I almost did that for a dragonfly in the grill of a game warden truck parked at the TPWD licensing building in Austin, but then I realized I had no idea when/where it had met the truck (they sometimes even go out of state to assist in emergencies), so I’d have no idea where to set the accuracy circle.
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set pin at where you saw it, accuracy circle +/-2m (or however accurate you can place it) and set the dead/alive to dead. Then down at the DQA you could put “location not accurate” if you are at all concerned it might affect ranges… but for most things it won’t, cos there is still the possibility of eggs/young emerging from the dead insects!
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Oh cool. I’ll have to add the 600+ observations somehow, heh.
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Well, honestly I hadn’t considered that, being in the East and all. We don’t have the famous many bugs dead on car grill stories; however it is another place to keep an eye on!
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Well it’s certainly a problem in the West and by problem I mean, somehow the biggest insect always hits the windshield right in your line of vision.
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In NZ we drive on the left side of the road, which puts driver in the right hand seat… so it’s the passenger that gets that problem. And when I’m in the passenger seat trying to get photos out the window, sure enough, the biggest bug hits right in the line of shot!
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- You are squatting in your driveway in your pajamas at 1 AM taking photos of a cicada.
Thank god i live in the country
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lol… I don’t live in the country. I live on an urban street of single family houses. Therefore I don’t go out in my pajamas. But if I’m checking the front door under the porch light at night, of course I’m just right up against the closed door peering around. And sure as shooting… someone drives or walks by seeing me out there acting all strange. And I may not be in pajamas but I might be in ‘house clothes’ which are the things I don’t wear anywhere but in the house.
The other night, my neighbor came out - heading out for the night shift - and I said, ‘just taking pictures of moths!’.
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…you are constantly the last person in your group of friends on a hike because you are taking pictures of all the wildflowers, insects, and other things you see on the way for iNaturalist.
…you are constantly dropping hints to your other friends that they should download the iNaturalist app and contribute to science.
…you get immense pride in the fact that your species list is forever expanding.
…you are driving with friends and you see something out the window like a pronghorn you scream for them to slow down so you can take an observation photo for science.
…your collection of nature guides takes on a whole new level of importance.
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Welcome to the forum!
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thank you!
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Pronghorn “don’t live” in northeastern Oregon according to iNat range maps so every time I see them, I scream to whoever is driving to pull over.
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I figure if anyone would understand my excitement it would be the other folks who love reading the stories on this thread. I love following my state’s botanist competition to see which plants are most observed. I figure the top observed are probably found state wide and therefore I should be able to find them, right? Well, one I have wanted to see for almost as long as I have been on iNat is the Lobelia cardenalis. Unfortunately it likes to hang out in wet places and most of the parks I frequent must not be wet enough. I see lots and lots of its beautiful blue sibling, but not that elusive red siren. I saw folks had seen one at a wetland preserve about a half hour from me so, of course, I had to go see if I could find it too. Well it turns out there are two “Pecatonica” preserves right near each other. The “wetland” one is where the flower had been spotted, the “river” one is where GPS took me. We didn’t have a lot of time, so walked around a little, no beautiful red flowers. About to give up hope, I asked my walking companion if we could drive down through the rest of the park. Suddenly I let out a VERY loud yelp and almost sent us through the windshield when I slammed on the brakes (fortunately you can’t go very fast in a park). There it was. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56861358. Is it wrong that I think a new windshield and a trip to the ER could possibly have been worth it? Fortunately, didn’t come to that, no damage to the car or forehead, although my face still hurts from the big smile.
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You are doing hurricane prep on the dock when you see a dolphin. You start jumping up and down to cause vibrations to get its attention, and drop your phone in the water. Spend the next 18 minutes doing toe-feelies in the mud trying to retrieve it - get it back with the video still running! and first thing you do after drying off the phone is post a frame of the dolphin https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57343190
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Oh!!! OH! OH! What an adventure (misadventure?). That’s crazy that it turned out so well and your phone even survived along with the video. Very impressed 
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How cool! How unfortunate :( Stay safe!
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I’m impressed you’re fully clothed even if in PJs!
Part of the joy of night entomology activities is clothing and beer optional…I wish I only forgot to put pants on to go outside at night but it happens often during the day too, if I’m being honest. I’m just another animal as far as I see it so anyone’s discomfort with my attire or lack thereof is their problem. My property my appearance choices :) No wildlife has ever snidely remarked, “Hey you friggin’ hippy, put some clothes on!” (In fact I’m certain a fair number of biting insects are thrilled with the extra surface area). So obviously, humans are, once again, the problem.
iNat before dressing
iNat instead of laundry
iNat instead of caring about uptight judgmental neighbors (they can close their eyes)
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You’re a lot braver than I! If I’m in a safe area to do so I’ll usually go without shoes, which on its own gets me lots of odd looks and comments.
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I usually only wear shoes if I’m walking in something gross (ie chicken poop) and in stores (sometimes not even then!).
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That’s me. My parents don’t like it when I take my camera into stores, but I always want to because of that one time I saw a blackbird in Costco… You never know, it could happen again!
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