Round 2

If you're a true fan you may remember why I started this blog in the first place: to write about the fun times I was having gallivanting all over Ecuador. It was a magical time where I got to go hunting for seals in the Galapagos and help extract oil in the Amazon all under the guise of "school" in a completely once-in-a-lifetime type of experience.

Well, in a bizarre turn of events I'm going back. To do exactly everything I did the last time. Again. I'm still in disbelief even though I'm sitting in the airport about to leave for paradise. Yes, this is very lucky for me, but even luckier for you! This means no more boring crap from the northeast and the return of the blog that originally won you over.

Next time: A blog posted with 100% genuine Ecuadorian internet!

Hopefully I'll see this rare species of mosquito again this weekend.

The End 2

Summer is over. I've taken 82 pictures in what is more or less my backyard since May. You can view these photographs in chronological order here OR you can view the slideshow below. It's so big that it barely fits on the blog space so it must be good. Might I suggest playing some groovy music behind it so you won't be bored to death. Thankfully this marks the end of the "unemployed stuck at home phase" of my life. For now. So while my writing may not improve I can promise the subject matter will be objectively more exciting. I leave you in suspense!

Hawaii 4

An Ole. 

And finally we have the infamous anoles. While these lizards may not seem as pretty as the day geckos, they make up for their otherwise bland coloration with retractable colorful flaps of flesh under their throat. Now doesn't that sound attractive? Maybe if you were a lady lizard.

*wolf whistle*

Actually, it seems that the lady anoles probably care about this wonderful appendage just as much as you, but the color and timing is important in species recognition and differs between species of anoles. Just check out how the green anole's dewlap is totally different from the brown anole's dewlap. They're practically different species.

Although there are over 400 anoles in the world only the one in the above video is a native resident of the United States. But now a handful of species are running amok in Florida, the most common invader being the brown anole. The brown anole is so fat and mean and beats up his green cousins. They then go hide in the treetops where the brown anoles cannot reach because they are so fat and mean. This has been scientifically proven in areas where the two species overlap. 

A great view of the hyoid apparatus in action, the bone behind the ear and jaw that's responsible for the movement of the dewlap.

If you have too much free time on your hands, you may notice that the brown anole only slightly bobs his head while the green anole would fit in at a thrash metal concert. Unfortunately, I didn't get the full display of the brown anole, but it would probably look slightly different from the green anole's performance. 

The "green" anole can be quite brown. 

Well, there are many other facts about these anoles (about seven), but there isn't enough time in the day to blog about all of them. This concludes the wonderful pictorial walkthrough of the reptiles (and amphibian) I saw while in paradise. More pictures can be found here. We'll be back with more thrilling stories from the second most exciting place on earth: upstate New York. 

Aloha.

Hawaii 3

WOW! Look at that lizard!

I could spend all day watching and photographing these geckos. So I did. These geckos are so pretty! I would totally buy car insurance from one if it asked me. Originally from Madagascar and released by a University of Hawaii student years back with the purpose of filling my heart with joy and saving me a trip all the way to Madagascar, this is the gold dust day gecko.

Phelsuma laticauda which is Latin for "I should get a new hobby."

I could easily post one hundred more pictures and rant about how gorgeous these geckos are, but I'll spare you from boredom and post this equally self-indulging video instead. 

But there is still some boring science to be learned! Geckos, and lizards in general, tend to be visually oriented animals. Our star knocks down a piece of debris at the :12 second mark with its tail and immediately changes its gaze towards the falling object. Unfooled, the insurance spokesperson goes onto to examine the camera, spending most of the video staring directly at it. There is also a tongue flick at :43 seconds probably picking up my greasy fingerprints on the casing of my GoPro. So unfortunately, I didn't capture a lizard behaving completely "naturally" in its "natural environment," but it does show you that lizards aren't (completely) dimwitted cold-blooded lugs. They're creatures that are keenly aware of their environment and smart enough to realize when someone is trying to record them with a camera.

"I'm not stupid" -Lizard

Hawaii 2

Frogs

You might think Hawaii is a horrible place to live if sea turtles are the only reptile readily available, but thanks to the meddling of the human race, the islands are overrun by a handful of species of lizards and frogs. Perhaps the most exciting amphibian to see is the aptly named green and black poison dart frog.

It really is green and black!

It's so exciting that you should forget about the other less exciting slimy jumpy things. But it's true, the only other frogs on Oahu include the cane toad, which is the quintessential boring toad and the American bullfrog, arguably the standard frog. There is also the Japanese wrinkled frog, but it's not terribly exciting (unless you're a weirdo who likes to find reptiles and amphibians...) and I failed at getting a nice picture of one. If only there were some fast and easy way to search for images on the internet. Oh well. Here's another fun and exciting poison dart frog.

