It's a small world - pink slugs

[generalmeow]

I saw this article on yahoo! today, and not 3 weeks ago I was having dinner in the shadow of this "mountain" where they founds these 8" long pink slugs, evidently the only place they exist. It's in the middle of nowhere. My family farm is about 10 miles away. I was having dinner at a guy's house that is right on the base of the mountain.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/giant-flourescent-pink-slugs-140528983.html

My friend in high school also almost got killed on this mountain as we watched for about 10 seconds in horror. There's one area where there's like a completely smooth, but 45 degree angle rock slab, 20' wide, that is probably 100 yards long, and has a 2' wide stream of water running down it with a pool at the top and bottom. He was climbing along the edge and slipped on the slime, and rode the water slide all the way down, screaming the whole way. He hit the pool at the bottom probably going 50 mph, and didn't get a scratch. There were logs and other shit in the pond at the bottom, and it was probably only a couple of feet deep. Probably the closest I've ever been to seen someone die by accident.

We made fun of him afterwards because of the look on his face and how he was scratching at the rock trying to stop himself from falling. I can't imagine what a scary ride it was once he got into it and started picking up speed, and had time to think about it.

[hawk1]

Hey... My dog has one of those...'cept it's red!!!

[ANADRILL]

That happened to me at yosemite. Freaking scary, as there is no way to stop. scrapped the fuck outta my knee and leg, but otherwise came out ok.

[BuffCyclist]

Wait, I'm confused. How are the pink slugs related to your friend that nearly died? Was it at the same location?

And a similar story, my child hood friend (practically my brother) nearly was swept over niagara falls when he was 5yo. His sister ran in front of him and caught him before he was swept down.

[generalmeow]

Wait, I'm confused. How are the pink slugs related to your friend that nearly died? Was it at the same location?

And a similar story, my child hood friend (practically my brother) nearly was swept over niagara falls when he was 5yo. His sister ran in front of him and caught him before he was swept down.

Yeah, same location. I've been going there for 20 years and never heard anything about pink slugs. I've never been on the mountain after a rain though.

[BuffCyclist]

Yeah, same location. I've been going there for 20 years and never heard anything about pink slugs. I've never been on the mountain after a rain though.

Ah gotcha. I figured they were related since you said he was almost killed on that mountain, but I thought that story had to do with pink slugs too. Surely the slugs are poisonous, otherwise birds and other predators would be easily able to spot them and eat them. Right?

[generalmeow]

That happened to me at yosemite. Freaking scary, as there is no way to stop. scrapped the fuck outta my knee and leg, but otherwise came out ok.

I havent seen that guy in 10 years, but he must think about it all the time. Both of you are so lucky.

[generalmeow]

Ah gotcha. I figured they were related since you said he was almost killed on that mountain, but I thought that story had to do with pink slugs too. Surely the slugs are poisonous, otherwise birds and other predators would be easily able to spot them and eat them. Right?

Everything is poisonous there, except the birds.its not too bad though. I only saw one snake and one tarantula sized spider this time.I mostly worry about catching a spider in the face when I drive between two trees on a 4 wheeler. The spider I saw had a web between two trees about 20 feet apart.

[BuffCyclist]

Crocs and emu aren't poisonous. I know, because I've eaten them (and they're both mighty delicious!). Spent 3 weeks in Cairns about 10 years ago, was beautiful.

Little did I know back then though, that a shrub in the rainforest above Cairns has a plant called the Brushwood Shrub, that has baseball sized berries on it, that have been found to kill cancer. 24 hours after it is injected into the cancer, the cancer liquifies and is completely gone. Pretty remarkable stuff, yet the FDA still hasn't moved forward with it.

Anyways, Australia is pretty amazing.

[generalmeow]

Crocs and emu aren't poisonous. I know, because I've eaten them (and they're both mighty delicious!). Spent 3 weeks in Cairns about 10 years ago, was beautiful.

Little did I know back then though, that a shrub in the rainforest above Cairns has a plant called the Brushwood Shrub, that has baseball sized berries on it, that have been found to kill cancer. 24 hours after it is injected into the cancer, the cancer liquifies and is completely gone. Pretty remarkable stuff, yet the FDA still hasn't moved forward with it.

Anyways, Australia is pretty amazing.

I've never been to cairns, but spent a few days in port Douglas once. They filmed a lot of the thin red line there. There are crocs in the ocean there. Australia is a crazy place.

[BuffCyclist]

I've never been to cairns, but spent a few days in port Douglas once. They filmed a lot of the thin red line there. There are crocs in the ocean there. Australia is a crazy place.

Yes it is.

