I Can Haz Cheezburger presents: Darcy as the Slipper Ninja

Darcy peeking inside to see if she can snag one of my slippers. Perfect shot of my sweet doggie for a Lolz Caption.

To make your own go to cheezburger.com: Make Cheezburgers!

Buggin' Out on Thursdays :: The Giant Leopard Moth Does Not Say Meow

I found this moth on the trail of McKinney Roughs Nature Park (outside of Austin, Texas). It's a Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia), also known as an Eyed Tiger Moth. I'm not sure if he was hurt or just tuckered out but I didn't want to bother him aside from taking a quick photograph. Well, it's more like a portrait.

When I was little we used to spot a LOT of little hairy caterpillars in the herb garden or trying to cross the street (which always worried me). My family called them "woolly" caterpillars. I considered them the teddy bear of the caterpillars. Therefore, I liked them. Granted, there are a lot of fuzzy bear worms out there but if you ever see a woolly caterpillar it might just be a baby Giant Leopard Moth. Don't try to pick them up and snuggle them though because, while they look fuzzy and sweet, the bristles on the caterpillars can irritate the skin and cause a rash!

The abdomen of a giant leopard moth is orange and blue. I think of it as God's way of showing us that as soon as we think we are seeing it all "in black and white" there is often something lurking beneath. In this case, something good, and pretty, and surprisingly delightful.

To see the orange and blue enlightenment of a Giant Leopard Moth's six pack abs: click here to check out BugGuide.net!

What kind of bugs have you seen lately?

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

No Taxon (Moths)

Superfamily Noctuoidea

Family Arctiidae (Tiger Moths)

Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger Moths)

Tribe Arctiini

Genus Hypercompe

Species scribonia (Giant Leopard Moth - Hodges#8146)

The Case of the Disappearing Anthill

Strolling in the backyard after the recent rains I found a neatly shaped anthill. I happened to have my camera with me because I'm always searching for things to take on my Macro setting (I love my Canon Powershot). Here it is for your viewing pleasure!

I wandered around and took a few shots of some rain lilies too. It was then that I heard a familiar, excited snuffling behind me. I turned around to find an anthill "Destructor" in my midst!

It is undetermined if there were any casualties, however, reports indicate they all escaped to the safety of underground tunnels. A few stalwart soldiers were seen in the area looking to take a fiery bite out of the fur-clad perpetrator. The following is the mugshot of the guilty party involved in the unscheduled demolition of what was once a beautifully shaped anthill.

If you have seen this hairy male please contact the Anthill Police immediately. It is not known if there was an accomplice although a surveillance camera did capture this image of the suspect with an unknown white female not long after the crime was committed:

Sources later confirmed the young miss to be completely innocent in The Case of the Disappearing Anthill. She was recently seen enjoying a romp in the backyard with a huge grin of utter happiness.

Silver and Gold

We've been praying for rain because we've been in a drought for a long, long time. Still in the drought but we did get some rain yesterday! I noticed the clouds rolling in and took advantage of the overcast day to play soccer with my doggies in the backyard. They love to chase the ball and it gives me a reason to run around chasing after them. It makes me laugh aloud to see them bounding after a bouncing ball.

After we settled down it started to sprinkle. Here are my two dogs getting wet in the rain while they stare at me taking their picture. I imagine they are wondering why I stopped playing soccer and am now squatting in the rain with my camera.

I find it very interesting that when the flash goes off, my white dog's eyes reflect a silver blue color while my brindle's eyes reflect gold amber! For a closer look, please click on each picture to be directed to my Flickr photostream.
I love their sturdy stance and alert, steady gaze.

Big Huge Labs

Not big huge, adorable Labradors or big huge, smelly Lab Rats...

Biologie's Flickr

I've been playing with Flickr and it's 3rd party applications. Big Huge Labs is a site featuring "fd's Flickr Toys". I'm liking the Mosiac Maker. It allows you to make a mosaic from a photoset, favorites, tags, or individual digital photographs/images ~ including ways to customize colors and layouts ~ !

The only drawback to this tool is you must have a public photostream. If you have pictures listed specifically for friends, family, or private photos on your photostream you won't want to use the Mosaic Maker because the application accesses all your Flickr photos.

It's great fun and an excellent tool for bloggers!

Pictured here:
Black & White Doggie
Blue Planet Clusters
Crystal Sky Clusters
The Sentry