Hey All, Not having the years that some members do in this hobby, I may be a bit too eager to say that in general, the only creatures to give us grief are ants and mosquitos. Gnats are an occasional annoyance. Oh, yeah, Jack Jones made friends with a large lizard at Flat Iron one time, but that ended peacefully, so we never found out if it really tasted like chicken. Coyotes are present at a few sites, and get pretty close to us at Cherry Road (judged by their howling), but as Chuck Akers said, it only adds to the experience. I have had a couple of experiences with rattlesnakes, but as previously mentioned, they (usually) give warning, and if you go the other way, all is well and good. These snake encounters weren't even at observing sites, but in the Phx mountain preserves. If memory serves, AJ Crayon had a run in with a "hissing" object, but it only served to increase adrenaline, and doesn't qualify as a creature encounter. Ask him about it sometime..... ;-) FWIW, my experience (so far) is that Scorpions is a rock band from Germany, and Diamondbacks are our baseball team. Your milage may vary. And remind me to not upset Joe Macke....he's a bit more twisted than I originally thought. Thad Thad Robosson Double star enthusiast Member Saguaro Astronomy Club ATM group chairman Owner/operator Twin Points Observatory 33 27 N, 112 19 W Phoenix, Arizona, USA The use of your 'delete' key is authorized... -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.