Hello folks who wonder if gifting a bathroom scale is ever a good idea,
Recently I decided to hike up Mission Peak in Fremont. So, I did.
That's it. Just had to boast about my achievement in this post.
End of blog post.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ok, maybe not just yet.
More than the view, what caught my eye were some of the inhabitants living around Mission Peak Summit.
What is the first thing you are going to do after hiking for 3 miles and 2,000 feet elevation and reaching the summit?
Take a selfie to share on Instagram?
No, I meant after that.
You immediately take out all the snacks you have in your backpack. And while you are eating like no is watching, you are dropping crumbs left and right. At that time, someone is watching you from a distance like that creep in high school. The stalker in this scenario is none other than a Yellow-billed Magpie.
You see, once people leave their spot to do whatever the trend is on social media these days, the Magpie comes in for the kill. Scouting for dropped food and judging people who don't pay their dues, this Magpie seemed like it had become habituated to people visiting this peak and dropping their food.
Another bird that often hangs on the rocks around the summit is the Rock wren. This bird can be seen hopping from rock to rock while foraging for food.
But the real party starts once nature turns off the lights i.e., after sunset. For the curious eyes stumbling upon a California Common Scorpion is a rewarding experience.
To really appreciate this specimen, we need to go closer. One can see the multiple eyes on the scorpion. Despite having almost 6 eyes (might be 8 as well, I didn't look that close since some scorpions can have up to 12 eyes and I just know to count till 10), these scorpions have poor eyesight. Have you ever seen a Scorpion as a Pilot on your Southwest flight? Case in point.
These eyes are primarily used to distinguish light from dark conditions and inform it when it is hidden under a rock or when the sun has set. To sense things around them, they use sensory hairs on their body which unlike humans they don't wax at the end of winter.
Unlike people in the SF Bay Area who fill both their lungs with wildfire smoke, scorpions have 4 pairs of lungs called book lungs. Those white patches show the location of the lungs on the underside of the abdomen.
And a final treat was coming across a male Desert Tarantula.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Did you learn something new in this post? Let us know in the comments below