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Kiaora (Hello in Maori from New Zealand) ...

Harpagornis_X

Harpagornis_X

Well-Known Member
Im HazelAngel. I am 26 (turning 27 on the 5th of August). I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome by Dr Tony Attwood when I was 8. My Mum also thinks I have NLD (Non-Verbal Learning Disorder) and sensory disfunction. I cant judge speed, distance or time very well and struggle to understand or remember social rules. There have been times I have been inside in the cold temperatures and I wear summer clothes when its Winter. So as you can tell by that, I cant judge temperature well. My Aspergers Syndrome does make me a widely I can say I do have 'Imagination' and 'Obsession' with my Aspergers Syndrome. My 'Imagination' does turn me into a story writer and have been writing stories for 5 years on August 27th. My obsession, Im obsessed with my computer, Glory of Rome (a Facebook game) and that kind of thing. I am a friendly person, I see everyone as friends easily too. Im a great talker but Im also a great listener. I do like animals and I do consider myself a walking encyclopedia about animals that actually interest me like the Haast Eagle (also known as the Pauakai, Harpagornis moorei or New Zealand Eagle) which was the biggest predatory eagle in the world, only found in New Zealand and the Laughing Owl (Whekau or Sceloglaux albifacies) which got its European name for sounding like a laughing mad-man at night in the New Zealand bush. If there is anything about them that I dont know, I do want to learn about them. Same with my family tree, that I am interested in and have been ever since I learnt I was related to Captain Gilbert Mair (a Officer, Private and Captain in the Maori Wars of New Zealand). I currently have a steady stable relationship with a man whom I love who also has Aspergers Syndrome and he has Echolalia so Im familiar with it and am fascinated with Aspergers Syndrome too. I work at a plant nursery which specializes in Native Plants in my area of New Zealand too so if you see me mentioning things like "Coprosma Propinquia" or Kahikatea, that is the kind of things I work with. Thats the introduction on myself as far as Im concerned.
 
Welcome aboard :) you have found a friendly and helpful community.
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Hi & Welcome,
There are a lot of animal people here! I think autistics are often drawn to them.
 
You have some interesting interests. I also love animals, but am mostly interested in cephalopods. I love their skin, which changes colour and texture, both for camouflage and communication. I love their nervous systems that are comparable in complexity to those of mammals, but utterly different in design. I mean, their brains actually wrap around their esophagus, and they posses highly developed ganglia in every limb, thus affording them incredible dexterity. To top it off, they have excellent eyes, superficially similar to our own, but having evolved completely separately. The developmental path of their eyes is also very different from ours. As a bonus, their optic nerves are actually located behind the retina, unlike in chordates where the optic nerve is in front, resulting in a blind spot.

I can't decide if my favorite is the Flamboyant Cuttlefish or the Mimic Octopus, both of which have very different and novel adaptations to living in largely barren aquatic environments.

The Mimic Octopus imitates flat fish, poisonous snakes, and even jelly fish to ward off predators. They also take on more perplexing forms, such as walking clumps of seaweed.

The Flamboyant Cuttlefish is tiny and absolutely fearless. It should be easy pickings for predators, but it simply walks along barren sea floors, displaying its vibrant black and yellow coloration. When threatened its colours intensify and it takes on the appearance of moving flame. But why is this creature so brazen? It should be hiding! Well, it's flesh contains one of the strongest toxins in the natural world. Make a meal of a Flamboyant Cuttlefish, and it will be your last.
 
Welcome to the Central Site! I liked reading your stuff HA & I am quite envious of your work in the plant nursery. I was fascinated by the native plants & trees I saw on a trip to your country, most of my pics were botanical ones from Wellington & other public gardens. I like cultivating flowers & have been thinking about trying to start producing some lithops, like these here. They are quite slow-grow, according to the you-tube vids

lithops - Google Search

I hope you find Central useful & fun!
 
Thankyou Rocco, EdR, Omega, Tom, wyvary, Datura and Elemental.

Im sure I will Elemtanl, Im sure I will.

Wow, now that I didnt know Datura. I think for me, what holds my interest in animals most is the New Zealand kind like the Weta (any kind doesnt mind me at all and I have been lucky enough to hold one) because they are beautiful to me. I guess people see crickets for what they look like and not think "Would this kind of animal hurt me?" What I would describe the Weta is how people see others with disabilites. They are just the same as animals like people with disabilites are just the same as any normal human being. Thats how I would describe it.
 
Thats the kind Im meaning ... Wetapunga, also known as "God of the Underworld" by the Maori. Thats the translation though I dont see them as the god of the underworld.
 
I am most familiar with weta from the special effects house, Weta Workshop. I never realized they were so large. Unlike a lot of people (especially other women) I don't mind handling arthropods, so long as they don't bite or sting me. When I see a spider in the house I prefer to catch and release rather than squishing them, and I used to play with insects and daddy longlegs when I was little. I always laughed at people who were scared of daddy longlegs because they are totally harmless, though they do make your fingers smell funny.

I can't say I've ever had a particular interest in the native wildlife of my own area. I live nowhere near an ocean, so my interest in cephalopods is a bit out of left field. Canadian wildlife can be interesting, but I find it rather tame compared to what you might find elsewhere. Unfortunately many of our song birds have been displaced by sparrows and robins brought over by English settlers.

Interesting factoid: our bears may be the most feared animals in Canada, but the moose is by far the most dangerous. This is similar to Africa where the Hippopotamus is actually responsible for more human fatalities than any other species, well, unless you count mosquitoes.
 
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