# Wastelands of Rialto, CA, USA, dial up warning :)



## cacoseraph

(scroll down a ways to skip to the pictures )

The Wastelands is my city's unofficial dump.  Amusingly enough, you can see the official dump from parts of the Wastelands... but my city is not exactly filled with great and honorable people so...

*Climate and Ecology*
The Wastelands is pretty close to, if not, chapparal. Chapparal almost has two faces, a summer face and a winter face. 


Chap is very hot during summer reaching over 100*F/39*C and some parts reaching 115*F/46*C. It is also very dry in the summer. It does rain periodically in my chap in the summer, but only a few days out of the whole summer.  In summer chap is characterized by the earth tones... dead tan/yellow grass, barren bushes, and dry sandy dirt. Winters are actually quite nice though, with my local chap typically sticking around ~70*F/20*C and rain is plentiful.  The chap explodes in spring... it is quite a glorious riot of colors... green EVERYWHERE and California poppies push the visible spectrum into ultraviolet, i personally think  

Globally i think i have some of the "softer" chap, with places in africa or australia getting much rougher!

Because of these somewhat harsh conditions plants and animals have evolved to live there in interesting ways.  Virtually all plants have spikes on them, and most of those spikes have irritating chemicals on them.  A lot of the plants seem to dry out and die over summer, but will perk up right quick with a rain... and grow like gangbusters in spring!  Larger plants run to manzanita, star thistle, purple hate ( i don't know it's "real" common name, but it has inch long thorns and can hide in stands of other vegetation so when you move them aside the purple hate bites you, i'm pretty allergic too it, too... joy!), stunted trees (montane chaparral has pine trees a lot of the time around me) and i don't really know the rest. The vast majority of animals are nocturnal. My local diurnal menu includes: flies, all manner of hymenoptera (ENDLESS kinds of ants! i've seen probably 20-50 easily distinguishable ant species in the various California chap i have had the pleasure of exploring) , dragonflies, lizards, squirrells, lots of bunnies, and birds. At dusk, the real party animals come out to play though  Giant centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes, coyotes, owls, rubber boas, legless lizards... all kinds of amazing animals to look at!

When i started hunting it was around 10am and already 95*F... bring and drink at least a pint of water an hour. I don't know what the "official" recommendation for hydrating yourself is... but PLEASE remember if you are doing any hunting in the heat you can get sun burned, sun stroke, or dehydrated pretty easily!!!

*Pictures!*

I spent about 2hours on this hunt. I started to feel VERY poorly and headed home so i will probably photodoc more of the features of the Wastelands in the future.  The Wastelands is approximately 10-20 square miles (oooh... 25-50 sq.k) and bounded by residential or commercial zones on it's W, S, and E borders with a freeway (I210, if you care  ) for its norther border. Once you get a couple hundred feet in though, the view of the surrounding city dissappears 

some landscapes (look at all the evidence of fires! chap is notorious for summer fires):
















You might be wondering why i call it the wastelands... well:





there are tons of places like that. I have a punch more random pics of the crap ppl dumped.  I actually *like* some of the debris... mattresses and couches are awesome places to look for bugs! But all the toxic stuff i find really pisses me off!

One of the interesting features of my chapparal is the quite large Agelenopsis grass spiders. Some reach 3+" DLS (7.5cm) and some of their sheet/funnel webs get HUGE. the largest i have seen was a very well constructed 5 FOOT (er, 1.5m) diameter sheet funnel. It was sort of like a scene from "Arachnophobia".  It is entertaining to collect small specimens of the grass spiders as the grow very fast 





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I really want to get some good pics of a truly massive web. That web was about 2'/ 60cm diameter.

My city is so hard core even the darkling beetles do smack







And now for the really fun pics... in situ!
I believe i have caught at least two species of scorps (there are something like 25 sp and ssp in my surrounding three counties (counties are subdivisions of a state that contain one or more cities. states are subdivisions of USA (hehehe)) (i live in San Bernardino Co. but quite close to parts of Lost Angeles Co. and Riverside Co.).

I am pretty much a flipper hunter... i just walk around flipping stuff over to see what is shaking underneath. I have tried flooding a few times, but in summer chap i am MUCH more interested in drinking any water i have been lugging aroudn for miles, rather that pouring it into random holes (unless it is in my face and full of teeth, i guess).

The following pics are ofabout the fifth or sixth specimen of one of the species (lol, i'm eyeballing the species for now... but i am researching them  here on my website.

Ah, this looks like a good board to flip. It is decently shaded (for the area that is decent shade!), lying flat on the ground, and is pretty good size.







FLIP!

hmm, do you see anything?
click here to see what i saw when i first flipped the board over


how about now?





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Here is the pretty little thing after i caught it





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ZOOM I SAY!

The scorpion was in a burrow that seemed to extend back more than the couple of inches i could see directly into.  I have seen this type of burrow enterance numerous times, but this is the first time (er, i *think*) that i have caught a scorpion in one! I am quite curious if the scorp digs this type of burrow itself (horizontally oriented enterance that is wider than it is tall, built in VERY sandy soil). This type of burrow seems to be much more horizontally than vertically oriented... this is a good thing!  When it is safe for the bug i like to try to block their retreat by stabbing a knife into the ground behind them and then grabbing them very quickly. This one stung me a couple times then calmed down. The venom doesn't seem to do anything more than sting (lol) at about .1/5 (like a papercut that gets some sweat in it, dang, that is actually quite similar to what it feels like) and in no way dissuades me from hand catching them





(my hand/fingers looks like they are in a funny position cuz they are... i was holding the scorp in that hand

Spongy absorbant debris (pillows, mattresses, various clothes drifts) is probably my favorite to look under. I think it is edging out boards (my second favorite) in the number of interesting things i find under it.
This appears to be a sponge cushion from some kind of seating pad.






well, what do we have here?





