Author: lschrick

An American cockroach was observed falling prey to a very clumsy but persistent domestic cat. Before I moved to Austin, cockroaches were a sign of a dirty house, but now that I have lived in the south for a little over a year I understand that they’re just everywhere.

Cockroaches are amazing little creatures who have survived basically every extinction event since the Permian. As a result of their resilience, they can be difficult to get rid of as pests. Lucky for me, they are my cat’a favorite toy!

 

 

My inaturalist observation can can be found here: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4573249

 

A ball moss was observed on the edge of a parking lot on the St  Edward’s University. Before moving to Texas last year I had never seen these things before and started calling them moss balls, so you can imagine how tickled pink I was just now to discover I was very close to guessing their real name (although I really think whoever named these things really missed out on an awesome bad pun opportunity by not calling them moss balls).

Medicinally, ball moss is very exciting as it has shown success in cancer and AIDS treatment.

Ball moss is actually not a moss, but a flowering bromeliad. It is not a parasitic plant as it rarely affects the health of any but the most stressed trees. It is sensitive to freezing and is found as far north as Georgia. Ball moss does not always grow on trees and is even found on telephone poles and wires–wherever it can get nutrients, sunlight, and moisture.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

A rescued evening bat was observed in the Cherrywood neighborhood in east Austin. Dianne Odegard and Lee Mackenzie rescue injured and orphaned bats in their home and backyard. Evening bats like to live inside trees, and this particular evening bat makes its home inside a log with quite a history. This piece of wood belonged to a tree which was cut down and run through a log splitter–when this particular piece was split, it was found to be hollow, with a completely unharmed evening bat (not the same bat as the one pictured) nestled inside! The bat was then brought to Dianne and Lee to be rehabbed, and the wood kept as a home for its current inhabitant. You can see where the split wood was hinged to create a come, and the bat is hungrily munching on a mealworm.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

Up until a few hours ago I was not located within the scope of this project, but I was able to snag this ID of a Texas Live Oak on the St. Edward’s campus.

I’m not sure who pruned the tree at this insane angle, but some Native Americans used to bend young trees to mark trails, good campsites, or warn of danger ahead. Some trees also end up growing sideways like this after being partially uprooted by storms. Generally, if you can see the roots on the opposite side of the bend, it means that the tree was partially uprooted by a storm. In this case, the roots are not partially uprooted, so I would bet someone did this on purpose!

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

A crimson patch butterfly (Chlosyne janais) was spotted at Krause Springs in the butterfly garden. These butterflies range from the tropics to Texas. They’re pretty but literally the most fascinating facts I can find about them are that their chrysalis can range in color from white to gray to clear and the populations in Texas get killed off when the weather is too cold, and when it warms up again, the Mexican population recolonizes the area. They lay their eggs on the flame acanthus plant. Although I am usually fascinated by insects, these butterflies are unfortunately not terribly interesting, which I did not know at the time of observation.

You can find my iNaturalist observation here.

This weekend’s cave-enturing brought me up close and personal with this adorable little cave cricket. A lot of humans consider them a pest because they tend to congregate in basements and laundry rooms, but those humans are literally wrong. Cave crickets are 100% harmless and I highly recommend letting them live their lives. The worst thing they could ever possibly do to you is jump at you, which is a tactic they use to scare perceived threats since they usually live their lives in the dark and can’t see very well.

I can’t identify the exact species, but these guys are just generally referred to by their family name Rhaphidophoridae. They belong to my favorite insect order Orthoptera, which includes the most delicious insects, like field crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. I personally did not eat this cave cricket so no word on if they are as tasty as their fellow Orthopterans.

Cave crickets have some really fantastic nicknames, such as sprickets (spider crickets), land shrimp, camelback crickets, and in Japan, or toilet crickets.

The carbonaceous nature of the regional bedrock gives the Texas Hill Country its name. Water moves through and breaks down carbonaceous rock easily and creates the hills, caves, cliffs, aquifers, and springs of this lush region. Because caves are such delicate and isolated systems, their health is one of the first to suffer when a region is compromised. Cave-dwelling critters are critical indicators of cave health. The presence of cave crickets, spiders, bats, and other creepy-crawlies may frighten most, but are a joyful sight to cavers and researchers because they indicate a lively cave ecosystem.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

Four P. iotor individuals were observed hanging out in the Chernobyl-esque vintage car junkyard which my balcony overlooks in Brentwood. In the above image, one can be observed hanging out of the driver’s window. In the below image, one individual may be seen on the hood of the car and another adjacent to the front driver’s side wheel. 
As you can see, they don’t mind interacting with my overly curious domestic Felis catus (Manx variety) from a distance, as about 15+ feral F. catus individuals also live in this junkyard and they appear to coexist peacefully when they are not competing for resources such as the old corn and cat food that my significant other likes to throw down to them. This particular F. catus individual is extremely vocal, and his chittering consistently drew squeaky responses from the raccoons. It was cute as all get out.

Today, Americans often consider P. iotor to be pests, disease vectors, and road hazards, but Native Americans respected the raccoon as a symbol of the trickster, much like the Greek god Pan or the Road Runner of Looney Tunes. This archetypalization stems from the raccoon’s intelligence and dexterity. They can remember solutions to puzzles for three years, and their long-toed paws lend them the ability to manipulate objects much like primates do.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.