Random crap with Uno.

[Dio]

End of the drought?

Takes a heck of a lot more than one storm to end a drought.  The trouble is our reservoirs are practically empty. 

It would take several heavy storms in a season to end a drought.

[Buster's Uncle]

All-day soaker drizzling would do it better.  Storms waste a lot to run-off.

[Buster's Uncle]

BTW, congratulations to Uno on the 101st page of AC2's longest and most viewed thread.  I owe you for all the support, buddy.

[Unorthodox]

Probably 90% is you being my sounding board.  It's a needed commodity. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Of course.  It's valuable to get the opinion of another artist, but the thing is, I enjoy talking shop, so doing no favors there. 

I've tried to get Kil to look in here even though he doesn't work in sculpture and is pretty opposite you in nature of fantasy life - an artist's eye is still an artist's eye, and he has real talent.  I suspect the opposite thing is the hangup...

[Unorthodox]

Had nothing to build, so went for a walk this evening.  Ostensibly looking for more signs of caterpillars, but also for inspiration in general.

This is the place Chimera was designed for.  I had pics of it 'living' here.  IF there was any way to get it back there, I would.  And if it were possible, I would build a haunt that stretches this trail. 

Before getting to the area, you have the bridge begging for a troll.



Unfortunately the leg back to Chimera's home is in MAJOR disrepair, and if it weren't for the creepy tree I would have missed the turnoff myself.



Then you get to Chimera's home, a nice big pond/marsh. 



Unfortunately the trail to the far side is gone.  But tell me this thing doesn't belong there.



I've wanted to build a...thing...to be peaking out behind a tree down there.  Been worried about the legality of it. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh man, that WOULD be pretty awesome.

you have the bridge begging for a troll.

You suck, bridge!

[Unorthodox]

So, on to the trailhead.  I didn't know where it come out, so I was hiking from the bottom to the top.  Now I know and will take the much easier down path...



One of the reasons to hike this trail is the washes....at the top of the hill there is a freeway.  On the far side of the freeway is a gully which is one of the creepier places I've ever been.  This runs under the freeway, washing everything from the gully down here.  Good place to find bones.



Unfortunately they were too fresh.  Someone's pup. 



The trail itself keeps you on your toes.  Bull ants.  Their mounds dot the lower end of the trail, and well, if you don't pay attention, they WILL collapse under you and you'll have a lotta pissed off ants on you. 





Spider web across the trail. 




Hot insect love.  No idea what these are.  (well, I have a general starting point, but little else)

[Unorthodox]

Getting home, wiggles molted and is now 5th instar and on a mission to fatten for transformation now. 



As such, he's been given a new home.



Chompy, with his old head. 



Another phrase that would be strange elsewhere:  "Dad, you spilled his head!"

[Rusty Edge]

"And... If....
"If you like vegetables,
Fruit and fresh flowers,
Give thanks to us bugs,
Who labor for hours,
And if not for the fact,
That we love the taste,
You'd be out there wallowing,
In shoulder -high waste!
(shoulder-high waste!)

And..... If.........
 All of the bugs were
Wiped off of the planet,
There'd soon be no humans,
 Around here to man it.
The great thing about us?
You can't live without us!
It's tough- toooo beee a bug!!!"


You'll understand soon enough.

[Unorthodox]

Hot insect love.  No idea what these are.  (well, I have a general starting point, but little else)

Well, crap, not where I expected it to be on the bug guide...might have to ask what's that bug. 

[Buster's Uncle]

It was busy when you posted that last night, or I'd have already called you down for posting pron.  BAD Uno!  BAD bug pimp!

This prudery brought to you by AC2.

[Unorthodox]

Down to 2 possibilities, really. 

Cranefly.  The overall shape and structure screams out cranefly, thus it's my first guess, but those legs really don't fit.

Moth.  Clearwing moths love to mimic others, and the legs and antenna on the female (the top one) really point at moth.


Cranefly:  I can find no definitive list, let alone pictorial, for North America, let alone Utah. 

Moth.  I've ruled out the ones listed on the Utah Lepidopterists' Society website.  But, it's a 2003 list and could be outdated/incomplete. 

[Unorthodox]

Well, the dang thing is showing how outdated I am on my information. 

ID is a hanging thief.  (not too distant relative of the crane fly, so I'm not terribly embarrased.)

http://bugguide.net/node/view/639343

Wicked little bug predates on anything it can catch.  First recorded in Utah in the mid 90's (back when I was getting out of the game), and mostly isolated to the shores of the great salt lake.  Obviously, the range is expanding.  Of note, I got a pic of these two as they were, um, preoccupied, but there were at least a half dozen more that wouldn't let me get close enough for a pic. 

[Buster's Uncle]

An invasive that needs killin', then?