One of my tour guides (for something, don't remember what it was) was telling us about how years ago he gave week long tours in the outback and stuff like that. He was on a tour and saw a snake, which he knew was a non-poisonous snake. His good friend sold snakes and they can collect them out there without licenses or anything. So the tour guide when up, reached down and grabbed that snake with his bare hands and threw it in a burlap sack. When he took it to his buddy's shop, the guy opened the bag, and jumped back like 10ft (sorry, 3m cause they're metric lol) and turned ghost white. The guy yelled and said, you idiot, you caught a Taipan! Which is the second most poisonous animal in Australia behind the box jellyfish.

Pretty sure that guy never caught snakes again with his bare hands lol.

[generalmeow]

In terms of snakes, it seems like after a while you just say "fuck it". You can only be so careful walking through chest high grass. I just move slow and hope they hear me coming. The only thing that really freaks me out is taking a spider to the face, which can happen really easy, especially when you're moving fast on a 4 wheeler.

In college I was at a gas station with my girlfriend, and she was walking in front of me. I instinctually grabbed her and pulled her back, not even processing seeing anything. She was about a foot away from walking face first into a big skinny 6" scary fucking spider betwen two trees in the parking lot. Same spider I saw this last trip down.

Also, when we get to the farm we used to have to turn on the well by flipping a breaker underneath this small sheet metal cover. I ducked under there and waited about 10 seconds for my eyes to adjust to the light. And when they did I noticed another huge fucking spider inches from my face.

I don't know what it is about their spiders that they always like to be face level. But it makes them even more terrifying.

[brutal]

I was expecting a good recipe.

[BuffCyclist]

I agree, I'm not scared of small bugs, spiders or stuff like that. Large spiders scare the crap outta me. When my Fiancee and I bought our house in the desert, I was introduced to the wonderful world of scorpions and vinegaroons. Vinegaroons look scarier than scorpions, but they're harmless and actually eat scorpions, so we tend to set out yogurt lids of water for them when we see one (we had pet Vinegaroon, Vinny, in our garage and could see him all the time last summer, wonder if he'll return).

But I was trying to get the cat into the office so I could let the dogs outside at like 5am, grabbed the cat and had her in my arms. Then she jumped out of my arms and ran across the entire house and started attacking the floor, moving in circles and pouncing on the same spot. When I turned on the lights and my eyes adjusted, there was a big 3" scorpion sitting on the carpet. Right where I would have walked barefoot had I let the dogs out.

About a month after that, my dog was attacking another scorpion in the kitchen and ended up getting stung on her nose. It didn't swell or anything like that, but she was definitely sensitive on her nose for a couple of days.

I was searching more into buying an ESEE Izula the other day, and decided to lookup the Izula (Bullet Ant). That thing is scary! Its 1 INCH long and the sting from it apparently feels worse than a gunshot wound for 24hrs after the sting.

[BuffCyclist]

I was expecting a good recipe.

Wrong thread...there's a sticky for that! (quoting jerrymrc and his excellent modding skills. [Coffee] )

[generalmeow]

I was expecting a good recipe.

Here's an australian culinary tip: don't eat kangaroo. We shot one and this guy was cutting it up to feed to his dogs, and the thing's guts were filled with earthworm sized worms. Filled to the brim. Disgusting.

I don't think they were the kind of dogs that sleep under the covers with you either.

[BuffCyclist]

Here's an australian culinary tip: don't eat kangaroo. We shot one and this guy was cutting it up to feed to his dogs, and the thing's guts was filled with earthworm sized worms. Disgusting.

Really? I went to a kangaroo farm, they let us out into this caged in area and we got to pet them and take pictures. Then they took us inside and offered us lots of kangaroo items, kangaroo sausages, ground kangaroo, kangaroo steaks. It was all pretty tasty too.

That tip must mean not to eat wild kangaroo, right?

[generalmeow]

Really? I went to a kangaroo farm, they let us out into this caged in area and we got to pet them and take pictures. Then they took us inside and offered us lots of kangaroo items, kangaroo sausages, ground kangaroo, kangaroo steaks. It was all pretty tasty too.

That tip must mean not to eat wild kangaroo, right?

You better get checked for worms. I think all the kangaroos they feed you are wild kangaroos. Professional hunters come to our door and ask if they can shoot the kangaroos and pigs. And then they sell the meat to tourists.

That's true. But you probably can't get worms from it. It's just disgusting and I would never eat that shit having seen the insides.

[Irving]

I think if you only eat things that have good looking intestines, I see a lot of salad in your future.

[BuffCyclist]

Haha, no worms for me.

I did have a horrible stomach infection a year ago, couldn't eat anything with gluten or lactose for over a year and everything gave me super nasty gas. Finally talked to my dad (spine surgeon) and he talked to the wife (Nurse Practicioner) and they agreed that I had H Pylora, which is the most common stomach infection in the world or something like that, more than 50% of the worlds population has it and most go untreated. No idea how I got it, but I got it after moving down to NM. Good long abx regimen and it was out of my system, now I can eat anything again!

