Dragonflys are up to something? Please read.

No idea where to post this but the most intriguing thing happened. I live in the jungle in south east asia. Naturally there are all sorts of critters, bugs, snakes etc, and over my time here I have some very entertaining animal stories.

Over the last few days I befriended a large dragonfly. This insect has always intrigued me.

Since I was a kid I noticed they seem to go about their own business, and although are not impossible to catch, they seem to keep their distance.

This "speciman"was flying around my house. After a day it hadn't left. It then insisted on settling on my hand. It got to a point where I gouldn't get rid of it. On returning home from work the following day it appeared to follow me around, again resting gently on my hand. I showed my wife and emailed a few pics to friends. My wife didn't believe me that it had been hanging around until I showed her a photo from the night before.

Unfortunately on day 3 it was eaten by a large gecko, much to my wifes' ammusement. She kept calling to me from the lounge area to alert me to the fact that the dragonfly, who was sitting right next to where I usually sit, was been stalked by a large gecko.

he story ends there sadly.

Now I am under no delusion that this is a supernatural event, but for the life of me I can not find any reference to dragonflys having any kind of this kind of behaviour. I believe large centipedes are trainable, but why would such a creature liturally follow me around. BTW it slept on the wall right next to me when I slept, and followed me to the toilet when I got up the following day.

Mods, please stick this anywhere, and anyone with similar stories or information on dragonflys, please post away.

Of note, I have noticed all sorts of peculiar behaviour here in the jungle recently, and I am wondering if this is signs of nature "evolving".

Sorry to antone who wonders why on earth I would put this story on ATS, but I honestly couldn't think of a better place to start.
Here's a photo.
Thanks

You have geckos running around your house?
I didnt see a link for any pics.

[edit on 30-1-2009 by kcired_tsew]

reply to post by serpentine




They are government spies... (not my words i might add)
Reminds me of this thread...

www.abovetopsecret.com...



[edit on 30/1/09 by blupblup]

Yes the geckos are huge. Can't keep the buggers out. They are green with red spots, locally known as tokays. They are vicious but tend to stay high up on the ceiling. They also "befriend" humans, although they are pretty gross.

Here's a photo of the dragonfly. Yes it is grainy but I was taking it with a phone and the light isn't great at night.

Yeah I remembered reading about people reporting seeing dragonfly like drones at some rally in the US. I solved that one. They were actually small remote control dragonflys available on the streets od Bangkok for a few bux. They are quiet cool, and it is possible to fit a light weigt bluetooth camera to them, although the remote device has to be pretty close. In an outdoor area which is noisy someone who has not seen one may be confused by it as the noise of the propeller would be silenced by the noise of the crowd. The ones available here have little red LED eyes so they would look ominous to someone who maybe only got a glance for a second.
Anyway, my per dragonfly (R.I.P.) was the real deal and was not a spy.........I don't think. If he was I reckon he would have zapped the gecko that ate him with a high tec laser beam.

Dude...... If that damn gecko ate my dragon fly, I would of fed that gecko to a animal of some kind, possibly a large snake.

Banish that gecko from your house, or the dragonfly lords will come and lift him away!

I did punish the gecko. He was one of the last few I hadn't managed to smash with the broom a few days before when we had a gecko amnesty. The problem is if my pet dragonfly was "special" he needed to be studied. And now all the evidence is ....well, gone!
I'd post some pics of the geckos but I think that would derail my thread.
As amusing as it is I honestly want to know if it is possible for an insect like this to act in this way.
I am going to have to contact a dragonfly expert. I'll be damned if I know where to find one of them.

I just peeked at the link. That's posted by someone who thinks they are not real. Damn. I thought it was the thread from a while back about them been used to spy on protesters. Well, now no one is gonna take my thread seriously.
I'll have to try to befriend a new dragonfly. It's a bummer really because I am pretty sure it was a once in a lifetime sorta friendship.
Unless of coarse dragonflys really are up to something?

Dragonflys eat biting flys like deer and moose flys, which, after having witnessed such aerial magnificance, left me forever in awe of their awesomeness. I have a water garden out back that they enjoy. Excellent creature the dragonfly.

I have a fish pond out back my kids and I made as a science experiment. Last year we had a HUGE influx of dragon flies they where the black and neon blue ones. They left these weird skin shells EVERYWHERE when they hatched. But they would always follow me and my son around and would only land all over him. We are hopeful that they will be back this year; if anything they where fun to watch when the sun started to go down. The blue on them was so bright they looked like they where glowing.

There are a few stories in native american lore about the dragonfly.To have one interact and land on you is quite good luck.I wouldn't worry to much about his early demise though.If your dragonfly is like the dragonflies here in the U.S. his life span wasn't much over three days anyway.

It sounds like a wonderful place where you live.
My story isn't about a dragonfly - but about the butterflies and months.

This last summer they landed on my hands constantly - sometimes for very long periods of time.

It got a little weird a couple of times because I was reluctant to
move - and I am a writer - which requires - movement. : )
So I just sat there and talked to them.

There was one in particular that appeared to be visiting everyday -
landing on my hand and the tip of my computer while sitting outside.
It was impossible to know for sure though - as so many look the same.

Really wild and really wonderful.

I like to think it represents that we are all coming together -
man and beast - in peace.





[edit on 30-1-2009 by spinkyboo]

maybe your "dragon fly" was really a fairy....

Then again it's possible you were witness to an omen....friendly dragon fly eaten by stalking carnivore. There may have been a message about trust or a warning hidden in natures little play.

~Holly

I had to have a bit of a chuckle over this one.LOL
I find it very cool that he decided to be your little buddy.
Nature and animals never cease to amaze me.

Thank goodness some other people have had "experiences" with dragonflys then. I guess I can look at it as a cool experience rather than a freaky one. I am a little worried about the fact he was crunched by the lizard. Especially as someone mentions "omens". So it seems they have signifigance in american indian and japanese folklore. I believe folklore always has roots in some truth. Looking forward to reading more ideas tomorrow.

Man, I thought Tokay geckos ate puppies and babies, I am surprised one went for your poor dragonfly. Of course tokays are one of the evilest of all reptiles, and definitely the most evilest of geckos, so maybe I shouldn't be.

I'm kidding of course...kinda. I used to work at a pet store that sold those monstrosities. They are beautiful animals but their temperament is pretty amazing for a gecko. We usually referred to them as pit bulls. I had one particular little monster latch on to a customers hand once and we could not get it to let go for nothing. I wont go into details on what we had to do to remove him. Lots of people wanted to hold these things because they are so attractive I guess, you try to warn them but...

If I had tokays running around my house I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. You are brave indeed sir.

May your dragonfly rest in peace

reply to post by serpentine

Can hardly see it in the pic, and at first I thought your hand was ... ok but anyways, interesting story, and why would your wife be amused by it being attacked? Poor little thing.

They always look like little helicopters to me. I have to say I'm not as brave as you, to be able to hold one, but I suppose we all get accustomed to certain species.

I bet it had rabies.

I always liked dragonflies. Always they were an awesome insect. I remember being really young and my aunt and I would chase them and try to catch them... but whenever we did, we'd end up letting them go. It's one of the only insects I've never been afraid of haha. (Other than a grand daddy long-leg.)

Sorry your friend got eaten! Maybe like someone else said, maybe it was an omen? Shrug. Good luck figuring it out though!

dragonflies are one of my best subjects to photograph, when you can get close enough that is.
Here are a few of my pics that i have been lucky enough to capture.








I love the detail in close up photography, nature never ceases to amaze me.

cheers
jon