TAPT Version 70.0 Steve Dowden follows the rules

[Uffdaswede]

18 minutes ago, Kampfgeist said:

Only the dive master wore chain - but just on his arms- fingers to shoulders.    There were probably 10? of us that dove to the bottom, held on and then the dive master jumped in with a bag of fish and just about every fish for miles swarmed him.    Looked like a massive ball of fish descending and then a shark would race in, all the fish would scatter and then come back  and then another shark would race in to grab a hunk o fish.  Very cool.   Probably 25-40 sharks total around us?  I actually have a VHS of the dive as there was a National Geographic photog that happened to be at the dive shop that day.   I, of course, have no VCR to play it or I would re-watch today.   All done in Tahiti.

Watching some nature show I saw some divers filming themselves effing with a giant moray eel.  One diver waves a fishy at the eel. Eel grabs the fish—and the diver’s thumb. Swallows both.

Later found out that doctors took the guy’s big toe off and sewed it on his hand. Dang thing looked like a short thumb.

[ThatJerkDave]

Morays are not to be messed with.  One dive, an octopus was with the group and people were playing with it.  I was terrified of the thing, and made it known that I want no part of it.  As soon as it decided that it didn't want to check us out anymore, an eel comes through super fast and gets one of its arms.  The dive master chased it off, and helped the octopus hide.  The eel was not intimidated by us in the slightest until someone was actually aggressive toward it.  

Sea turtles are really cool.  They are curious and will come look at you and will let you touch them, and will swim around with you for a while.  

One trip, we found a puffer fish.  That was really neat too.  Gently hold it on its sides and it will inflate to the size of a basketball, then back down to softballish size.  

I would really like to dive with whales.  I saw a pod of humpbacks when I was in Hawai'i, but we were on a bus trip, and obviously, the whales were in the water.  They are massive, and it is amazing!

[Kepler]

22 hours ago, wgbeethree said:

Fun fact....

As an American you are 6 times more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a shark.

I'm taking this to mean that Americans are more shark proof than other people.

[ThatJerkDave]

Just now, Kepler said:

I'm taking this to mean that Americans are more shark proof than other people.

 

People around the world give us crap.  But Americans do two things that they cannot.  Fight sharks and go to the Moon!  USA! USA! USA!

[MacReady]

@Packerraymond, knock knock.

[Cakeshoppe]

1 hour ago, Kampfgeist said:

#1 would be amazing.   I'm in

#3, #5 Have seen crocodiles and alligators in the wild-  Australia for crocs and Florida and Louisiana for the alligators.    Do it.

#4 - Did you know brown bears can be black and black bears can be brown?   Look at the hump when they sit to determine which is which.  I was told once you can also look at their claws to distinguish....to which I responded that if I'm close enough to determine which bear by their claws I no longer give a %$^& what kind of bear it is

I would recommend seeing a Manta Ray in the ocean while diving as a definite must for anyone.   Really amazing experience - was a very peaceful, awe-inspiring moment for me.

If you want to know what kind of bear it is, climb a tree. If it's a black bear it will climb up after you. If it's a brown bear, it will knock it down.

 

Black bears can have a pretty wid range of colors. like you said, black, brown, and also reddish cinnamon, white (kermode or spirit bear), and there's a very rarely seen silver-blue population known as glacier bears that live in the fjords of the Alaskan panhandle and BC.

Brown bears can be black but it's pretty rare. Typically brown with lighter tips on the back that give it the characteristic "grizzled" look (which may or may not be the namesake). Like you said, the shoulders are diagnostic, as well as the face shape. I heard that a nearly white one was seen in Montana recently.

Another fun fact, several other animals were once considered to be a kind of bear. Wolverine and badgers were both once listed as bears, as were the procyonids, which can still be seen in their german names:

Raccoon: Waschbär – Wash-bear

Coati: nasenbär – Nose-bear

Kinkajou: wickelbär / honigbär – wrap-bear/honeybear

 

[ThatJerkDave]

Wolverines and badgers are mustelids, correct?

