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Herping in Iraq?

T

tom e

New member
Well, I was looking through some old pictures, and I realized I did do a little Iraqi herping like 4 years ago! lol..
What's funny to me looking back at these, is the things I don't have pictures of. Camel spiders, scorpions, etc were so common there I didn't ever think to get photos unfortunately. There was a HUGE lizard I saw on an extremely hot day in Kuwait (my first week there) that looked like a Uromastix, but had to be like four feet long (with tail) and it was Very Yellow. (Any guesses?) We were driving next to it in a truck and trying to figure out how fast it was running.. I've always wished I had a picture of that one.
Anyways these pics, in no particular order are, some species of gecko that was everywhere; a hedgehog we nicknamed Sonic, who used to come to drink the cold water that dripped out the bottom of our cooler (and probably eat lizards and bugs who were doing the same); a picture of what sand flies (the real terror of Iraq) can do to you if you don't use your mosquito net (his whole body whas ate up that morning...) and some gratuitous non herp shots.. (Well, it was part of my "herping expedition"! Me on guard in dust storm, Uday's house in Ramadi, and a huge hydro-electric dam in Haditha..)

Enjoy!
 
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Well thanks! I got pretty square deal though, so it's not all service- Big bonus, tons of student loan repayment, even chill duty for the most part in culinary arts competitions.. Not to mention that I REALLY wanted to go to Iraq, nothing about the war, I just wanted to SEE the country and meet the people. I did my duty too, but I think I felt like a tourist for most of my time in the Army. Mostly what I learned about heros is that they are the ones STILL IN the Army doing their 3rd or 4th tours over there and still reenlisting.
Not for me thank you..

Anyway, how bout that Hedgehog though? Ain't he just the coolest? :cool:
 
I also want to say how thankful I am for your service. I commit a lot of my time to studying military history, and I know that I could never do the things that ya'll do. Thank you for everything, your service goes unnoticed a lot of the time by the media and even looked down upon in some occassions. But I admire you and want you to know that ya'll are the true heros of this country. Thank you for your service and I salute you. BTW great pictures, I love the one of the guy chillin on top of the tank and the pictures of the little hedgehog-looking-creature. :cheers: Glad to hear that you're home safe, and hopefully we can get the rest of ya'll back here as safely as possible, mission accomplished. :)
 
Tom, I commend you and your family for both support and courage. My Dad was in Okinawa and Korea, I know first hand what a family goes through. It takes a very brave person to go into a war zone and fight for people they don't even know. Whatever payment you got out of the government is well deserved and not enough. :cheers: susan
 
Another one here wanting to thank you for your service to your country. I don't think enough Americans take the time to thank our service men and women for what they do to protect this great country of ours.

And yes - that little hedgehog is adorable. I love those little buggers and still want to get one someday.
 
I too thank you for your time and bravery!

Cool animals!!!

Amazing that so few had so much while so many had so little.
 
Pruddock said:
, and hopefully we can get the rest of ya'll back here as safely as possible, mission accomplished. :)
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I much agree..
And that's me chillin on the Tank (but it's a 113 actually- though I've also got some tank pics- I was with 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment) I'm not sure if it comes through or not just how dusty the air is in that picture. Me and my buddy Perrin who was on guard with me at that time thought it would be kinda' funny to take a bunch of pictures that appeared to be 'fun in the sun' while we were just choking on dust. haha.

Susang- I spent a year in Korea too! Very different circumstances I'm sure than your dad's. That's also a beautiful country, I'm trying to plan a trip to go back with my girlfriend now that I'm a civilian, and can go where-ever I want..

ArpeggioAngel-You can get those!?! I would love to have one too. I'm sure they are illegal in California though- all small mammals seem to be. I can picture them taming up pretty easily though. I touched the one in the picture and he didn't try to run. He just sorta arched his back to poke his spines out.

Emanon- Yeah, too bad I don't have pictures of the orchards (Pomegranates and Date Palms mostly) or the Huge gate or the elaborate mosque or the second house there just accross the euphrates, or the many other outlying buildings on the grounds. And that was just Uday's house in Ramadi.. I never saw his many others. The funny part is walking through them though. Everything is pretty much stripped bare by the people. Every tile is off the floor, every wire taken out of the walls, every door gone (even the frame) every window gone (even the frame) etc. I'm glad the people got a chance to loot the looters back.
 
