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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year From the Valley!

Immediately after Thanksgiving in Austin we returned to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley. This is our 4th year volunteering for Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR. We were warmly welcomed back by our supervisor, Scot. Our jobs are similar as in previous years.


CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS IS?
Kurt was trimming and cleaning out under a Mexican Olive tree near our RV pad when he came across this odd object. At first glance he thought it plastic, maybe a fishing lure. Then it wiggled. Could it be a scorpion? No. After research, this ugly four inch long dude turned out to be a Sphinx Moth Cocoon. We learned that the hard curved casing extending from the head (left) is actually it's tongue. We placed it in the care of the Refuge Visitor Center, who photographed it. We are awaiting it's emergence into a large moth.

4 comments:

Teri said...

I see one little green plant in your 'yard'. Is that one that Mark and I planted two years ago?
Looking forward to getting together with yall!
Teri

Kurt & Virginia said...

Yes, there are about 5 left on our site that survived.

Teri said...

That's pretty good! I'm sure they are still alive because yall have taken such good care of them.
Teri

Kelly said...

Wow, that is one strange looking moth cocoon!