Stranger things

[Nungali]

43 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

Today a local K-9 got bitten by a rattlesnake, helicoptered to an emergency animal hospital and apparently is expected to make a recovery.  I don't know who pays for it, but in the case of a human, here in CA the cost to treat a rattlesnake bite is about $300,000.  A single vial costs the hospital $16,000, then the hospital marks it up through the roof, an average number of vials used to treat a  rattlesnake bite is 30 -- and that's only one part of the overall treatment.  In the meantime, in Mexico the same vial is $100.  

 

About 350 rattlesnake bites of humans occur in CA annually.  It costs them (humans, not rattlesnakes) over $100 million annually.

 

Reptilian collusion?..  (Big Medicine can't possibly be human?..)

 

 

 

I love the way we have free medical !  Its a remnant from the  Good Old days  of Goff  ( a good PM we had way back  ... he got the chop of course   )  ....  free University  education as well    )  . 

 

I don't know how I would have survived otherwise ? 

[Nungali]

The Lazy Hunters . 

 

A comment that  comes from  white prejudice ;    an anecdote story in a journal by an early  white Australian who observed an Aboriginal going about 'his daily business '   fishing . He commented that he heard that Aboriginals were 'lazy'  and he thought this was a good example of it .

 

he came up on a man  snoozing on the bank of a stream  , he had piled some stones up and made a stick contraption . The stones directed fish into a smaller opening , just big enough for the fish to get though , in this was a noose with slip knot one end and the other tied to a bent over and secured  by the slip knot  stick . A fish would swim into the 'race' , get its head stuck in the noose , try to back out and get its gills caught in it  and start flipping  about , this would pull and undo the slip knot and the bent over stick would   fly up and straighten and flip the fish out of the water and up to the bank . The man would jump up and take the noose of and re set the trap and go back to snoozing . 

 

It seems the ingenuity of the ' automatic fishing machine ' was lost on the poor white fella .  As far as being lazy ... ever seen a  white guys fishing  ?   They never take a nap do they ?  (Unless all that beer they were drinking got the better of them    )

 

Anyway ,   I recently found something more ingenious  ..... doesn't even require the nearby presence of person . 

 

In the past , these shapes in the desert   ( Jordan ,  Syria , etc )   were  somewhat a mystery 

 

 

But now we have been able to learn a lot more about them and they have opened a window for us into more of the ancient world and society of hunter gatherer , pre-agriculatural society and the vastness of it ... previously unrealized . 

 

 

Its considered they where used by hunters and not herders - herding pens or similar structures are way smaller . Kites can be vast. 

 

In one case the ingenuity of the construction is remarkable . The area seems too vast to be able to drive animals into it , a lot of people would be needed. It seems to have been designed to work 'by itself ' . It is noted that some migratory animals will follow a line , instinctively . It might be from the old trails on the migratory route or a natural feature in the landscape . Birds will do this as well , following ridges or similar but also highways and longer established human artifacts .

Of course the antelopes could just jump the line of rocks ( and that will be used later in the process ) but ... if you have ever worked with a herd .... once the 'herd mind' is established its a 'flowing force' . Along the already established migration route , some of the kites work like a 'gradual interception' , the antelopes start running , en mass , along the side of the wall . Gradually a wall comes in from the opposite side and funnels the herd forward . In the one I saw an analysis of , just as the race entered the enclosure it went over a slight rise and around a corner , obscuring the enclosure from the view of the approaching herd.
Once the herd flowed into the enclosure then it could be seen and realized . The antelopes then look for an easy way out .

The approaches to the pits where also obscured , made on an angle so when an antelope approaches it can see a break in the rock wall , a small rise or ramp that obscures the pit, another steeper rise, stone or perhaps log on the edge and open free terrain beyond . Approaching at speed the antelope makes the jump assuming ground on the other side and ends up in the pit 

If the herd is stampeding then the flow would be more 'inevitable' . The system could virtually work by itself with no human intervention 

 

Other related finds ; Unusual 'marker stones ' with strange faced anthropomorphic figures . The strange faces are due to extra lines on them and some say these are little maps or outlines of the kites , specifically , they show the design of the next nearby kite in that direction . This means the arrangement of stones are not random in many cases and shows they could make a design in scale and also somehow execute it on large scale , in some cases they are near symmetrical .

In this kite they were studying they found something at the centre , it was a life like scaled down model of the kite. And in the center of the model ( in the place where the model is in the life sized version ) was a shrine and in the middle of that objects rare or unusual had been placed . A round this where more of the anthropomorphic figures stones stood up and facing inwards , also in the center was a hearth , whose fire would have illuminated those figures .