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why, it's a cute little scorpion!





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This guy was much more stingy and its stings were .2/5. It actually stung me enough that i dropped it!  I recaptured it after it made the mistake of retreating towards me to try to get out of the sun   I am certainly not sure... but i *THINK* this might be a third species. It is small, wellunder 2"/5cm and my other specimen is similar size. Both are quite a bit more nervous seeming that the other lokes i have caught in the past, and both seem to have slightly more painful venom than the 10 or so other specimens of other species i have stung by

I do have a couple few more pics that some might be interested in, but i don't want to make this post require 2-3MBs of transfer for dialupers who chose to brave it


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## Brian S

Trash seems to make good habitat for some critters.


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## cacoseraph

Brian S said:


> Trash seems to make good habitat for some critters.


you should see my room =P

maybe that's why i've been having so many babies recently!

but seriously, i like looking under certain kinds of trash better than natural features. big spongy pieces of trash make me very happy!


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## Stefan2209

Hey Caco,

really good read, you´ve written there!

Funny and informative alike!  

Keep up!

Greetings,

Stefan


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## cacoseraph

thanks, Stefan 

more informed heads than i have said the first species in this thread (with a darker back) is probably Paruroctonus silvestrii and the second species in this thread (that is yellow and more elongated) is Vaejovis puritanus (or possibly another species, but probably puritanus and most likely Vaejovis)


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## bodar

yeah man good thread 


more
MORE!!!


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## GartenSpinnen

Hey those are some sweet scorpions... wanna send me some


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## cacoseraph

*Thiscordia and cacoseraph's Little Adventure*

Thiscordia and i went hunting in The Wastelands this saturday just past.  For it being in the middle of winter we had a great haul!  

Thiscordia walked away with 3 scorpions (vaejovids), a number of 2-4" millipedes (orthoporus sp. i think), a black and red velvet ant (Dasymutilla sp. maybe), and some other stuff.  I got two subadult tiger centipedes (Scolopendra polymorpha) and a big western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus). Not bad for a January 27th!

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

I don't really take bonethings home with me, but southern CA does have some pretty interesting species.  One of the most brilliantly colored (as immatures, at any rate) are the skinks.  I have seen the most brilliant blue tails on some of these things!  Adults typically lose that coloration, but i have read that some retain it 






Thiscordia and a skink i caught to look at and then release.  Thiscordia has a 2.5-3"/6-8cm millipede in his hand. Millipede could be Hiltonius pulchrus,  Tylobolus claremontus, or maybe Atopetholus californicus or maybe even something else.






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I use this site to figure out CA herps
Western Skink
probably Eumeces skiltonianus
possibly Eumeces skiltonianus skiltonianus


I wasn't feeling that well and had missed the two previous days of work, so i didn't take very many pictures.  This is one of the three vaejovids we captured.  We also caught what was the smallest scorp i have seen in the wild yet. It was probably a third instar of one of the vaejovids in the wastelands.

Here is one of the cranky little darlings. This might be a Paruroctonus silvestrii but i usually wait to see what Prymal/barkscorpions/Luc thinks and just sort of parrot him. Ah... standing on the shoulders of giants 





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We also saw two falcons (red tailed falcons, i think Raul/Thiscordia said) and i tried to take a vid of them soaring looking for lunch. Unfortunately the black specks on a blue field the movie turned out to be are significantly less impressive than the real thing!  We saw COOL bright (almost ultraviolety) red spider mites and these bizarre tiny orange crickets. I just might have plans for both those species 




One final, somewhat related note:  I am lucky to be able to hunt in Southern California.  Aside from the occasional rattlesnake there isn't *too* much i have to worry about. To be honest, the dang spikey plants hurt me WAY more than anything else!  But some of the rest of you might need to take more precautions. I found this to be very interesting (and surprisingly accurate, given my countries military put it together, hmmm. probably one of those kids using service to put themselves through college, heh)
Field Guide to Venomous and Medically Important Invertebrates Affecting Military Operations:
Identification, Biology, Symptoms, Treatment
Version 2.0, 31 July 2006
http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/Field_Guide/field_guide.htm

a word of warning... it is a HUGE page and my poor little computer kind of choked on it


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## GQ.

Nice job guys!  I know what I'm doing this weekend.    I took a quick little walk last weekend and saw plenty of lizards and a few skinks too.  It looks like February will be good for turning up some inverts with all the rain down here.

Later,
G


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## Thiscordia

Cacoseraph:
Just wanted to thanks you for this great experience bro,  it was a great unforgetable experience.
I had lots of fun and i'm also looking forward for the next trip. Hopefully by the next time we go Essay   will be more into bugs like we are.

-.Raul


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## padkison

Thanks.

