Mathison Museum of Natural History

[BlueKrono]

Seeing it latched onto your arm there... 😱

I don't mind leeches, spiders, mites or centipedes... ticks are the only critter that give me the heebie-jeebies.

[bmathison1972]

Seeing it latched onto your arm there... 😱

I don't mind leeches, spiders, mites or centipedes... ticks are the only critter that give me the heebie-jeebies.

Especially where you live; you're in Ground Zero for lots of tickborne diseases!!!

[Gwangi]

Ticks are so bad where I live that I've thought about moving just because of them. I'm originally from NY but NY has nothing on MD when it comes to ticks. They're mostly lone star ticks.

[bmathison1972]

Ticks are so bad where I live that I've thought about moving just because of them. I'm originally from NY but NY has nothing on MD when it comes to ticks. They're mostly lone star ticks.

Lone star ticks are one of the most aggressive species. They jump from host to host with impunity. That's probably why they are efficient at transferring alpha-gal (meat allergy).

[Gwangi]

Ticks are so bad where I live that I've thought about moving just because of them. I'm originally from NY but NY has nothing on MD when it comes to ticks. They're mostly lone star ticks.

Lone star ticks are one of the most aggressive species. They jump from host to host with impunity. That's probably why they are efficient at transferring alpha-gal (meat allergy).

Aggressive is right, I've watched armies
of them marching up my legs. Luckily I can usually feel them too. I used to be rather outdoorsy but not so much anymore, I definitely don't want a meat allergy!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Platalea minor Temminck & Schlegel, 1850
Common name(s): black-faced spoonbill

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Production: 2010
Size/Scale: Total figure height approximately 9.5 cm. Using culmen length as a metric (n=2.4 cm) scale comes to approximately 1:7.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: CollectA produced two versions of this species in 2010; today's is 'standing' and the second, which was sculpted and painted in its breeding plumage, is 'walking'. I think the base used here for support is more natural than the latter's.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Korean Peninsula and coastal China (Liaoning); wintering and migration occurs throughout coastal East and Southeast Asia, from Japan to the Philippines
Habitat: Lakes, marshes, coastal mudflats
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates (shrimp), fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Breeding locations of P. minor are not fully understood. Known breeding sites are on uninhabited islands off the coasts of North and South Korea and Liaoning Province, China. It's believed the greatest breeding populations occur in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea where human access is restricted. During winter and migration, birds can be found from Japan (Kyushu and Ryukyu Islands) south to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and in recent years birds have been reported as far south as Macau, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Oxyuranus scutellatus (Peters, 1867)
Common name(s): coastal taipan; common taipan

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: Wild Republic - Australia's Deadliest Nature Tube
Year of Production: 2018
Size/Scale: Raw figure length 10.0 cm. Measured along midline, body length approximately 22.5 cm for a scale of 1:6.7-12.9
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge this is the only figure specifically marketed as a coastal taipan, although there are a few generic taipan/brown snake figures that could represent this species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal northeastern Australia and southern New Guinea
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical coastal areas, monsoon forest, dry sclerophyll forest, agricultural fields; often in animal burrows, hollow logs, and leaf litter
Diet: Small mammals and birds
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Oxyuranus scutellatus is one of the deadliest snakes in the world. According to the Australian Venom and Toxin Database, the subcutaneous LD50 value of this species is 0.106 mg/kg. The estimated lethal dose for a human is 3 mg. The venom of O. scutellatus contains primarily taicatoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin, along with taipoxin, which has an LD50 of 2 μg/kg; 124 μg of the latter can kill a healthy adult human. Early administration (within 2-6 hours) of antivenom and intubation for respiratory paralysis are necessary for patient management, although some people have hypersensitivity reactions to the antivenom. Envenomation can lead to neurotoxic symptoms, including descending flaccid paralysis, ptosis, diplopia, ophthalmoplegia, bulbar weakness, intercostal weakness, and limb weakness. Once these neurotoxic symptoms are established, they are usually irreversible.