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They don't get very big. Really.
They're typically about the size of an adult thumb.
This is what happens when you don't have proper chicken hawks and chickens.
The Germans developed an effective mechanical counter though. They called it a 'Stuka.'
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
We have falcons, hawks and eagles, though.
Mind you, hawks and falcons mainly prey on other birds.
Proper Aquila Audax (Wedge-tailed eagle) eagles, mind you, not the glorified seagull you yanks venerate - it's a sea-eagle and not even a proper Aquila.
One look at the Wedge-tailed eagle tells you "I'm'a f*** your gak up!" - these birds are known to attack hang-gliders and will take out r/c drones in their airspace without a second thought. They also carry off smalll dogs, possums and roos.
Pygmy possums tend to be food for the owls and frogmouths.
I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.
That is not dead which can eternal lie ...
... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
2019/06/21 14:03:37
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Frankly its a miracle that those pygmy possums haven't gone extinct due to all of the other hostile creatures
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Grey Templar wrote: Frankly its a miracle that those pygmy possums haven't gone extinct due to all of the other hostile creatures
Texas possums split into two groups. one wears body armor (armadilos) and the other carries switchblades.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
2019/06/23 14:48:12
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Grey Templar wrote: Frankly its a miracle that those pygmy possums haven't gone extinct due to all of the other hostile creatures
"Reproduction
Western pygmy possums can breed throughout the year, although they do so more commonly in the spring, and give birth to litters of four to six young. The mother often carries more than six embryos at a time in her womb, but because she has only six teats, and marsupial young remain attached to an individual teat for much of their early lives, six is the maximum number she is able to rear.[10] Unusually, however, the mother may give birth just two days after weaning a previous litter, with her teats dramatically changing in size to accommodate the smaller young, and the mammary glands reverting to production of colostrum.[6]
The young are still blind when they leave the pouch at around 25 days of age; they initially remain within the nest, and are fully weaned at around 50 days. Females reach sexual maturity at 12 to 15 months old.[6]"
They breed like mad. Animals in Australia either need to be deadly or breed so fast it can keep up.
insaniak wrote: Sometimes, Exterminatus is the only option.
And sometimes, it's just a case of too much scotch combined with too many buttons...
2019/06/24 16:08:19
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Texas possums split into two groups. one wears body armor (armadilos) and the other carries switchblades.
Crickets do that in Australia and New Zealand.
ouch.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units." Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?" Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?" GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!" Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
A cricket, Aussie version, atleast that's what was told.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units." Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?" Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?" GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!" Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.
2019/06/25 06:10:17
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Australia. Where the Crickets are the size of Possums and the Possums are the size of Crickets.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Grey Templar wrote: Frankly its a miracle that those pygmy possums haven't gone extinct due to all of the other hostile creatures
"Reproduction
Western pygmy possums can breed throughout the year, although they do so more commonly in the spring, and give birth to litters of four to six young. The mother often carries more than six embryos at a time in her womb, but because she has only six teats, and marsupial young remain attached to an individual teat for much of their early lives, six is the maximum number she is able to rear.[10] Unusually, however, the mother may give birth just two days after weaning a previous litter, with her teats dramatically changing in size to accommodate the smaller young, and the mammary glands reverting to production of colostrum.[6]
The young are still blind when they leave the pouch at around 25 days of age; they initially remain within the nest, and are fully weaned at around 50 days. Females reach sexual maturity at 12 to 15 months old.[6]"
They breed like mad. Animals in Australia either need to be deadly or breed so fast it can keep up.
You just breed so fast all the dead animals cannot wipe you all out and have qaunitity with a quality of its own.
Australia. Someone petition to rename it Catchan.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
2019/06/25 11:15:01
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
filbert wrote: It is a legitimate defense against predation. Periodic cicadas emerge in huge swarms to the extent that the predators cannot possibly eat them all
I drove through Georgia during the Brood X Cicada "event" in 2004, I was astounded.. Doing 75 down the freeway, in a truck, radio up almost full blast and I could still hear them over all of that. Growing up in Texas I got used to Mayflys swarming and such, but this made that feel like finding an ant in the kitchen. When I got to Connecticut the front of my truck looked like black carpet. I was really blown away by how many there were and how loud they got.
And here I was putting off reading this thread thinking I was going to read a bunch of stories about house parties that got out of hand and went south.. Pleasantly surprised.
AngryAngel80 wrote: I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "
Watch Out For Wasps: Massive Yellow Jacket Nests Spotted In Alabama
June 28, 20196:11 PM ET
Dani Matias
A "super nest" was located outside an Alabama home earlier this month. Experts recommend hiring a professional to help remove these dangerous colonies.
