Observations by theultimateswordsman

We were out shopping and we passed this small river that passes the shopping center. As we passed, I noticed several large fish causing a commotion. I got out to take a closer look and upon reaching the water's edge, I saw several 2-3 foot carp surfacing in rapid succession. I have no idea why they were coming to the surface, but they were certainly large. We have carp in almost all the waters around where I live so it's not too unusual to see them close to the surface, but this was weird.

Every time I see a tarantula crossing the road I tend to be in a situation that does not allow me to do so. However, I finally managed to have the opportunity to stop and observe one of these colossal spiders for a little bit. It actually climbed up into my tire and I had to start the car to get it to leave. Big beautiful spider! Or terrible nightmare...depends who you ask.

Saw this roughly 1-1.5 inch beetle sitting on the wall of my parking garage at work. I've actually seen many ground beetles of several different species at my job but they've all been dead.
Either way, very cool beetle to run into on occasion.

This 2-3 inch moth was tucked into a small bush growing next to our fence. It hung upside down in such a way that it was almost identical to a dead leaf. Our cat actually spotted it and you could tell she was thinking that that "leaf" was out of place. Luckily I persuaded her that the moth was in fact only a "leaf." Anyway, I ID it as a Walnut Sphinx Moth but it looks a lot like a few other moths so any input is appreciated.

A few years back a lot of these interesting looking flies started showing up all around our yard. At first we avoided them because they looked like tiny wasps, but then I noticed that they only had two true wings which meant they had to be dipterans. It took a while but I finally managed to ID them as Picture Winged Flies.
I noticed this one sitting on our porch table very still so i figured it would be a good time to get a picture of one to post on here.

I'm fairly certain this is the nymph of a Wheel Bug that is going through one of its molts. At this stage in their lives they lack wings, reproductive organs, and the signature "wheel" on their thorax that makes them a Wheel Bug.
However, wheel bug nymphs are fairly easy to recognize due to the jet black legs and red/orange post-molt color. Its kinda pretty for such a fearsome insect.

So at work there are a multitude of nesting birds in trees, columns, overhangs, and the like. The Robins started learning to fly the other day and there are fledgling Robins all over the place now. Most of them are franticly peeping and scampering all over, but this one was hiding under a bush and let me take a good picture of him.

I found this tiny adorable toad fleeing for dear life from my giant footsteps in a mostly dried up pond. We were camping and I was the first one awake so I was looking around in the underbrush and saw this little guy.

So admittedly I'm not sure if these are taken care of by someone or not. They roam around the Oklahoma City Community College campus begging for handouts. Either way they don't appear to have an owner and they interbreed with the native Mallards. They also don't migrate and I'm pretty sure they're flightless due to their size.

I honestly think they are ugly, bizarre, and intriguing.

So my Girlfriend and her parents were doing some gardening and had left their front door open...which is normally fine. But on that day a 4 foot Eastern Rat Snake decided to slither right in...

Needless to say they were shocked to find it in the doorway and called me over to catch him.
Catching a large snake under a desk, a piano, and various other furniture is difficult...

My Girlfriend and I couldn't resist taking a picture with him once we got him. We let him go in the field out back since that's probably where he came from anyway...

I noticed a shimmering black beetle hanging from a tree and quickly realized that the bit of bark next to him was actually a Wheel Bug assassin insect that was happily sucking out his internal fluids. These guys look very cool but they're pretty scary if you're a smaller insect. One actually bit me one time when I was about 7 and it hurt A LOT!

The Wheel Bug is the one that looks like it has a little saw on the back of its thorax.

So this one has an interesting story. I was sitting at my kitchen table looking out the window when I noticed a cicada nymph sitting on the fence outside the window. Cicada's normally molt in the late evening and dry out overnight. This one, however, was doing it in the middle of the day only feet away from my Mom's bird feeder. Not a good idea...
Anyway, I watched him molt and climb back onto his shell. I moved him to our covered porch and sat with him while he hardened. At 10:00 he was finally ready to take on the world.
The next morning, he as gone.