican Republic

Gaming center

Ice bits

Starling story continued

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