All this poses some interesting questions . How many people lived there and why did they need all these animals ? Either it was a lot of people and their habitats have not been found or survived or there was a massive amount of waste or export going on . It's hard to imagine export for the meat , perhaps the environment was conducive to drying it ? But there was certainly a market for the hides . Hides are often included as trade listed items coming out from Arabia into areas of the surrounding Fertile Cresent and also some potential trade in objects have been found like shell and other things .

It appears that before Man relied on agriculture and still had a primarily hunter collector based society , 'industry' was possible and perhaps settlement - that did not require the advent of agriculture ?

 

 

 

(sorry about the black background, I don't know how to get rid of that .) 

[Nungali]

Damn picture won't post .... 

 

hang on  (  Damn site thinks I am a bot ) 

 

 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ahmad-Al-Malabeh/publication/256784525/figure/fig1/AS:430826589560834@1479728471828/Scheme-of-the-features-of-a-late-generation-Harrat-desert-kite-Note-that-the-lengths-of.png

 

 

Edited Monday at 12:50 AM by Nungali

[Sanity Check]

7 hours ago, Taomeow said:

Today a local K-9 got bitten by a rattlesnake, helicoptered to an emergency animal hospital and apparently is expected to make a recovery.  I don't know who pays for it, but in the case of a human, here in CA the cost to treat a rattlesnake bite is about $300,000.  A single vial costs the hospital $16,000

 

 

Surprised there isn't more of a DIY anti venom movement.

 

Anti venom isn't that hard to make:

 

Quote

In 1901, Vital Brazil, working at the Instituto Butantan in São Paulo, Brazil, developed the first monovalent and polyvalent antivenoms for Central and South American Crotalus and Bothrops genera,^[30] as well as for certain species of venomous spiders, scorpions, and frogs. In Mexico in 1905, Daniel Vergara Lope developed an antivenom against scorpion venom, by immunizing dogs.^[31] In Australia, the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) began antivenom research in the 1920s. CSL has developed antivenoms for the redback spider, funnel-web spiders and all deadly Australian snakes.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivenom

 

Was 1st made with early 1900s era tech.

[Sanity Check]

double post

 

zzzzz

Edited Monday at 07:03 AM by Sanity Check

[old3bob]

before the massive mindless slaughter of Buffalo, (or bison) which came very close to causing their extinction by merciless white marksmen, the plains Indians and others in north America lived pretty well per the combination of hunter/gathers methods.   On a side note there are some very foolish people nowadays who go to Yellowstone national park and think they can get close to or even pet wild bison!  Wild bison that can get over 1500 pounds along with their horns ready to defend themselves.

 

early picture of man standing next to bison skulls

[Nungali]

Human greed       and when its linked to  destruction        

 

Here , up on the plateau they went mad cedar cutting , cut it so fast they had not enough ground crews to process it .... even built a railway  but that could not keep up with the pace of the destruction .   When it finally was stopped  the area was covered with rotten ceder logs , they cut down so many trees , a large %  were left to rot .    Insanity .   

 

Nowadays people would not notice as they have nothing to compare it to . There is the supposed preserved bits , but they actually got logged to  , they just didn't get turned into farmland or got covered with re growth .  The size of the trees in there is nothing like what they used to be .

 

But I always thought it weird how people lived in the devastation ... with the  surrounds still effected by rampant large scale logging - no regrowth , mud and logging trash everywhere , no  fields (as yet ) .... it looks like a battlefield , what an environment to live in ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- and it still continues ....  I am a getting too old for   'active forest action'  now  ....  but I had my day  .  

 

Go on... put yer dozer through this then    ( road blockage to logging site -  Chaelundi )

 

 

 

https://www.nefa.org.au/the_chaelundi_story_30_years_on

[old3bob]

some of the logging methods have improved in the US compared to the decades of wanton and stupid clear cutting and related eco-systems destruction.   But as far as i know the US Forestry Service still gives logging companies sweet deals and low prices to go into and cut area.   (thus raise money for their department)

[liminal_luke]

On 11/5/2025 at 4:50 PM, Taomeow said:

Today a local K-9 got bitten by a rattlesnake, helicoptered to an emergency animal hospital and apparently is expected to make a recovery.  I don't know who pays for it, but in the case of a human, here in CA the cost to treat a rattlesnake bite is about $300,000.  A single vial costs the hospital $16,000, then the hospital marks it up through the roof, an average number of vials used to treat a  rattlesnake bite is 30 -- and that's only one part of the overall treatment.  In the meantime, in Mexico the same vial is $100.  