[generalmeow]

I think if you only eat things that have good looking intestines, I see a lot of salad in your future.

Regular intestines and intestines bursting at the seams with earthworms are two different ballgames for me.

[BuffCyclist]

Regular intestines and intestines bursting at the seams with earthworms are two different ballgames for me.

Oh, just earthworms? Meh, earthworms are okay grubs, not too bland but nothing wrong eating them. [ROFL1]

[generalmeow]

Oh, just earthworms? Meh, earthworms are okay grubs, not too bland but nothing wrong eating them. [ROFL1]

The guy cutting it up told me to come take a look at something. The guts were on the ground. He cut the stomach with a box cutter or something and worms spilled out in the ground. Wiggling all over the place. And then he said he "wouldn't ever eat kangaroo, like in Sydney where they sell tourists kangaroo hamburgers". I agreed with him wholeheartedly, and I spread the message.

[BuffCyclist]

Bwahaha, thats funny.

Reminds me of when I went scuba diving with my sister at the Great Barrier Reef there interestingly enough. Our guide called everyone over to him on the sea floor and then picked up an eggplant looking thing, then squeezed it and some string stuff came out. He grabbed my sisters hand and showed her that she could touch them, so she started playing with the strings, wrapping them around her fingers and then pulling more out and stuff.

When we got to the surface, the tour guide told us those were the sea slugs guts. It was a defense mechanism or something like that. She was all disgusted.

[Irving]

Sounds like a sea cucumber.

[BuffCyclist]

Yup, thats definitely what it was.

[KestrelBike]

Wait, I'm confused. How are the pink slugs related to your friend that nearly died? Was it at the same location?

And a similar story, my child hood friend (practically my brother) nearly was swept over niagara falls when he was 5yo. His sister ran in front of him and caught him before he was swept down.

Speaking of murderous water, I was probably about the same age and wading around at the "beach" of a local lake w my family. Suddenly, I stepped over some loose sand or something and dropped a couple feet below the water and time stopped. I remember being confused, feeling my feet trapped up to my ankles in sand, and looking up a foot above me at the surface of the water. I didn't even start to panic because it was so unexpected and surreal.

I'm alive and typing this today because my Aunt happened to see what happened and automatically knew that something wasn't right, she ran out to the water from where she had been sitting on a chair and pulled me out of the trap. I better thank her again. If she hasn't, I'm about 99% sure my dumbass would have drowned.

[generalmeow]

Speaking of murderous water, I was probably about the same age and wading around at the "beach" of a local lake w my family. Suddenly, I stepped over some loose sand or something and dropped a couple feet below the water and time stopped. I remember being confused, feeling my feet trapped up to my ankles in sand, and looking up a foot above me at the surface of the water. I didn't even start to panic because it was so unexpected and surreal.

I'm alive and typing this today because my Aunt happened to see what happened and automatically knew that something wasn't right, she ran out to the water from where she had been sitting on a chair and pulled me out of the trap. I better thank her again. If she hasn't, I'm about 99% sure my dumbass would have drowned.

What was it. Like a sink hole? Scary.

On that very same Australia trip where my friend almost died sliding down the rock face, we all almost died again (so I guess the one kid almost died twice on the same trip). We were traveling up the east coast, and were all hungover one morning and decided to go swimming in the ocean. We got into a rip current, as we quickly started getting sucked out to sea. And being really hungover, it was especially tough to struggle against, and we just couldn't make it back to shore. By the time you're about thigh deep, the current is so strong you can't walk forward. I started to get really worried at the point that I almost couldn't touch bottom and was getting really exhausted, and you have no leverage to move forward or even stop from moving backwards. I think two of the other guys got out pretty early, but me and another guy got about 100 yards off the shore, and started swimming perpendicular to the shore to try to get out of it, and it worked. It's like a treadmill, and you just have make it to the edge to step off of it.

It doesn't suck you under, it just sucks you out, at which point you're so tired from the struggle that you drown.

And coincidentally, another kid from my high school in Colorado, in the same general area of Australia, did drown after a rip current sucked him out to sea the following year. I didn't know him.

This reminds me - my kids aren't travelling Australia unattended at the age of 17/18. It all went smoothly, except for the multiple deaths that almost occurred.

They say rip currents are the number 1 hazard on Australian beaches being responsible for at least 21 drownings on average per year.

[Ronin13]

Oh those kind of slugs... here I though Federal released some new products similar to this (except slugs not birdshot):
http://www.gamaliel.com/images/FTGL12P8_L.jpg