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Eyed Click Beetle
A goal of my hike this morning was to find a cover shot for my Facebook timeline. I was collecting images of tree bark, lichen, and beautiful mosses, all possible candidates. At a mature sassafras tree, as I worked around some poison ivy vines, I came upon a surprise: two BIG eyes looking back at…
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Red-spotted Newt
I have an adult Red-spotted Newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, in my small pond. Doing research, and learning about this newt has been a fun journey. A type of salamander, they start out their life in a pond, marsh, stream or small lake, as an egg mass that resembles a big wad of cotton, attached to…
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A Good Day For Monarchs
Oh What a Day! I think it was just a perfect day! After finding a sincere pumpkin patch and locating a large, golden orange squash that would please even the Great Pumpkin, I returned to my cabin to find a Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, enjoying the many varieties of asters that I have in the yard. What a…
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Io Moth Caterpillar
No hike today, but still I was able to play with some critters! I found this guy on one of my many Redbuds. This is the caterpillar of an Io Moth (Automeris io). See those spines? They contain a poison that makes their sting as painful as running into Stinging Nettle, but it last longer.…