Green and black poison dart frog? More like "fun and exciting poison dart frog."

These were intentionally released in an attempt to control the mosquito population in the wetter areas of the island, but they shirked this responsibility and are now one of the most popular attractions for visitors to this great state, further solidifying its status as a vacation hotspot. Even though we're taught the evils of moving animals around the globe, what a cool species to introduce. Someone should give that guy a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Hawaii harbors tourists of all types, human and herpetological. 

Hawaii 1

See turtles here. 

Hawaii. What negative things are there to say about Hawaii? Nothing. Hawaii was paradise. Between the beach, Spam, and streets overrun by Japanese tourists, what more could you want? Oh yeah. Reptiles. So without further ado, here is Hawaii's own green sea turtle: the Hawaiian green sea turtle.

And what's better than just one measly sea turtle? Two measly sea turtles.

"What did one sea turtle say to the other?

We're BOTH sea turtles."

And what could be better than two sea turtles? Three sea turtles, of course. But I don't have a picture with three sea turtles even though there were five of them lying on the beach together. Instead, here's this exciting shot of a sea turtle getting hit by the sea.

Ouch. 

And that's all for Hawaii's native reptiles. Every other slimy or scaly creature is an evil introduced hitch hiker, besides the rarely seen yellow-bellied sea snake which floats throughout the entire Pacific Ocean.

Aloha.

Graveyard Super Fun Time

I've come back with a terrible sunburn on my neck and a broken foot. Actually, I don't know if my foot is injured, but it kind of hurts when I walk. Regardless, I'm not into feet. I'm into lizards. They're so interesting that I'll spend all day in a graveyard in the middle of Queens observing and photographing them. Just another completely normal activity for a completely normal person.

Behold!

But these aren't your average lizards. Actually, they might as well be. They're greenish with a long tail, four legs and they're cool. But the killer is that these are lacertids! Which means they're in the family lacertidae! Which means they're originally from the Old World and have no reason being in the Americas. This is concerning because "introduced species are bad," but if you're an optimist  like me, it's really an amazing opportunity to study a species from a completely unique and distinct lineage that is normally unavailable here in the United States.

Apparently a pet shop in Long Island went out of business way back when and with great foresight let loose their stock of Italian wall lizards, Podarcis sicula. Despite New York being colder than their native Italy, the lizards did not die off in the winter, but proceeded to spread around Long Island and various parts of New York City. Someone should give that guy a medal or the key to the city or a Nobel prize. Whichever is the easiest to mail.

Another common name for these fine reptiles is "ruin lizard" because they're often found on rocky wall faces, but it seems that tombstones make a fine substitute. Also, as you may notice from the bit of Hebrew above, this was a Jewish cemetery making me even more of an oddball to see stalking through the graves with a lizard noose and DSLR. Here is a video detailing the habitat and me walking around contemplating whether or not I am disrespecting the deceased.

 

A lizard does make a quick, barely-visible appearance in this video.
Watch in 1080 and full screen for your best chance of finding it. 

These lizards were extremely abundant and it was hard not to walk a few steps without seeing or hearing one a two dash off into the vegetation or under a loose gravestone. Instead of amazing camoulfage, these lizards rely on their wariness and speed to escape from predators or lizard-crazy weirdos like me. This alertness is visible as you can see the lizard staring back at the camera in some photos.

As exciting as watching lizards run away from you can be (very) , lizards occasionally do other things too. One tried and true method to observe lizards behave naturally is to simply sit and wait for them to ignore your presence. As I sat on a conveniently placed bench nestled next to some graves, I was soon surrounded by a handful of lizards going about their business, although the lizard in the grave closest to me remained wary and only peeked his head out.

At this point in the day the lizards seemed to be bumming out in the shade, not doing much. But the stiff tension was broken when two large quarreling males brought their disputes to the ground next to my feet. The tail-less male below was being chased by another male with a complete tail. Unfortunately this was more of a chase than a fight, but it was an interesting moment of natural history. Who doesn't love those?!

If you have too much time on your hands and spent a good chunk of time staring at these pictures or reading about lizard biology, you may have noticed the difference in head size between photos. In this case, males have larger jaws relative to females presumably because they spend so much time fighting each other. Males with bigger heads have stronger bite force and defeat punier males and then proceed to take all the ladies, just like in humans. 

Not the best picture to highlight the differences, but the male is on the left. 

And as if you haven't had enough enthralling facts and pictures of lizards today, the peeling sunburnt skin on the back reminds me that lizards also shed. 

This is what my neck looks like. 

Wasn't that just wonderful and enlightening? Knowledge is power and power corrupts, so be careful. 

A female Podarcis sicula bids you adieu from her stone perch placed neatly above a dead man.