My dearest bro just posted these photos for me (see comment below). I was thinking of adding some text first, but he had to go and jump the gun on me. No worries, though :) The sunset photos come primarily from the night of the rapid reponse team barbeque. It was held at a place called Jimmy's Beach Bar, located on Tumon Bay. The one with the close-up sun comes from Cocos Island, a small island off the southern coast of Guam where we practice a "mock sighting" (i.e., pretend a snake was seen there and go about the steps involved in a deployment). The crab beast is a coconut crab, a large species of crab that, as you can see, climbs very well (this one was about 8 feet up a tree). They're also insanely strong: they can bust open a coconut without too much trouble. Finally, the big snake with the cloudy eyes is a guy we like to call "The Honker" or "O.D.B." (which stands for "Ol' Dirty Bastard"). He's actually a pretty cool snake, although occasionally grumpy. I can't remember his exact length, but he's a little less than 2.5 meters long and nearly the thickness of a soda can at his widest. Although not terribly venomous, it's beneficial to not get bitten by that guy, seeing that it would hurt like hell. The reason his eyes are clouded over is because he's about to shed. Once he sheds, his eyes will return to their normal clairty, in which case he can easily see (and bite) you. Actually, snakes can be nastier when they're about to shed since they can't see. They therefore have more trouble determining the severity of threats they encounter, which I'd imagine is pretty scary (picture being surrounded elephants while wearing a blindfold).
Anyway, it's due to the rapid response training I mentioned above that it has been so long since I've posted here. However, I'm going to try and finish up a new entry tonight, which I'll post tomorrow. Lofty goals, I know, but with a little luck it should happen.
"As the guy with the fat broadband internet pipes, here are some new pictures the author just sent me. — Joe"
