3:00 snapshot #1412 Organisms high but especially low

[urbpan]

You'll forgive me if Beau the Masai giraffe appears in this journal rather frequently. He's a very photogenic character, and appears to be interested in what I'm doing whenever I stop to look at him.


Down in the wood chips: wine cap stropharia (Stropharia rugoso-annulata), by far the most common fleshy fungus on Franklin Park grounds. It's a European import that survives among the North Americans by colonizing only man-made environments such as mulch beds and gardens.


This is second or third time I've uncovered a giant grub while removing some well-rotten wood. It's hard to identify beetles in this life stage, but I'm guessing by size and habitat that this is a reddish-brown stag beetle larva.

Comments

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Do you ever pass on the creepy crawlies you find to the keepers? That grub looks like it would be awfully tasty for the right beastie.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I brought it to the (closest) keepers and they were pretty horrified, but agreed that it would be delicious to some animal. I chucked it to the wetlands creatures (mostly ducks). The risk of parasites precluded passing it along to any indoor animals.

[uneko.livejournal.com]

It almost looks like you're tickling the grub :D It's like "eee, stop it!"

Mister Giraffe is also very handsome :D

[karenleigh.livejournal.com]

Maybe cruel, but all I can think about when I see that grub is how much my chickens would love to gobble it up.