08-28-11. Sparrow Nest.
08-27-11. A very ambitious small snake vs a large toad. I also took a video of the snake chasing and catching the toad. (Viewer discretion is advised) You can see it here: http://youtu.be/BX3URYTYTQw?hd=1 I decided not to interfere with mother nature, but I couldn't stop myself from documenting this. Kate actually found this first while we were on a walk at Ritter Springs Park. We started the day with a short trip to the zoo. It was Henry the Hippo's 30th birthday, and they fed him a special treat of a whole watermelon. (visitors got free watermelon too.) We couldn't get the best view of the action, but it was pretty cool to see his huge mouth open up to chomp down on the watermelon. We had a picnic lunch at Ritter Springs Park. Our picnic table was surrounded by several hickory and walnut trees. The trees were completely covered by caterpillars. Actually, everything was covered in caterpillars. You could hardly walk without stepping on them. While we were eating, we could actually hear the sound of caterpillars crunching on the leaves. It was a little eerie to be surrounded by so many caterpillars. After lunch we took a hike around some of the trails. This is were we spotted the snake and toad. I only watched for a few minutes since Kate and the kids were waiting on me. I'm guessing the whole feeding probably would have taken an hour. (too bad I couldn't set up a time lapse.) Besides the usual caterpillars that were covering everything, we also spotted something that I had never seen before. A hag moth caterpillar (aka Monkey Slug.) I didn't get a good picture of it, but I do have a video posted here: http://youtu.be/fzpSj1bJ9-Y?hd=1
08-27-11. Towels. (last minute effort)