Really enjoy these field trip threads.  :clap: 

Guess I'd better contribute something (once the weather warms up)


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## bengerno

Hi,

It was fun!   I like those stuffs you found! Really entertaing. Thanks for shareing!


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## Vixvy

Great finds guys! congrats to both of you! hope I can have some....wink!:drool: :clap:


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## cacoseraph

my pleasure, Raul. i had a lot of fun. we should try to go out with more people. i think that would be a blast.

thanks all 

anyone who is interested in going on Los Angeles/San Bernardino hunts should PM or start a thread or email me or *something*


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## cacoseraph

*Mitey Horny Adventure*

i went to the wastelands again, yesterday

http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=11647&view=findpost&p=173265

i will add a post here like the vl post when i am done adding to and honing it


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## ftorres

*Bug Hunting trip.*

Hello Raul and Caco

Let me know when is the next time you guys are going bug hunting,os I can join you guys.

I live in Los Angeles area, and I don't mind the drive.

Raul the S robusta is doing great.

Caco I am interested on seeing a pic of the desert roach please.
thanks

regards
Francisco


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## cacoseraph

_i am still not finished but hopefully will get all the pics done later today... stay tuned_
*wastelands 2007 - Feb - 18*
I wanted to catch some scorpions for someone and took a trip to the Wastelands today. i got sun sick a bit, but it was well worth it! Since it wasn't middle of summer sun and heat i tried a new method of storing collected bugs. I kept all the containers of bugs i caught in a carryall and made sure to keep the carryall out of the sun. Well.. i made sure my trusty sidekick, Issa, kept them out of the sun 






The carryall (actually what a long since destroyed/lost beach chair came in) had three things in it.  The RIGHTmost object is my old under-seat storage pack for my mountain bike that was stolen when i was a teenager.  That was what i was using to hold the individual bug containers at first. It has soemthing like 5 tiger centipedes in it, in the picture. The centeral, brown-lidded container has something like 13 millipedes in it.  The leftmost container was secondary container for the rest of the centipedes and other stuff i caught that day. All the bugs are alive and kicking at my house now 






*THE HAUL*
From left to right (and top to bottom where applicable):
13 millipedes
velvet mites (green lid, i got about 15-20), desert cockroach (yellow lid, just one)
Vaejovidae scorp (vial, probably P. silvestrii), Vaejovidae scorp (lime green lid)
Strange little yellow cent (lime green lid)
BIG widow (vial)
Tiger centipedes(all four powder blue lids, Scolopendra polymorpha)
Tiger centiepdes(clear lid, red lid, blue lid, pale yellow lid, all S. polymorpha)






*SCORPION*
My room mate Issa and i scoured the wastelands for about 6-7 hours today. the point of the mission today was scorpions... and at the start of the sixth hour of looking we were still scorpionless and started to get discouraged. I had saved my favorite scorpion spot in the wastelands for the end... and good thing too!  Within five minutes of searching my favorite spot i had caught these two beauties (possibly/probably Paruroctonus silvestrii)
specimen A





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specimen B





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*LITTLE YELLOW CENTIPEDE*
I had very good luck with centipedes on this hunt. I caught 8 more typically colored Scolopendra polymorpha and one centipede that i believe to be a *stripeless* tiger!  if that is the case then i am for sure going to try to breed the characteristic 
As far as ID'ing goes the main contender (albeit, out of range by Shelley) to polymorpha woudl be S. viridis.  Viridis have ~<=7 smooth basal antenomeres and polymorpha have ~>=7. as this fellow seems to have 9 i believe that eliminates viridis as a possibility. the centipede has 21 walking legs and eyes, so it is not scolopocryptops.  i haven't seen pics of Arthrorhabdus pygmaeus but i believe the genus is typically red (and even farther away than viridis). i will have to go to Steven's site to see how to key between Scolopendra and Arthrorhabdus to be sure, though.

oh yeah, for the record, every baby tiger i have seen so far (150+ between a number of broods) has had definite stripes at this size 






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*VELVET MITE*
http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/fall2004/mite.html
"Sensitive to humidity and apt to dry out easily, red velvet mites make their home in the litter layer of woodlands and forests. They live from one to several years, Hammond says, depending on the species. As larvae, they attach themselves to a variety of arthropods and feed parasitically. They will suck blood from a gnat or grasshopper, for instance, sometimes hitching a ride with several other mites. When red velvet mites become nymphs and then adults, they take to the soil to devour much smaller prey, including other mites and their eggs, the eggs of insects and snails, and primitive wingless insects. Unlike their brethren the chigger and the tick, the velvets keep their mouthparts off of humans."
These might come in handy in mite control in other pets cages... the adults should eat the annoying grain mites. We shall have to see if the larvae are too destructive to risk using these mites as controls though... should be fun to culture at any rate 





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*DESERT COCKROACH*
_*sigh* i killed it already. i was hydrating it up and apparently it is rather easy to over do it with these things... poor little guy looks like a water balloon now! learning curve._
I have seen these dull dust covered roaches a few times before, in the Wastelands... usually partially dismantled and in a web or something... Today i finally caught a good sized (from what i have seen) individual and boy am i glad!
Site of Water Vapor Absorption in the Desert Cockroach, Arenivaga investigata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arenivaga_investigata





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*BIG WIDOW SPIDER*
I *think* this is a Latrodectus hesperus... but it could easily be a Steatoda. I have seen bigger in my life 







*RANDOM MILLIPEDES*
I generally don't care for leafeaters but some of these fellas are kinda cute.  Probably 2-4 species in there.