Charles Ray
Similar to humans, yellow jackets often live in areas that disturb the natural environment. This means the two species are bound to cross paths.
Scientists are warning Alabama residents to be on the lookout for "super nests" which provide shelter to at least 4,000 yellow jackets. Early sightings of these nests suggests that the state may see a large number of wasp colonies popping up this year.
An average yellow jacket nest does not exceed the size of a volleyball, Charles Ray, an entomologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and a research fellow at Auburn University told NPR. If they choose to build in a wall void or hole, their "super nest" may not even be noticeable until it suddenly appears, extremely large, seemingly out of nowhere. Ray said although yellow jackets are not good excavators or diggers they still manage to expand the nest.
"They tend to increase the size by either going out or inward. But eventually they might start finding their way into the home," Ray said.
Most years Ray witnesses zero to two observations of large nests. The last time Alabama had a huge outbreak of "super nests" was in 2006 with more than 90 sightings — the first was reported during mid-June.
Perennial nest located inside a '57 Chevy in Elmore County, Alabama in June 2006.
Perennial nest located inside a '57 Chevy in Elmore County, Alabama in June 2006.
Perennial nest located in Chilton Country, Alabama in July 2006.
Perennial nest located in Chilton Country, Alabama in July 2006.
Perennial nest located in Talladega County, Alabama in June 2006.
Perennial nest located in Talladega County, Alabama in June 2006.
Perennial nest located in Butler County, Alabama in June 2006.
Perennial nest located in Butler County, Alabama in June 2006.
This year, the yellow jackets seem to be in a hurry. Ray said his email is flooding with potential sightings of "super nests." By mid-May he confirmed two in person, and since, at least 10 others through pictures.
Ray encourages homeowners to leave the nest alone and call a professional for help. If people choose to have the nests removed, Ray recommends contacting a licensed pest control operator, warning that some commercial operators will not tackle the job.
The southeast has a large population of yellow jackets.
Ray said the best way to measure whether a nest is perennial — one that has survived more than a year — is by counting the number of queens inside. A queen is darker colored and much larger than a worker. Some perennial nests can include up to a quarter-million yellow jackets.
In an average year, almost no nests survive the winter, according to Ray.
Every spring a queen wasp will set out to search for a place to construct a nest. Queens usually claim territory in any kind of cavity such as a wall void, or most commonly in a vacant rodent hole in the ground. Once the queen has found an ideal spot, she begins building.
"She starts the colony from scratch," Ray said. "She's doing all the work herself, she's a single mom."
After creating a nest, the queen lays a few eggs and sets off to forage for food such as spiders or other insects to bring home. She produces female workers who then assume responsibility for expanding the nest, feeding the young and protecting the colony. The nest will grow from one queen to thousands of workers. The nest is considered mature and at its largest by August. During the late summer, colonies consist of males which help produce more queens.
For example, a nest with 4,000 workers will usually produce 4,000 queens to prepare for the following season.
During winter the colony slowly fades away and the workers die from cold temperatures or starvation because their food supply disappears. The queen however lives and leaves the nest.
"The queens are the only ones who have [an] antifreeze-like compound in their blood so the queens can survive freezing," Ray said.
The queen finds a place under the bark of a dead tree or a log in the ground.
"They don't hardly move all winter, and so anything that finds them, any animal even fungi, could consume them," Ray said. "That's why they put out 4,000 queens. If one of them makes it through that winter in an average year, that's a successful colony."
Ray is in the process of confirming more perennial nest reports in person but said he expects the total to mirror 2006 numbers.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
I once (unknowingly) dug into a ground yellow jacket nest while doing some yard work. Put my shovel in the ground, turned to throw the dirt, sensed something was amiss, and turned around in a slow-motion WTF moment to see a swirling cloud of those suckers.
I ran. Faster than I thought possible, although I had to stop at a not-completely safe distance to yell to my allergic wife to shut the front door. Still only got stung once, although several were trying to sting the hell out of my clothes. I counter-counterattacked with chemical warfare, and their nest was no more.
Chemicals are like lawyers...everyone says they don't like them, but when some gak happens it's the first place they turn.
Frazzled wrote: Alabama may be attempting to enter the Deathworld Games:
*snip*
Yeah that's a big effing nope from me. I hate wasps with the burning passion of a thousand suns... I get anxiety just watching the videos of exterminators taking out these big nests.
As soon as those Japanese Hornets are found in the US I am moving to Antarctica.
When I lived in Texas I ran over a ground nest with our big tractor while mowing the pasture. Fortunately our tractor was an enclosed cab but that didn't stop them from trying to get in. I pulled a quick U-turn and parked the big box mower over where they were coming from and read a magazine I had in the cab. About 30 minutes later most of them were gone so I carried on getting the mowing done.
