While we were on our trip to Dallas, we stayed just outside of Dallas at Cedar Hill State Park along the banks of Joe Pool Lake. The park is quite large and very nice and in the outer suburbs of the south side of the city.
And even though the weather was warm, fall was in the air. Look at the lovely autumn colors in the photo on the left. This is a small wetlands area near the shore of Joe Pool Lake.
Other than a few deer and a rabbit or two we didn't see any wildlife, but we did see a few critters which I thought I would share with you here.
And even though the weather was warm, fall was in the air. Look at the lovely autumn colors in the photo on the left. This is a small wetlands area near the shore of Joe Pool Lake.
Other than a few deer and a rabbit or two we didn't see any wildlife, but we did see a few critters which I thought I would share with you here.
Tarantula
Yeah, we saw a tarantula, and these guys are really big. We came across this sweet fellow while out for a little evening stroll. You can get an idea of his size by seeing that he spans the entire width of the roadway stripe.
It was fun to watch this bad boy take his time crossing the road. He seemed to be out for a stroll, in no hurry and with all the time in the world.
From what I read, the tarantula is not dangerous. As scary as it looks, the tarantula has a bite that is less painful than the sting of the bumblebee.
Tawny Emperor Butterfly
This guy was sitting and sunning himself on one of our lawn chairs. The males like to sit in the sun and watch for females -- not really any different than old men.
There's nothing rare here; the tawny emperor is fairly widespread throughout the U.S. I just liked the way the butterfly and its shadow looked.
Just A Grasshopper
There is nothing fancy here -- just a plain old everyday grasshopper. He was sitting on a wood walkway in the park's wetlands area, and I liked how he looked against the grain of the wood.
Grasshoppers are most dangerous after a prolonged dry spell. Then their search for food leads them to crops which they can destroy with amazing speed. Since the Dallas-Fort Worth area is in the fifth year of drought, I think grasshoppers might be a major concern this coming year.
Who Knows?
I have no idea what this neat looking thing is, but he sat on the side of our RV for quite a while. This gave me plenty of chance to photograph him.
What looks like a single long antenna or feeler behind him is actually two antennae or feelers. Every once in a while he would spread them apart, but mostly he kept them so close together they looked to be just one.
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