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*STUFF I DIDN'T TAKE HOME*

*CAMEL CRICKET*
i am going to research this thing more. i didn't catch it but i did take pictures. if i ever have a full room for just bugs i would like to breed a number of CA crickets that i have not been collecting up to this time. i have seen this species before and another species in the mountains by my house.





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*HORNED LIZARD*
"Desert Horned Lizards have one row of fringe on the sides. Compare with the Coast Horned Lizard which has two."
There are two species with about the right range:
Phrynosoma platyrhinos calidiarum "Southern Desert Horned Lizard"
OR
Phrynosoma coronatum "Coast Horned Lizard"
but my guy has two rows of fringe spikes so i guess he is a Coast Horned.
"Habitat, Riverside County. The bare spot in the foreground is a nest of harvester ants, a primary food source for Coast Horned Lizards."
I let my fella go again, but might go back and collect it if my room mate's connections at a local college want it and have the right paperwork for it.





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## cacoseraph

@ftorres

i will probaby start a arachnofunction thread soon to try to get a group together to go out to the wastelands. my room mate suggested i park at a er, park that is nearby so now i am less worried about people leaving their cars in what is a semi-rough kind of neighborhood


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## arachnocat

Those velvet mites are cool! I've always wanted to try to keep some. I live in Sonoma County (about an hour from SF). I've never seen any around here. I have found banana slugs, jerusalem crickets and an awesome yellow centipede (was never able to discover what species it was though).


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## cacoseraph

arachnocat said:


> Those velvet mites are cool! I've always wanted to try to keep some. I live in Sonoma County (about an hour from SF). I've never seen any around here. I have found banana slugs, jerusalem crickets and an awesome yellow centipede (was never able to discover what species it was though).




i have never seen them in concentrations like i do around the wastelands. i have only seen maybe two at the same time but when i flip stuff that has an ant colony underneath it i can usually find one or more VM's. there was some colonies that had a few dozen mites that i could see. apparently these mites are very bad tasting or toxic or something... so they are rocking bright red aposematic coloring and can live amongst ants with virtual impunity.


regarding that centipede you mentioned... if it was much bigger than 2" bodylength it almost certainly had to be a polymorpha, a la the one in my post above.


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## Thiscordia

Yo Andrew when are we gonna go back to the wastelands.
I'm ready when you are....well not this weekend cus its the paintball expo 
Besides that remember the question about Jerusalem crickets....
The are NOT communal.
LMK.
-.Raul

P.S FTorres want to go too that would be cool.


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## arachnocat

If anyone wants to swap for some northern bugs let me know. J crix are pretty cool. They should be just emerging from their winter burrows by now.
I think that centipede was similar to the one in your pic. It was the first one I saw around here. Usually I just find the little red ones when I'm bug hunting.


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## cacoseraph

i caught 8 tiger centipedes (Scolopendra polymorpha) on my last day foray

Specimen_1_





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Specimen_2_





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Specimen_3_





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Specimen_4_





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Specimen_5_





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Specimen_6_





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Specimen_7_





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Specimen_8_





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## cacoseraph

if you found this tread interesting you might want to check this out

(Hopefully) Monthly Southern CA Hikes and Hunts.
If you are local, semi-local, or just visiting....
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=87763


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## What

cacoseraph if you eve come across another one of the horned lizards i would be more than happy to take it off your hands


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## skinheaddave

What said:


> cacoseraph if you eve come across another one of the horned lizards i would be more than happy to take it off your hands


They are notoriously hard to keep in captivity due to their specialized diet.  This is one animal that is almost certainly best left in the wild.

With respect to the velvet mites, I've found some nice sized ones in some very dry environments.  They burrow down until it rains, at which point you can hardly keep from tripping over them.  We found them walking around Organ Pipe, for example, a while after a thunder storm but still over 100 degrees.  Also near Nogales -- also after a thunder storm, but on soil that looked completely parched again.

Cheers,
Dave


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## cacoseraph

What said:


> cacoseraph if you eve come across another one of the horned lizards i would be more than happy to take it off your hands


they are protected, and as dave said, require very specialized conditions to keep. a local college my ecologist room mate goes to has permits to keep them and ant colonies to keep them alive. if i can settle with them i will move the horny little fellow to them (slightly illegally as i wouldn't have the necessary paper work to move it to a zoo/edu institution... but the whole area is in the process of being sold to developers so i'm willing to take the risk)


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## Galapoheros

Dial up, oh the pain.  It was worth the wait.  Still wasn't able to see all the pics.  Looks like it was a fun hunt man!  That roach was pretty cool, as well as all the other stuff.  When I was a teenager, I used to think the horned lizards squirting blood out of the corner of the eyes was a myth, until it happened to me.  Pretty unusual lizards.


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## ftorres

*Bug Hunting*

Hello Caco,
How was the bug hunt???
What did you guys get?
Ft


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## buthus

Wastelands my a**, all I came home with was this can of joint juice (very warm but still surprisingly tasty), an old piece of doll furnature, 3 nasty good for nothing stink bugs and what looks to be signs of heavy gangbanger activity.     