 

 

Wow, I had no idea it was so expensive.  When I was a kid, my mom got biten by a rattle snake and we took her to a California hospital.  Not sure what my parents paid, if anything, but it sure wasn´t $300,000!

[Taomeow]

2 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

 

Wow, I had no idea it was so expensive.  When I was a kid, my mom got biten by a rattle snake and we took her to a California hospital.  Not sure what my parents paid, if anything, but it sure wasn´t $300,000!

 

When I was a kid, where I grew up it was free of charge -- like all other things medicine.    

And when you were a kid, it must have been a lot less expensive, besides with a good insurance I'm told people wind up paying no more than $18,000 of that $300,00 out of pocket (per Grok which I questioned on the subject), but an uninsured bitee got a $260,000 bill in a publicized case (per same source). 

 

It's great that your mom was treated successfully.  Must have been horrible! 

 

I have a picture of a rattlesnake who spared me and my taiji practice partner when we were doing Cannon Fist in the park, jumping and stomping all over the place -- and when we stopped, we saw a sleeping rattlesnake curled up right between us.  Only by a miracle of god did we manage not just to avoid waking it up but somehow not to jump smack on top of it.  It was absolutely invisible in the grass so we had no idea it was right underfoot -- I just noticed it accidentally when we stopped.  We called the park rangers, who then came equipped with a red plastic bucket and some snake tongs, picked it up expertly and deposited in the bucket.  They told us that they would set it free in Snake Canyon somewhere in the South Bay.

 

    

 

 

[Nungali]

More snake news . 

 

I  was working yesterday cleaning out the shed  and throwing stuff out on the driveway. Occasionally some big huntsman spiders would run out of it .  One of the locals , a kookaburra, had himself perched on a nearby branch and was swooping down to get them . One time I nearly tripped over him , I walked out and he swooped by low, his wings brushing my  shins    

 

This is rather common , they get attracted by  digging, work or anything that disturbs the ground .  (  Local tells me he was digging a hole , kookaburra kept jumping in for worms and getting in the way , he wouldn't get out at one stage ; " I had to get the shovel under him and lift him out ! "    ) 

 

Another time I wrote here about one swooping me and landing near my feet and pinning a black snake to the ground that was  coming towards me that I had not seen .   Good boy ! 

 

Anyway, I went out and lifted up a sheet of plastic weed  suppressant  and there was a long thin snake under it . Probably a green tree snake ?

 

 

.   Kooka was on the roof , so I called him and he looked , I had a long stick and put it next to the snakes body and flicked it onto the drive .  He immediately went for it . I have seen this a few times , snakes are part of their common food ; they usually dive in and  with their big beak  strike it behind the head  and start smashing the head into the ground and thrashing it about , sometimes rather big snakes too .

 

Not this time , I never seen this before . Snake put up a ferocious  fight , kooka couldn't seem to control it , at one stage they where rolling around on the ground, kooka on its back . I thought I saw the snake strike him .  That was enough , he backed off. Snake was there glaring at kooka on one side and me on the other  .  Me ; "Okay you win . "    I let snake get back under  weed mat .  Kooka looked a bit stunned and flew up onto a branch . I kept my eye on him for a while , he seemed okay .  Never seen a kookaburra snake fight like that before . 

 

 

They usually don't loose   ( this one is a red belly black snake - aggressive and  highly venomous ) ;

 

 

    

 

[Taomeow]

Impressive performance.  Here's another one of those animals who view snakes primarily as cat food or a cat toy, despite the danger:

 

 

 

[Nungali]

Wow , I watched it at slow speed .   Bob got some fast reflexes and snappy footwork going there !  

 

 

[oak]

20 hours ago, Taomeow said:

Impressive performance.  Here's another one of those animals who view snakes primarily as cat food or a cat toy, despite the danger:

 

 

 

 

Interesting that behaviour of rolling on top of the dead body of the snake or where the kill took place? The cat does it in the following day as well.

My dog does this everytime she finds the body of a dead animal (crow, frog).

[Taomeow]

26 minutes ago, oak said:

 

Interesting that behaviour of rolling on top of the dead body of the snake or where the kill took place? The cat does it in the following day as well.

My dog does this everytime she finds the body of a dead animal (crow, frog).

 

When cats do that rolling thing -- which a healthy cat does often -- it means they are pleased (with themselves and their circumstances, or with you and being in your company), or else pleading -- for praise, acknowledgement (just look how cute I am!), or company (see how friendly I am!)  I don't know why dogs do that...  Maybe it means "I am glad you are dead, you rascal you!"