Yeah, I figured he'd let the rest of the gang know, jags; occupational hazard.
I've had good luck with bumblebees over the years while touring. My first real experience with them in that context was in the very early 1980s when my father and I were touring in the Bohemia Mining country, SE of Cottage Grove, OR in the Calapooya mountains. It was nearing the end of a very hot day and we were sweating up a long, slow 20%+ climb in really poor gravel, and my legs began to tickle and itch. I looked down, and there must've been two dozen bumblebees plastered on me, drinking up my sweat. They didn't bother a bit, and took to my gently scraping them off, though they returned several times till we topped-out on a ridge and caught some rising air from the valleys below. I guess they were just thirsty, or wanted the salt.
Anyway, I've always gotten along well with them and they've brightened my day from time to time, so I figure it comes out even if I warm-up the odd one I find frozen to the core. The only bee that's never stung me. Maybe the Good Word has passed between them: "Leave Dan alone -- he's a soft touch, always good for a round!"
I do wish I'd had a camera along 30 years ago, when I twice witnessed salamander mass-migrations in the early Spring. There used to be a cool patch of shade under heavy evergreen cover on a high road outside of town where these black salamanders with yellow spots would cross the road in enormous numbers in the space of about 45 minutes to an hour, stopping me in my tracks. They seemed to be following a seep that crossed the road from a creek above. They looked like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_salamander ...but those aren't "supposed" to range here in the Western part of the country, so it must have been another variety. They weren't this one either:
http://www.oregonwild.org/fish_wildlife/wildlife-pages/pacific-giant-salamander At any rate, I happened to be riding by and saw them two years in a row. The next year, I was shocked to find the forest had been sold and clear-cut for timber. Not only was the shade gone, but the creek had dried up as well, and no salamanders, of course. Bit of a shame, really, but things change. Still one of my favorite places to bike in the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range.
Best,
Dan.
