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Uncategorized
- April 14, 2009
- 15
Where the Wild Things Are
This trip I have had to contend with swarms of gnats which blow into your face like an winged tornado. The phenomenon becomes quite interesting during physical exercise. So far I have only swallowed seven of them. It is a far more pleasant experience than keeping your mouth firmly closed and snorting one up a nostril though. Trust me.
As spring moves into summer, we are expected to see an increase in snake activity. Among the various neuro and hemotoxic fiends which inhabit the area are the Desert Black Snake, the Persian Sand Viper, and the Blunt-Nosed Viper. (look closely at boot)All come equipped with a full range of lethality, not unlike your average Marine.
Also available are the nocturnal joys of the local arachnid population. My favorite is the Death Stalker Scorpion. This creature lives throughout Iraq and we are told is very neurotoxic. Fortunately for humanity it is only “relatively aggressive”. Not a trait I admire in predators but for my own safety I’ll take what I can get.
At night here on Al Assad you can hear the din of strange creatures cavorting about. Some have assumed wild dogs are roaming the area. Others suppose they are coyotes of some kind. The other night one of these lurking nightmares was caught in a live trap by animal control on base.
That friends, is a wild striped hyena. It looks like some ferocious space dog thing which may have attacked Captain Kirk in an old Star Trek episode. Here is another picture:
Seems there is a pack of these creatures prowling the base. Here is some video:
Crikey I thought you only had to be on your guard against the enemy! That hyena thingy does look like something off a SciFi movie! :0
DUDE! Holy crap!!
Thanks for giving me the heebee jeebees over here. Yikes.
Be safe out there. From everything.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 04/14/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
Yeah… fuck that.
I’m surprised that you don’t take one of the striped dog wantabes and make him the company mascot. I’m sure a 1st Sgt could snarl it down.
damn. no kidding lurking nightmares…prowling around? loose? on the base?
What the hell? A wild-striped hyena?!?!?!?
It looks like something out of a horror movie.
Thanks for not showing those horrendous camel spiders. Yikes to those monsters!
Akelamalu, “Crickey!” That’s what I said. The other night it was pitch
black as I walked from the showers to the hootch. Armed with only a bar
of soap I remember thinking, “Aw man, wild striped hyenas…”
T, heebee jeebies, I’m the one facing down mythological creatures AND
terrorists in the same deployment. Sinbad never even had it like this!
SuperRobot, no worries, humans are by far the more dangerous threat.
CoffeyPot, yeah, but then I’d have to get its shots and clean up hyena
crap around the company area. Policing up Marines is bad enough thanks.
Katherine, don’t worry, Marines are bred to face nightmares. Besides, we
got guns ‘n’ stuff.
Southern, the real horror show was when I and my Company Gunny walked
through the living areas yesterday. Let the disciplining begin!
Travis, camel spiders are so old hat. Wild Striped Hyenas, now those are
COOL!
You lost me at snake.
Anndi, so dragon slaying is for girls but snakes not so much?
Exactly. You know, that hyena must be related to my beagle. She’s just like that if you try to take her food away.
It ture, small animals make the home in our shoes. So be careful while wearing it.