White Mtns 2013

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Arizona Road Trip Fall 2013: Scenic Landscapes (2)

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Holbrook, Arizona

Petrified logs at Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Company in Holbrook, Arizona.

Cave spider (Damon variegatus) purchased at Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Company.

Above Creature Featured In The Movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Tailless whipscorpion or African cave spider (Damon variegatus). It differs from whiptail scorpions (order Thelyphonida = Uropygida ) in having a rounded abdomen lacking a tail and spray glands. This relative of the whiptail scorpion has a conspicuously flattened body. It differs from true spiders in having long, whip-like front legs, strong, armored pedipalps and no spinnerets. The unique 1st pair of legs are modified into long, slender "feelers" called antenniform legs. These are used to sense surroundings and find prey in dark caves of eastern Africa. The modified pedipalps are used to grasp prey. One species (Paraphrynus mexicanus) is native to the southern Arizona.

This species is featured in the movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." In one scene Mad-eye Moody tortures this animal with the Imperius Curse until Hermione Granger begs him to stop. As the whipscorpion is tossed onto different students in the classroom, Moody makes the following two contradictory statements: "Don't worry, completely harmless....If she bites, she's lethal." In case you are wondering, this spider relative is nonvenomous.

Petrified Forest National Park closed due to ridiculous government shutdown.

Sedona Area

Hunter Moon Over Sedona

It was necessary to take two different exposures for this image. The sandstone formation was taken at ISO 200, f 8, 1/6 sec. The moon was taken at ISO 200, f 8, 1/100 sec. Camera: Nikon D-3200 with 70-300 mm lens on tripod. 18 October 2013 6:00 P.M.

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