I will say that if you see me running, screaming at the pitch equal to that of a young child, chances are I am being chased by a wasp. I am 6'3" 300 pounds, so I wont be hard to miss.
Funny story:
I worked as a maintenance guy at an independent retirement apartment complex (all the luxury of an overpriced apartment with the convenience of a nursing home for the elderly) and we had a Bald Face Hornet nest pop up in a bush behind one of the units. 2 of our lawn care guys had to be taken to urgent care after being stung so many times when they found it. My supervisor called me up and told me to go take care of it, and me, who had totally lied on the interview to get the job when they asked if I had any problems with wasps or bees, had to find a way to take care of the nest and face my biggest fear. I devised a genius, 2000 IQ plan, to deal with it since the lawn care guys had tried to spray it and it didn't work. I rang up the resident who lived in the apartment whos back yard it was in and told her to not go in her back yard for anything until we told her it was ok. I waited until dusk and went to our pool room and grabbed one of those 30 foot extendable pool net poles, extended it all 30 feet, and jousted the nest from across the yard to poke a hole in the side so the spray could get in the nest. This took about 5 or 6 tries and a lot longer than it should have because I would drop the pole and run after each thrust since I knew they would be a little upset at what I had just done, even if (when) I missed. On the last thrust I knew I had hit home when they all came pouring out and I immediately dropped the pole and ran, not looking back, and didn't stop until I had reached the community center where my office was, which was about 300 yards away. I am pretty sure I was yelling the entire time but it was all a haze of adrenalin and fear so I don't quite remember..
Anyway, the next day I went back to the nest at dusk and put the "20 ft" claim on the spray bottle of wasp killer to the test, and that's the shortest freaking 20 feet I have ever seen.. I managed to empty 2 cans before I saw movement and again went sprinting back to my office. I repeated this procedure for 2 days until one of the lawn care guys got close enough to snip the portion of the bush it was in, off, and verified that they were dead. Except not all of them were dead. All of the adults were gonners, but the larvae were still alive, so I had him throw it in a garbage bag which I sprayed another 3 cans of spray in to before dumping the basketball sized nest into the dumpster.
I don't know if anyone saw this happening, as I was the only maintenance person there that late, and the residents normally turned in at about 7 (I did this all at about 830 or so when it was still light outside but sun had gone down so they were all in their nest still), but I imagine it would have been quite humorous to see.
Edit: I screwed up the quote system...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/07/01 22:22:30
LordofHats wrote: I saw an article about that awhile ago.. Straight "feth this I'm out" territory. Time to find a new continent to live on.
Well we got the russian state, and the french and the balkans.
So come visit so long it still stands!
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units." Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?" Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?" GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!" Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.
gorgon wrote: I once (unknowingly) dug into a ground yellow jacket nest while doing some yard work. Put my shovel in the ground, turned to throw the dirt, sensed something was amiss, and turned around in a slow-motion WTF moment to see a swirling cloud of those suckers.
I ran. Faster than I thought possible, although I had to stop at a not-completely safe distance to yell to my allergic wife to shut the front door. Still only got stung once, although several were trying to sting the hell out of my clothes. I counter-counterattacked with chemical warfare, and their nest was no more.
Chemicals are like lawyers...everyone says they don't like them, but when some gak happens it's the first place they turn.
VS wasps, yes, the deployment of everything short of napalm and thermite is sane!
Well if you wane to preserve your lawn. If not. Burn away!
If there those giant Japanese things... Nope. Nope.
They can die any way possible.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
2019/07/02 22:54:51
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Ok, now I am officially thankfull that my french neighbour decided to declare chemical war on his garden.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units." Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?" Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?" GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!" Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.
2019/07/03 10:18:30
Subject: Re:Australia continues to horrify the world
Ok, now I am officially thankfull that my french neighbour decided to declare chemical war on his garden.
Catchan seems to be visiting.
Nope. They are 100%refined pure nope.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units." Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?" Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?" GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!" Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Dragonflies and the like used to be a lot bigger in the past - WAY bigger
From what I gather what mostly holds insects back from being bigger is their ability to breath. In the past the atmosphere was richer in key air particles that they required (I think its mostly oxygen) so they could grow larger and deliver more to their muscles to let wings and body function. With a more modern atmopshere the air isn't of the sufficient rich mix to allow them to convert enough to energy. Of course there are likely loads of other factors that came around too which contributed to their size reduction over time.
- it's a sea-eagle and not even a proper Aquila.
Eldar- 4436 pts