...  
Actually in more ways in one, this sums up the wasteland if one could actually sum up that disaster area.  Though rooting round the wasteland hardened my hatred for the human race, I got to admit, a lot of herps/inverts dig our sh!t!  ance: 

Had a blast and found some great stuff!

Highlight scores of the day have to include finding a very rare hesp "morph" in cacoseraph's room  (   Cant wait to show it off)  and these...

























Actually, the Eleodes are pretty cool ...and so far even with all the handling, they have not made my life miserable.  







More pics to come...


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## twirl and kill

it was some awsome fun there,ill definately be at the next trip exstravaganza,
took home alot of cool pedes,and thanks again for the spiders steve.



ps:thats my couch! lol!,the bugs look great on it.


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## cacoseraph

ftorres said:


> Hello Caco,
> How was the bug hunt???
> What did you guys get?
> Ft


it was great. twirl and kill and buthus are both fun to meet in real life.

i think the incomplete list goes something like:
a caterpillar
~1.5"/4cm larval beetle
7-10 tiger centipedes
1 scolopocryptop centipede
2-3 vaejovid scorps
3 predacious water beetles
1 toad bug
3 stink bugs (buthus is a weirdo, heh)
a BIG Kukulcania sp. "black hole spider"
several black widows

umm... i can't think of any more bugs but i reckon there are a few i'm missing

i have pics from the hunt but haven't uploaded them yet


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## twirl and kill

dont forget the bums,...but we didnt take any of them home.


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## buthus

Ok...if your trying to open this thread with dial-up and now its finally loaded...and your p!sssed...    well, time to get a faster connection!  





twirl and kill said:


> ...and thanks again for the spiders steve.
> ps:thats my couch! lol!,the bugs look great on it.


No problem regarding the spiders ..infact i was thrilled that you guys actually gave a hoot about them!  
Yep, thats your couch.    I think those are your stink bugs too ...I can send them to ya if you want them ...  


All my pics are post adventure because I didnt lug my camera along.  The camera would have ruined this hunt for me as it has done many times in the past.  If I had a very specific shoot or two planned, then it would have been fine, but we were all over doing all kinds of fun stuff.  Anyway... just glad I wasnt looking at the world that day thru my lens ...and glad that I didnt have an expensive piece of equipment strapped around me preventing me from making subconcious decisions to jump into places like pools of slimy green water.    

Speaking of slimy pools ... I do plan on going back very soon to take much more time to study, document and hunt those river pools.  I am also curious if there are more higher up ...even if not, at least my fat arse well get a good workout.  

Ok... where to start...
hmmmmm
The usual suspect...
There was an overly healthy population of hesperus living amongst the garbage.  I probably looked at/played with ...eh..maybe 30 or so and they all were of the jet black/no dorsal markings flavor... average size to fairly huge.  Maybe some evidence of adaption to the harsher more dangerous environment, but I was a bit disappointed not to find more fully split and partial hourglass babes.  BUT, cacoseraph made sure that I didnt go home empty handed in that dept... infact the wasteland babe he gave me (from his last hunt) has already forced me to rethink my hesperus breeding plans.  Ill post those pics too, just need to look at the results of her photoshoot and get some uploaded. 
But, first the usual suspect...  nothing unusual about this girl, but her genes will strengthen my local(immediate) population.  






I collected a few younger hesps also ...very black for their size.  
But... check this wasteland stud out...













Cross a labrador retriever with a circus boxing kangaroo  ...now build your spider around that kernel.  Make sure it has Arnold "arms" that can do sync round punches with pneumatic hammer speed and power.  I love this spider.  Andrew pulled it from some garbage, but I didnt see its lair.  If these could grow to ..eh..lets say legspan of 1.5 ft you'd see a significant reduction in the wasteland scary dog population.    
She was extremely crabby to hold, but mostly just hard warning blows and HIGHLY controlled love bites.  Makes sense... being that Kukulcania sp are known communals.  


















...speaking of those wasteland dogs... remember these guys?  






I nice beetle found along the riverbank up in the hills.  (BTW... Im just a wannabe dork ...so  feel free to help with any IDs    )






Crazy stone beetles found in the same area...












Along the river there were two obvious species of wolf(like) speed demons.  This one may be a fisher ...that was what we called it that day anyway.  


















One of the pool residents.  Died on me already.  
Looks like Ill be getting wet again ...I just need to be careful, cause Ill end up with a bunch of aquariums if I let myself.    






Along the river wash in the hills, we found some great stuff, but one needs to look a bit harder and be prepared to move much faster with complete disregard for the pain inflicted by pissed off creatures.  
I think Im the only one to get lucky and find a scolopocryptop.  (another creature I'd have never found if it wasnt for our excellent guide)
Tried to take some shots that will show its features ...cacoseraph could give us pede newbies all the kinky facts    ...

















Hey... wheres the eyes?   B) 





This tail can grab, but its but a tickle compared to the power grab of a tiger...






This one tagged my twice on the finger when I caught it.  It left a nice bubble of venom on the surface of the wound... twirl and kill wiped it off while I was busy dealing with the little f'r.  Finger went numb within minutes with minor swelling that lasted thru the next day.  Actually I had a lot of problems with my finger on sunday and yesterday.  Felt like someone turning cable-tighteners attached to my tendons.  Tried to rub the stiffness out, but that made the swelling and pain triple in intensity.  Im not much of a piano player, but for a moment or two, I was actually starting to ponder the possibility that it may actually get worse.  Luckily not the case.  
Besides according to cacoseraph's research, centipede venom is actually good for you and probably should be injected daily.  <_<   
Anyway...not much of a gory wound shot, but you can see two point scoring blows.  Cant wait til this lovely pede gets bigger! 






