Author: Mike Dunn
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Larval Leftovers
Every September, for as long as I can remember (or at least well more than a decade), I have been collecting caterpillars in preparation for the annual BugFest event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It is always great fun to share these larval lovelies with the thousands of visitors that make the… Read more…
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That’s a Caterpillar?
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. ~Albert Einstein There are some creatures that are so bizarre that they leave me baffled as to why they are the way they are. This is one of them. Even the name is a mystery… Read more…
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Definitely Not a Baby Rattle
Venomous snakes are among the most maligned and misunderstood animals on earth. ~In Snakes of the Southeast by Whit Gibbons and Mike Dorcas In a recent post, I mentioned my first ever encounter with a juvenile Canebrake Rattlesnake while at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to drive… Read more…
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Looking Sharp
In summer the empire of insects spreads. ~ Adam Zagajewski In honor of BugFest happening today, I thought I would post another unusual caterpillar portrait – the Spiny Oak-Slug, Euclea delphinii. As a member of the slug caterpillar group, the Spiny Oak-Slug lacks the usual paired prolegs of most caterpillars and, instead, has medial sucker-like… Read more…
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Io You
…mysterious and little known organisms live within walking distance of where you sit. Splendor awaits in minute proportions. ~E.O. Wilson Here is another of my favorite caterpillars, the Io, Automeris io. Beautiful, but it is also one of the so-called “stinging caterpillars”. The urticating spines contain a venom that can cause a painful sting. I… Read more…
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Puss Cat
Never touch anything that looks like Donald Trump’s hair. ~Gwen Pearson I just love that quote. It is the title of an article in WIRED last week on a particularly painful caterpillar known by various names – Puss Caterpillar, Asp, and Southern Flannel Moth Caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis. I find one of these every couple of… Read more…
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Stately Garden Visitor
This weekend, while I was picking beans in the garden, I felt I was being watched. I looked around, and, sure enough, had a visitor. It was a beautiful Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina. This one was particularly striking, with a bright, bold pattern on both its shell and head. I suspected it was a… Read more…
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Baby Rattle
…a wonderful creature, when we consider his form, nature and disposition…he is never known to strike until he is first assaulted or fears himself in danger, and even then always gives the earliest warning by the rattles at the extremity of his tail. ~William Bartram, 1791 I made some time last week to do a… Read more…
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Glory in the Morning, Quiet at Night
Morning Glory is the best name, it always refreshes me to see it. ~Henry David Thoreau Some parts of the garden are starting to wind down now, but the wilder side is still full of life and beauty. The cooler nights and recent rains have perked things up a bit, the scattered wildflowers are in… Read more…
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To the Sea
Salmon abound in great quantities at certain seasons of the year, when the water in every direction seems to be filled with them… ~James Alden, U.S. Coast Survey, 1853, describing the waters around San Juan Island After camping and hiking in Olympic National Park, the next leg of the journey was by ferry, to San… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 