My little brother is in Iraq right now. He is with the AirForce. I belive he is stationed in Camp Bucca. The only updates we have gotten so far is very hot, and lots of sand lol
 
What a cute hedgie! Is it my imagination, or do his ears look bigger than those of the pet hedgies we have here? :shrugs:

Very cool pics. I'm glad you didn't post any pics of camel spiders. Those things freak me out. :sidestep:
 
WMdude! Send your brother baby wipes and bug spray. Unless things have really changed since I was there, that's what every soldier wants.

So Tula, I was peeking around in CAV's forum.. is he deployed now?

Jen, yeah he does have bigger ears, I just noticed that myself when I was looking at the BBQ pictures that had pet Hedge Hog pics on them.
The craziest thing about camel spiders is how freaking fast they are. And how they want to stay in your shadow. Put those two things together and your talking about the occasional running and screaming soldier.
 
tom e said:
Jen, yeah he does have bigger ears, I just noticed that myself when I was looking at the BBQ pictures that had pet Hedge Hog pics on them.
The craziest thing about camel spiders is how freaking fast they are. And how they want to stay in your shadow. Put those two things together and your talking about the occasional running and screaming soldier.
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I can't even imagine having to deal with those camel spiders. I'd go insane. Do they bite too? The thought of them gives me the heebie jeebies.

And those fly bites look wicked. Can they make you sick...like can you get anything from them...or do they just itch like flea bites?

I'm definitely not jealous. :)
 
texastailfeathers said:
I can't even imagine having to deal with those camel spiders. I'd go insane. Do they bite too? The thought of them gives me the heebie jeebies.

And those fly bites look wicked. Can they make you sick...like can you get anything from them...or do they just itch like flea bites?

I'm definitely not jealous. :)
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The sand flies are really kinda "stabby" when they bite. That's the worst part about them they don't really make you numb like mosquitos do. The first night that I was attacked by them, I told my friend the next morning that I would NEVER complain about mosquitos again! They can give you a disease called leishmaniasis. http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~rjdillon/index.htm this one is better actually- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leishmaniasis

The camel spiders are actually a stingless scorpion. (I think?) The Bedouin name for them supposedly translates to hair cutters as they believe they will steal pieces of your hair for their nests. Cut out of the skin mind you. I have no idea if that's true, but I did wake up one morning where I had slept in the back of a truck, with a piece of my eyebrow missing (and dented in like a hole was there). I went to the medics, and one of them told me "oh yeah that's a camel spider bite." I don't know if I believe it for the fact that my face was swollen and they don't have any venom, but who knows.
I still have a nice little scar, but to imagine one of those monsters crawling and cutting at my face is worse! lol.
 
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tom e said:
Well thanks! I got pretty square deal though, so it's not all service- Big bonus, tons of student loan repayment, even chill duty for the most part in culinary arts competitions.. Not to mention that I REALLY wanted to go to Iraq, nothing about the war, I just wanted to SEE the country and meet the people. I did my duty too, but I think I felt like a tourist for most of my time in the Army. Mostly what I learned about heros is that they are the ones STILL IN the Army doing their 3rd or 4th tours over there and still reenlisting.
Not for me thank you..

Anyway, how bout that Hedgehog though? Ain't he just the coolest? :cool:
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Big Salute to you man, that great that you served the country! And yeah that hedgehog looked like a real bundle of fun! You should have kept, I'd say you earned him lol :dancer:
 
Spork said:
Big Salute to you man, that great that you served the country! And yeah that hedgehog looked like a real bundle of fun! You should have kept, I'd say you earned him lol :dancer:
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That would've been cool huh? I would've rather taken the big yellow uromastyx though if such a thing was allowed.
 
Nice pictures. I really am interested in seeing a Camel spider up close, they don't creep me out. They are not venomous or anything, just leave a nasty bite. And they would rather run (they are fast) then fight anyday.
I know a marine, and he talks about how alot of soldiers are abusive to the animals, since they are bored. Major props for respecting the life down there.

I wish there was a black hedgehog so you could name it Shadow, that would be epic.

(It says Japan on my location, but that was a miss click, I live in America)
 
No I like the mammals alright, I'd love a hedgehog as a pet.. Just saying that if I could only pick one, it would have been that big yellow "dinosaur"!

As for the boredom-animal abuse stuff, I never saw anything like that. I saw dogs that were shot because that was the right thing to do (IMO), and I saw camel spiders being fed scorpions by guys who were betting on one or the the other (who obviously didn't know what camel spiders eat lol.)
 
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