Fifty something years ago I was working for a biologist in the Florida Keys. We would climb mangrove trees, in Florida Bay, and collect insects to determine how many species lived on each island. Most island were a single mangrove tree growing in shallow water. One day I was up in a tree with a good view of a shallow grass flat many acres in extent. I saw something swimming rapidly across the flat leaving a large wake. It turned out to be a medium sized bottlenose dolphin being chased by a shark. They were about the same size. Swimming as fast as they could. The shark right on the dolphins tail. I watched till they were out of site. Still swimming as fast as they could.
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When I was passing through Idaho last month, my family stopped at a cliff overlook in a National Conservation Area that we knew had a lot of bird activity. There werenât very many birds of prey, but there were lots of ravens. One of them was flying overhead when we noticed it was carrying something - a snake! Then it dropped it, dived down after it, and searched around in the rocks for a long time before giving up. It flew back up and started hunting over the fields, and in less than five minutes returned with a second snake! This one it was able to hang on to. It landed on the rocks and started eating it. When another raven flew down, presumably the first oneâs mate, they both ate and played with the snake.
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We need more of that kind of ant.
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- A Gharial is basking in the Sun. Two Indian Black Turtles want to go up.
- First Turtle choose not to go by the side avoiding the Gharial. He hits the Snout of the
Gharial to give way. - The Gharial got disturbed and annoyed.
- But he gave way to the Turtle, moving his Snout.
- The Turtle is not happy with that gesture.
- He chose to go over the Gharialâs neck.
- Done, however, the Gharial didnât mind.
- The second Turtle is thinking. What will he do now?
https://youtube.com/shorts/sDtzZT-lVj8?feature=share (Your choice)
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One morning i was walking along the beach of Apalachee Bay. In front of me there was a sandbar with a lagoon behind it. It was quite shallow in the lagoon. A bottlenose dolphin was chasing fish right up to the shore. I crouched down in front of it to watch. My presence did not seem to disturb it. After each run its head would be out of the water right in front of mine. I never figured out what it was chasing. Must have been mud minnows. A pretty small prey for a large animal.
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When I was in college at FSU, a biology student, I was sitting under a tree reading. I heard a thud on the ground next to me. I looked down and saw a wasp wrestling with a caterpillar. The wasp stung the caterpillar then swiftly skinned it. Rolled the skin into a ball and flew off . The puddle of caterpillar innards was quickly found by ants. The wasp came back and tried to get the remainder of the caterpillar. the ants fought it off. The wasp gave up and flew off ants hanging from its legs. I was reminded of this when I took the attached photo recently. The green puddle to the right of the wasp is the caterpillars innards.
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Do you think that is what is going on here? https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9497090
I have no idea! Doesnât look like the spider is very well at least!
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A beetle eating a bumble beeâs face!!! (Actually, mutualism in action.)
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Two thing I remember are a bunch of ground squirrels that would always come and sit right next to us when we were processing meat for the wolf sanctuary. They would happily just grab some little pieces or congeeled on some congeeled blood.
Donât have a photo of them munching uploaded but I got some good closeups
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/111469801
Another one was when I was at home focusing on something. And suddenly there was this clicking noise driving me nuts. After a while I couldnât bear it anymore and when to look for the origin. I found it under the radiator. It was a spider wrapping a click beetle (Elateridae). The clicking noise went on for quite some time.
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May see the Story and a Vid Clip here:
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/watch-huge-lizards-and-monkeys-launch-into-an-epic-battle-over-free-food/
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I thought that this video of couple of baby elephants playing in the mud and using the little bank as a slide was interesting and made me smile. More examples like that are found in David Toomeyâs book"Kingdom of Play" if anyone is interested.
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Bird and Mammal
Very often I see the Red-capped Robin-Chat following the Zanzibar Black-and-rufous Sengi.
Sengi digs through the leaves for worms, maggots etc. stirs up other insects to the liking of the Robin Chat. The Robin Chat functions also as a watchman, warning the Sengi whoâs head is mostly underground .
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Black-headed Ibis and a Snake in an Indian Wetland.
You may watch it if you wish. May not be pleasing to the eye though.
https://youtube.com/shorts/dNTuBZywl_M
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I found a Chinese Praying Mantid perched on my hummingbird feeder. The hummer was determined to reclaim his âflowerâ, but it ended up in a draw:
Itâs more fun to see the action. Here are the video clips from the encounter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Rrt20RJrk
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Mantis-hummingbird interactions donât always end well for the bird (beware, graphic image).
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Oh goodness! Iâd remove the mantis, tbh, since itâs an invasive species and Chinese mantis do frequently kill hummingbirds, and tiwane pointed out.
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(Hi, first time posting in the forums)
Back then I found a pair of Duttaphrynus melanostictus exhibiting an unusual amplexus. They were already like this when I got there. Watched them for few minutes. Then, suddenly the male disengaged and both of them jumped off under nearby bushes.
Posted here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101742730
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I had seen a similar video years back and was astounded. Now, I am astounded that this is not such a rare interaction, after all. Mantids must be pretty smart.
Well, and I introduced them to my patio many years ago when biological pest control was quite a thing. It was supposed to be good for the environment, after all. I got the mantid ootheca from the garden center for a bad aphid infestation. It was spectacularly effective. I watched the mantids hatch (enthralling); compete and cannibalize each other (âthere can be only oneâ); and finally made friends with the survivor, Gilda. Because of her big beautiful eyes, I named her for Gilda Radner, one of my favorite comedians. My Gilda would spend time riding my hand almost every day.
Anyway, i never knew until years later they were considered to be an invasive species, so perhaps this was not such an environmentally friendly choice after all.
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Not nearly as interesting as some of the ones mentioned here, but the most interesting one that comes to mind right now is probably two rats boxing in an NYC subway station.
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