We found some nice tigers along the wash too. Scolopendra polymorpha(?)  Twirl and kill found a monster way up on a steep, soft bank (more like cliff   )
I found one small one.  Hurt its tail during capture (it returned the favor with multiple bites) and then I guess I ripped its tail even more during transfer on sunday.    Didnt realize it until I spotted the severed part laying on another project on my workbench. Pisses me off because I wasnt even aware of the f-up.  
Shes not available for photos ...just food, water and undisturbed RnR.






Nice big tiger I found in the wasteland under a smashed couch.  It actually cought ME when I was digging for it as it ran deeper into the trash.  Im not fearful of these tigers because I had one before and its bite caused a bit of swelling but thats about it.  On this trip I grabbed three of these and two tagged me... with no mentionable symptoms besides uncontrollable laughter intermixed with yells of "ouch!". 
Great pede, but completely animated and infuriated  ...just a quick "open the cup and shoot the pic" shot for now.  






I'm a puss when it comes to scorps though.    
I caught one using the "scoop it up with plenty dirt under it" method.  
Cant remember cacos ID of this one was.  Info was in constant flow, but my brain was barely able to stay afloat.   













Stenopelmatus fuscus? Jerusalem cricket or whatever ya call it ...I call it a potentially interesting latro hunt photoshoot...  cute little bugger though..













A really nice geophilomorpha from a pile of Christmas decorations...
Infact if you're wondering where Christmas went to... it was smashed to pieces and dumped into caco's wasteland.  I was right all along, but never could prove it until now.  h34r: 
























These true spidie sacs were everywhere ...may be the big grass spider cacoseraph mentioned.  Maybe they'll hatch and we will find out.







Interesting spider... this one I found while it was feeding on what looks to be a male hesperus...
























We actually hunted 4 different areas including a huge mountain run off river bed, a road side area, the large wasteland and a very small and unique niche which I will call an interior wasteland.   ....  
Cacoseraph's room had a major problem with a large number of introduced species.     I think there was a bed in there too and maybe stuff like a stereo and a phone, but I couldnt tell.  

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for this amazing hesp ...something Ive seen once, but wasnt into keeping widows at the time ...and I have been searching for her ever since!   B) 

If all that you're into is pretty orange flames, stripes and spots, then this one will bore the crap out of you...












A non-native specie of scorp found in Cacoseraph's room...

















Hes very crabby.  Clawing like a crawfish out of water and wont stay still for more than a few seconds.   :wub: 
Ill probably hit you up for some good care info for him asap.    

Anyway, there was more, but this the majority of the cool stuff I came away with.

Had a blast... hoping to do it again and soon.   B)


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## gunslinger

I love checking out your trips on here guys.   Feel free to post as many trips as you take!   If only I lived a few thousand miles closer, I'd be there every step of the way!


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## twirl and kill

wow,awsome photos of all that cool stuffs,caco let us know of the next trip soon!


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## cacoseraph

twirl and kill said:


> wow,awsome photos of all that cool stuffs,caco let us know of the next trip soon!


this isn't the monthly hike, but i am most likely heading up into the hills above my house this sunday.

if anyone is desperate for some bug action and doesn't mind a sightly rough ~2 mile hike to the site and moderately rough terrain at the site let me know and i can give you directions to my house.

i would be shooting for leaving my house around 9:30 - 10 am, Sunday, April 1st, 2007.


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## twirl and kill

cacoseraph said:


> this isn't the monthly hike, but i am most likely heading up into the hills above my house this sunday.
> 
> if anyone is desperate for some bug action and doesn't mind a sightly rough ~2 mile hike to the site and moderately rough terrain at the site let me know and i can give you directions to my house.
> 
> i would be shooting for leaving my house around 9:30 - 10 am, Sunday, April 1st, 2007.


yep,i work this sunday,let me know when you got a saturday hike coming.!


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## padkison

Ok,  I'm hopping a plane for y'all's next outing.....:drool: 

Love this spider


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## buthus

padkison said:


> Ok,  I'm hopping a plane for y'all's next outing.....:drool:
> 
> Love this spider


Seriously ...get on that plane next time round.   

The Kukulcania is definately a cool spider.  I hope she gives me a sac.
I have a nice big K.hybernalis... if I can get her out of her enclosure, I am going to see how she handles.  Never thought of doing so (not usually my priority) until I played around with this one.


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## Mujahideen

how do you catch the skink? its very fast here!!!!!:8o :8o :wall: :wall:


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## twirl and kill

Mujahideen said:


> how do you catch the skink? its very fast here!!!!!:8o :8o :wall: :wall:


just think like a skink....


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## buthus

> just think like a skink....


 

Once I thunk like a skunk, I stunk.  



Mujahideen said:


> how do you catch the skink? its very fast here!!!!!:8o :8o :wall: :wall:


We were discussing this subject when staring down some lizards as they stared back at us.  One decent method ...Go to a sports shop and get a small fishing net ...or perhaps a big bait net.  Then find some lightweight aluminum tube and extend it.  Methods of netting will probably be different for different terrain and each specie.  I could see two people both armed with a net double teaming a skink ...basically scare it into your partners net.  Maybe?


