Crazy woman and her dog that goes nuts in the park. I believe the explanation she gives about the dogs behaviour is not only funny, it’s just making everything worse than it already was.
Archive for the ‘Critters’ Category
Native New Zealand freshwater crayfish
Posted in Critters, Science on February 9, 2008| 7 Comments »
A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to go and have a wander around a stream near a friends house. After poking at various insects and other creepy crawlies, it occurred to me to have a look in the water and see if I could find anything a bit different than the usual insects I find. It just so happens that I found this fellow (click images for full sized picture..theoretically anyway):
This fellow is a freshwater crayfish, one of two species in New Zealand Paranephrops zealandicus, or more commonly known as the Southern Koura. The other species, rather boringly enough, is simply called the Northern Koura (Paranephrops planifrons) and is rather similar to the Southern Koura, but is often of a smaller size. Moving some rocks around revealed something moving about in the water and closer inspection revealed several Koura wandering about. Catching them was a little tricky, as they are extremely fast and stirring up sediments makes life much harder, but in the end I succeeded (for SCIENCE!). Once ready for his photoshoot this guy* was rather happy for the most part to sit up for the camera and have his photograph taken, but there was one rather dramatc incident towards the late afternoon.
Animacules 