[Cakeshoppe]

7 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said:

Wolverines and badgers are mustelids, correct?

yep. big weasels basically

 

[ThatJerkDave]

1 minute ago, Cakeshoppe said:

yep. big weasels basically

 

ever watch the guy that trains mink to kill rats?  Pretty awesome, if you like mink killing rats.

[Dubyajay]

6 hours ago, Outpost31 said:

****, I gotta add a badger and a wolverine now.  A manatee is somewhere on my list, too.

@Packerraymond, knock knock.

You'll never see a wolverine in the wild, unless you trap your entire life and have the greatest of luck. Those things are ghosts.

 

Great list though, that would be same as my list, being a predator fan myself.

[Uffdaswede]

10 hours ago, Cakeshoppe said:

If you want to know what kind of bear it is, climb a tree. If it's a black bear it will climb up after you. If it's a brown bear, it will knock it down.

 

Black bears can have a pretty wid range of colors. like you said, black, brown, and also reddish cinnamon, white (kermode or spirit bear), and there's a very rarely seen silver-blue population known as glacier bears that live in the fjords of the Alaskan panhandle and BC.

Brown bears can be black but it's pretty rare. Typically brown with lighter tips on the back that give it the characteristic "grizzled" look (which may or may not be the namesake). Like you said, the shoulders are diagnostic, as well as the face shape. I heard that a nearly white one was seen in Montana recently.

Another fun fact, several other animals were once considered to be a kind of bear. Wolverine and badgers were both once listed as bears, as were the procyonids, which can still be seen in their german names:

Raccoon: Waschbär – Wash-bear

Coati: nasenbär – Nose-bear

Kinkajou: wickelbär / honigbär – wrap-bear/honeybear

 

Joshsitton: YaramiahYonsonbär—Guardbear

[vegas492]

16 hours ago, Outpost31 said:

Number 1 on my bucket list is cage diving and seeing a Great White up close.

Number 2 is seeing a toucan in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 3 is seeing a saltwater crocodile or a Nile crocodile in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 4 is seeing a brown bear in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 5 was seeing an alligator in the wild, not in a zoo.  That one I accomplished.

 

Bucket list, sighting version?

#1 Sasquatch.  In the wild.  When I retire, I'm going to go squatching somewhere with a group of BFRO people who know what they are doing.  I won't see anything, but I'll have fun.

#2.  Grand Canyon.  I don't travel outside of the Midwest too often.  But I do wish to get to the Canyon and I do wish to fly fish it and catch something that swims.

#3.  Tombstone.  I want to visit and spend a night in Tombstone.  Old west stuff intrigues me.  Another retirement thing.

#4.  Alcatraz.  I really want to do that tour.  And not have to swim back to shore.

#1 on the list used to be catching and holding a 50 inch musky.  Accomplished that last fall with a 52 inch, 45 pound fish.  All good on that front and to me, that was the most important one.

Edited June 4, 2020 by vegas492

[packfanfb]

17 hours ago, Outpost31 said:

Number 1 on my bucket list is cage diving and seeing a Great White up close.

Number 2 is seeing a toucan in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 3 is seeing a saltwater crocodile or a Nile crocodile in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 4 is seeing a brown bear in the wild, not in a zoo.

Number 5 was seeing an alligator in the wild, not in a zoo.  That one I accomplished.

 

Cage diving is a thrill. I really want to go to Guadeloupe Island off the coast of CA which has some of the best GW cage diving in the world. Water is clear and the sharks are big. I've only done it in South Africa, which was still awesome but the two negatives are (1) the water is like 55 degrees and (2) the visibility sucks (maybe 6-10 feet). You basically keep your head above water the whole time until they are right up on you. 

[Kepler]

18 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

ever watch the guy that trains mink to kill rats?  Pretty awesome, if you like mink killing rats.

I don't believe I've ever turned down a mink killing rats video.

[Uffdaswede]

20 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

ever watch the guy that trains mink to kill rats?  Pretty awesome, if you like mink killing rats.

I thought he jumped the shark when he started training a giant lizard to do his rat killin'.