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## Arachnophilist

I have always found the "look at the birdy" method works pretty well.. just distract them with one hand in front and then snag em from behind.


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## twirl and kill

so uhh...cacoseraph,when is the next monthly h&h? even if its on a sunday i might still be able to make it.


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## SnakeManJohn

Awesome finds, that place reminds me of The Hills Have Eyes...creepy. I have skinks that live ALL around my house, usually when I mow the grass I'd find like 5 just running past me lol.


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## gunslinger

> Along the river there were two obvious species of wolf(like) speed demons. This one may be a fisher ...that was what we called it that day anyway.


I think your first guess was correct...Wolf.

Lycosids have 3 rows of eyes in a 4 2 2 pattern from front to back, while fishing spiders should have 2 rows of eyes in a 4 4 pattern. Your pic looks to a be a 4 2 2.

Lots of the smaller spp. of Lycosids are capable and often do walk on water like fishers.

BTW if you hunt up any more Kukulcania i happen to know someone who really wants a few ( Hmmm who could that be......ME!)


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## cacoseraph

twirl and kill said:


> so uhh...cacoseraph,when is the next monthly h&h? even if its on a sunday i might still be able to make it.


i'm leaning towards Sunday April 29th right now.


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## twirl and kill

cacoseraph said:


> i'm leaning towards Sunday April 29th right now.


cool cool,ill be there!


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## gunslinger

The 29TH!!!! You mean I have to wait 3 more weeks until I take the next virtual Waste Lands outing. :wall:


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## buthus

If all falls in place, Ill be there.  

BTW.. gunslinger, thanks for the ID help with the wolf.  I forget this stuff faster than I can learn it.   :?   Definately a wolf spider that fills the niche that Dolomedes normally would.  We only spotted them on or close to the water.


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## cacoseraph

buthus said:


> If all falls in place, Ill be there.
> 
> BTW.. gunslinger, thanks for the ID help with the wolf.  I forget this stuff faster than I can learn it.   :?   Definately a wolf spider that fills the niche that Dolomedes normally would.  We only spotted them on or close to the water.


i'm curious if the grey spiders on the water and the brown spiders on the land are the same species now


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## gunslinger

Get some pics of them when you go out next.  True spiders are definetly my fav.  Many species of wolf spider live in close association with water, like genus Pirata, and can often be found walking on water more like what would be expected of a Dolomedes.

And I have to say that is one freakin' sexy Kukulcania.:clap:


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## buthus

cacoseraph said:


> i'm curious if the grey spiders on the water and the brown spiders on the land are the same species now


I have both.(had ...herberti took out the fisher wannabe while doing a photoshoot ...oops ...no, not the spider seen being fed in the vid...actually that one is more like the land flavor we found and was found in my yard when looking for feeders)   
The "land" flavor one lost both front legs sometime during transfers, capture or didnt have em,  but is well enough to have produced a sack.  Ill see if I can take some shots of her ..maybe tonight.. and then we should be able to compare. 



> And I have to say that is one freakin' sexy Kukulcania.


I have hybernalis also, but the wasteland girl is my fav of the two.  I still have not ID'd it though :?   ...feel free to do so...   
We passed up one other during the hunt ...I was going to take it but it had just molted ...probably the night before...and I thought it was better off NOT in a dixie cup.  Cacoseraph seems to have the nose for Kukulcania.  He found two, I'd probably have walked away never knowing they were there.


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## Scott C.

We used to catch lizards with a long blade of grass with a slip knot/noose deal on one end.... Lizards were never phased much by the grass.... Then scare them, and they do the rest.... Won't work for the big ones though....


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## gunslinger

Id wager to guess K. arizonica, dont think there are too many choices in the genus. COuld be wrong though. If you guys get a handful sometime (especially if you manage both sexes) I know someone who would be quite interested


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## cacoseraph

ok, i finally processed and uploaded the pics from the group hunt. amusingly enough, i can't see any of the pics to know what exactly is there, as my work blocks photobucket. heh.

the trip was really fun.  we parked by my Hallowed Scorpion Grounds and found a scorp inside of ten minutes. i love it when a plan comes together. *bites his cigar*

i took pics of random stuff this time.

we found a big beetle grub under a board in a little chamber it had made for itself. the grub would probably be almost 3"/8cm if it was stretched out.





zoom

i think this is an in situ of the spider eating a male L. hesperus





zoom
here is buthus' thread. pirate spider. sweet.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=90555

i grabbed a snake i found. from looking it up i guess it might be some kind of coachwhip. dunno. aside from all the crapping it was the picture of a perfect snake. 





zoom






zoom


i'm not the only one who catches tigers by hand   this is Twirl and kill.







apparently it wasn't a very good year for the snakes. i found this and another mummy/skeleton somewhat close to the Hallowed Grounds.





zoom


p.s. if any of the pix are screwed up i will try to figure out a way to fix them


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## buthus

gunslinger said:


> Id wager to guess K. arizonica, dont think there are too many choices in the genus. COuld be wrong though. If you guys get a handful sometime (especially if you manage both sexes) I know someone who would be quite interested


Oh... yeah, thats one that I thought it may be.  got to find a pic!

