July 15th, 2009 - Leechy Con Carne and Other Delights

My friend Buthidae recently sent me a really cool photo of her neighborhood momma bark scorpion with children Centruroides sculpturatus (she lives in Aridzona) and it reminded me of this leech photo I took a couple years back.

I thought I had posted it on the blog already, but the Infinite Universe hadn't quite 'formed' at that time. Makes me wonder what other mysteries those folders hold...

Anyway, this was a leech that the Summer Camp kids found at Springbrook on a pond-dipping mission. They brought it back to the nature center and we kept it in the "pond tank" for a while, where it occasionally would stick to the glass and show you the (if you'll pardon the expression) suckling babes, swaying in the underwater tides like seaweed.

We ultimately released it back into the pond as there wasn't proper food at the NC for it. Not something you see everyday though. Maybe you are thinking that is a good thing.

Along with that pic, in the same folder were these shots. The frumpy fish, and the leopard gecko licking his chops.

We no longer have the leopard gecko, he has gone back to school, and is now majoring in environmental education. His name was Leo, if animals have to have a name. He was an Eublepharis macularius.

These types of ground-dwelling leopard geckos are native to the deserts of Pakistan, northern India, Afghanistan, parts of Iran, and are a staple in the pet-reptile industry. It's sort of interesting that he is licking his "lips" in the photo, as it brings up that fact that unlike most gecko species, he has eyelids.

The species that don't have eyelids come from the desert too, and because they don't have eyelids, they have to lick their eyeballs with their tongues to keep them moist.

I can imagine humans as reptiles trying to have conversations and having to pause to lick their eyeballs every thirty seconds, it would slow down verbal communications considerably. That and the fact that your tail would come off when somebody pulled it too hard would, I'm sure, cause some mischief.

What is the opposite of anthropomorphizing anyway?