The Dangers of Desert Observing

[beamer3.6m]

Makes me being spooked by a hedgehog whilst observing at night in the UK all seem a little mundane!

[Skylook123]

Oh, I imagine an angry hedgehog can make its own nasty mischief.

I wonder if any of the creatures we share the night with ever look upward and contemplate the view? Or, at least ponder in their own way, "What the dickens is that?"

[rabbithutch]

Hello Jim!

Add my kudos for a great read!

And, "Happy Birthday!"

Because you posted about a daytime outreach session and solar observing, I wondered if you saw the mountain lion in a daytime or evening session.

We have large deer populations in our county. The lions come in for the relatively easy prey. To my knowledge there are no large cattle operations around here. Deer probably far outnumber cattle. Although I've never seen a lion, I've heard them growling in the early evening. It's a chilling sound.

[Skylook123]

I've done 1,000 or more outreach events in 15 years, but I've only ever done two daytime. The lion was a 9 PM traveller through our setup.

Chilling is right. Hearing that growl from five feet sure was nothing like a movie. I'd compare it to a picture of a solar eclipse versus seeing one live (got to do that once in my life. Wow.).

[Ericgraham]

As a teenager I used to observe from a site near Gatwick airport. On dark nights it was spooky as little critters stirred the leaves and grew into monsters in my imagination. Many are the times this cut short my observing.

In New Mexico I have much more realistic fears. Within a week of moving in to our new home I stepped on and was stung by a scorpion and twice encountered rattlesnakes sleeping among the garden hoses.

One warm and very dark night, while on a lawn chair gazing at the sky with giant binoculars, I suddenly felt a heavy weight as something leapt on my bare chest and I felt a warm liquid splatter my body. Fortunately it wasn't my life blood draining away, just a drooling tom cat that came with the property.

As I plan my observatory, I need ways to keep deadly creatures out. Would a snake set off a motion detector? Any ideas?

Eric

[pete_l]

I stepped on and was stung by a scorpion ... As I plan my observatory, I need ways to keep deadly creatures out. Would a snake set off a motion detector? Any ideas

Apparently scorpions glow under UV light. So an array of ultraviolet LEDs at ground level might help you avoid them at night

[onesmallstep]

I've heard that rattlers like to sleep under Newtonians as the scopes act as heat traps. Set up an observing platform with walls and a solid gate to keep the critters out. Either that or charge them for the observing time lost.

[Skylook123]

I was warned one October many years ago that my tripod legs, heated under the daytime sun, might be attractive to rattlesnakes at night. In fact, the rancher on whose land I was set up came to warn me that the rattlers were getting ready for hibernation, had just gone through their final skin shedding of the season, and were thus somewhat blind and cranky. Up by his ranch house they had five snakes trying to come into the kitchen door for the warmth. No problems for me, though.

In another thread from the weekend I raise another danger of the desert; I got a leg full of cactus spines. Very fine, like toothbrush bristles, and packed ver tightly. About a fist sized clump went through my pants and into my leg as I was setting up for a night outreach session. It took my wife abotu an hour and a half to extract them one by one from my calf. And each one HURT. Tiny little things, but very painful!