Snake boots?

[BrokenolMarine]

I dove in Hawaii for nearly three years and never had a shark encounter... I did however have a close encounter with a huge Moray... and in the Caribbean, a barracuda. Both of those are much scarier close up than a shark.

[clovishound]

I've had an encounter with both of those while snorkeling. The one I remember most vividly was spearfishing down at Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. I had speared a grouper with a pole spear and it sidled up under a rock. I slide down to the end of the spear to try and work it out without it sliding off the end of the spear. A 6 ft moray snaked around the other side of the rock and grabbed my grouper. I didn't argue with him, and headed to the surface for air. I decided I needed to get my rented spear back, so I swam back down and grabbed the other end of the spear and snatched it out of the grouper. I decided it best to move to another area to spearfish.

[BrokenolMarine]

I was diving an area on the North Shore of Oahu known as Shark's Cove. Not because of sharks, but because from the air, it resembles the dorsal fin of it's namesake. The cove has a number of reefs that attract sealife, from brightly colored fish to lobster and crab. A great place to dive for collecting shells. But, the shape of the cove has it's challenge... The surge. The waves come in, break in the tip of the fin and... Drive back out along the bottom. Inexperienced divers would fight the surge and burn up a tank quickly... 30 minutes vs 60 on a first dive if no one coached them. You ride the surge in or out, and hold position with long powerful slow powerful dropping kicks. (This is important... )

I dove with a deacon's wife from our church often. My wife didn't dive, he didn't dive often. He knew I could protect her from ANY danger that might arise, and that I would treat her like family. We had been together enough that we could communicate easily... But one of our emergency signals was to reach out and pinch the other diver anywhere, if you were close enough. This meant, blow your bc, and surface.

I was focused on holding my position in a treasure trove of shark teeth for my son, when I felt that pinch on my leg, I yanked the cord and up WE went. Chris was hanging on for the ride. On the surface, she pointed down, twisting across the bottom, gnashing his jaws, was a huge moray...

We pulled our masks down...

Every time you surged back and kicked, you kicked HIM in the face, where his big head was sticking out of his hole in the reef. The surge would carry you away and he would start out, you'd drift back a bit, and kick him in the face a couple more times. He didn't know what to make of it. I was swimming hard to get to you... And arrived just as he decided to kill whatever it was.

[BrokenolMarine]

Meep Meep...

Guess what ran across the road and into the yard today?
Not deadly, Not threatening. Very Entertaining, and QUICK.
No, the coyotes can't catch them.

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They really do push their heads forward and turn on the boost when they want to "move out."
Funny to watch them turn on the gas!

Sorry for the poor pictures, I had to use the cell phone or he'd get away. I'll try and do better next time.

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[BrokenolMarine]

But, you get the idea. The cartoonists got the shape right.

[Hatchdog]

Saw my first live one a few years ago while visiting Arizona. I didn’t even know what it was because in my mind it should have been much closer to the size of a coyote.

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[Travlin]

Did you see him through Acme binoculars?

[Hatchdog]

Did you see him through Acme binoculars?

Yes but I was able to side step the Acme anvil.

[clovishound]

Well, even if you are wearing snake boots, it's still a good idea to watch where you step. Ran into this guy while taking pictures at the swamp.

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OK, sure it's not a poisonous snake. Still it could just as easily have been a moccasin, or a copperhead. The latter would have been hard to spot in this litter.

[BrokenolMarine]

Check out what a Bad A$$ the roadrunner is.
(Mute your sound... truck / generator noise in the background)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YwLspcdm0Bs