Andrew... I seem to remember you taking around a million pics ...show some more!  

Edit: oh, I see what u did..  split the two areas up into seperate threads.  Sorry, didnt catch on too fast.


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## twirl and kill

looks like ill have to miss this H&H,cant get the 29th off ,called in sick a couple times already:wall:


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## buthus

twirl and kill said:


> looks like ill have to miss this H&H,cant get the 29th off ,called in sick a couple times already:wall:


I can never plan that far ahead... but I want to go bad enough to pretend I can. 
We could kidnap you.  They couldnt blame you for missing work if masked, armed invert hunters took you (seemingly) against your will.


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## cacoseraph

buthus said:


> I can never plan that far ahead... but I want to go bad enough to pretend I can.
> We could kidnap you.  They couldnt blame you for missing work if masked, armed invert hunters took you (seemingly) against your will.


i have a bb gun and a rusty hatchet, and i always carry a ski mask just in case


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## buthus

cacoseraph said:


> i have a bb gun and a rusty hatchet, and i always carry a ski mask just in case


Sweet!  Can I wield the rusty hatchet?


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## cacoseraph

buthus said:


> Sweet!  Can I wield the rusty hatchet?


sure

BYOSM though


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## twirl and kill

lol,that would be a funny tv series.
  im not too sure but it is still possible ill be able to make the 29th.


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## gunslinger

Hey buthus ...........what kind of setup do you use for the Kukulcania?


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## buthus

gunslinger said:


> Hey buthus ...........what kind of setup do you use for the Kukulcania?


Ill try and post some new enclosure pics soon.  Ive kept the ones I have in several different ways, but I have regrettably only built one enclosure for the species.  
Anyway.. weve crapped Andrew's thread far too much. (me being the worst crapper)


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## cacoseraph

the next hunt is *SUNDAY, APRIL 29th* @ 9am @ MY HOUSE

be there or be square

email (preferred) or pm (deprecated) to get specific directions to my house, but to get to my street gmap or mapq or ymap 
12201 Blue Spruce Drive
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739


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## cacoseraph

*May 12, 2007*

i grabbed a little gopher snake. it was cute.






twirl grabbed a gopher snake that nbond saw. it was big and nice.











And now.... something i have been looking for since i started in the bug hobby.  After checking countless seed and plant bugs... a real and true California Assassin Bug!  I found wimpy versions in the past... but the best they could feed on was aphids (or each other, *sigh*)... but i have great hopes for this one!  I would deeply love for this to be a female that would be capable of starting a colony for me 

i think this is either some kind of conenose or a bee assassin. i am really hoping bee assassin!
http://www.dbc.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/hemipt/Apiomerus.htm

ok, apparently conenose has a straight, tapered beak and assassins have a curved beak. should be relatively straightforward to tell, now






zoom






zoom






zoom












zoom


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## ftorres

*Bug Hunting*

Hello all,
Hey Caco, I will try my best to get to the next hunting/collecting trip.

I think that the grub you got might be from a Cetonid, perhaps Cutinus sp.
Cutinus sp are best know as the fig Beetles.

Very Nice finds everyone.

Did you guys see any good dead and decayed trees around?????

regards 
FT


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## twirl and kill

ftorres said:


> Hello all,
> Hey Caco, I will try my best to get to the next hunting/collecting trip.
> 
> I think that the grub you got might be from a Cetonid, perhaps Cutinus sp.
> Cutinus sp are best know as the fig Beetles.
> 
> Very Nice finds everyone.
> 
> Did you guys see any good dead and decayed trees around?????
> 
> regards
> FT


lot of dead decayed trees,and we also found a few dead/decayed goats,and dogs.took a couple pics to ;P


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## cacoseraph

ftorres said:


> Hello all,
> Hey Caco, I will try my best to get to the next hunting/collecting trip.
> 
> I think that the grub you got might be from a Cetonid, perhaps Cutinus sp.
> Cutinus sp are best know as the fig Beetles.
> 
> Very Nice finds everyone.
> 
> Did you guys see any good dead and decayed trees around?????
> 
> regards
> FT


in the wastelands i wouldn't really trust any wood you brought out. scumbags dump oil and even worse stuff all over the place. it is truly sickening. i don't mind all the safe, like stable garbage... but there are electronics, various toxic fluids, batteries, etc dumped.

the day creek canyon above my house has drift wook looking stuff in the canyon floor and some bits of decaying pine and possibly hardwood (oak?) in these sort of nook things tucked into the bends of the canyon/valley walls. i would be much more confident there is no nasty manmade stuff in those... but it is probably a bit of a walk to most of the big stands of hardwood trees and a much longer seeming walk back with a pack full of wood and humus and stuff. doable, though, for sure

* the next trip is Saturday, May 26, 2007*


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## Galapoheros

Wow!  My dialup is smoking today!  I could actually see a lot of the pics.  I haven't been to this thread in a long time.  A lot of stuff going on over there.  Sounds like an interesting area.  Sounds like a cool place ...but people are trashing it?  Hope somebody stops that, at least the chemical stuff or slows the trashing down.   It will never totally stop I guess.  Sounds fun.


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## cacoseraph

pictures from the hike on Feb 2, 2008

http://scabies.myfreeforum.org/about976.html


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