Saturday, June 9, 2012

Homarus alpinius- A Rare Breed Indeed

 It's no secret that the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is extremely diverse and home to some rare species. With it's numerous elevations and heavy old growth forest, plant and animal life thrive throughout, but only once has THIS species made an appearance. Hard shelled and not very meaty, it is a cousin to Homerus americanus. The American lobster.

With my new camera I was able to snap some shots of this large and slow moving cousin.
I was so surprised to catch this elusive nocturnal creature at full dawn! I even had time to contemplate how large a pot one might need should one want to try and eat it. No doubt it's protected though, so I can assure you alpinius is still roaming at will. Without further ado, let me share my pics of this strange and wonderful creature.





Searching for small insects and lizards maybe? Very little is known about their foraging
and mating behaviors.



He's spied me.....



Studying me as I study him. What a fearsome beast!



Seriously, this was my one big purchase in Massachusetts. In fact, one weekend, friend Sandi flew out from Oregon so we could both go to the May Brimfield MA antique shows. It was two days of great fun and interesting stuff from junk to fine art. We lamented frequently that we didn't have a box truck to drive some of this stuff back to OR and that we wished for legs about 20 years younger. There was a ton of walking involved but the weather turned out nice, the food and fresh squeezed lemonade not bad and people  watching was fascinating! She crossed something off her bucket list and I got the recycled oil can crustacean. On the way back to Beverly, we even did a stop at Nordstrom's Rack. Win-win all around. ;)

Parting shot: Listening to the call of the Alpine lobster no doubt.

7 comments:

LA said...

OH....it's a good thing Jack is on duty!!! He'll alert you if you're in danger!!! Cool find, by the way!

Mary said...

Ha! You can't fool me...I knew that was a Homaris metallicus from the first look. Other info-I am busy with workshops and sewing and gardening until the 21st of the month. Want to ride the end of June?

Anonymous said...

thank goodness Jack is on duty to save you from the dangerous lobster!

Theresa said...

LA & Thistle Rose, Jacks is ALWAYS on alert. Good heavens a pine needle can't fall around here without him knowing it.

Mary, Taxonomy is a wiggly thing isn't it? I believe H. metallicus may be smaller, but without capturing both species and comparing, I'm at a loss.
End of June sounds fine, give a holler with some dates when you know.
6/23 is the only day I wouldn't be available.

mrsmole said...

What a cool souvenir! And what a cool thing for Sandi to fly out to join you...woo who!
Hopefully the weather will stay nice for a while and you can display your lobster art on a patio and enjoy some late afternoon cocktails with it...maybe even take a photo with it...does it have a name yet?

Leigh said...

LOLOLOL! Theresa I love your sense of humor. Thank you for making my day.

Life Looms Large said...

That is an awesome lobster!! Wow! Unbelievably, I've never heard of Brimsfield until this year....and that lobster makes me totally want to check it out! (Of course, knowing there's no way I'd find a lobster like that....but I'd probably find something!!)

Sue