Country settings, Critters

A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands


Intro:
Enjoy the photo highlights from my trip to the LBJ National Grasslands.  I saw and photographed the largest variety of creatures during this visit.

A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
I glanced to my right and saw this lizard blending in with the branch.
A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
Carcass
A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
There’s a story about this spider coming soon.
A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
I somehow manage to find all sorts of exciting artifacts.
A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
I was hunting for mushrooms to photograph when I glanced to my left and saw this frog (or toad?) blending quite nicely on the tree.
A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands
I was hunting for frogs to photograph – I didn’t expect to find this snake.

Now that I’ve painted a proper picture of the LBJ National Grasslands… enjoy the Harrowing Tale….

 

I put the car in drive but then I felt something weird on my knee.  At first I thought it was my wet pants peeling off my skin.  (My pants were a little wet and muddy from photographing frogs and pond scum.) But then I felt something move inside my pant leg.  I looked at my friend Tore and calmly said, “I need you to hit me as hard as you can on my knee.  There is something there.”

Inside my head I was screaming in terror.

Tore looked at my pants and said, “I don’t see anything.”

I continued screaming inside my head.  Outwardly, I remained sitting as quietly and calmly as I could—trying to figure out what to do before I completely panicked.

The creature kept moving.

My heart was pounding.  I wanted to rip my pants off but I couldn’t.  Terror set in and I must have shouted “dear God help me!” a half dozen times.

Tore and I got out of the car.

“Please help me Tore.  Get it off of me.  Please help.”

I couldn’t move.  What if this monster bites me?

By this time my head was leaning on the side of the car—I couldn’t watch what was going on.  I was even too scared to cry.

Tore rolled up my pant leg, which until today, I didn’t realize how loose my camo pants fit.

Still, not watching, I stood in terror.

“Did you find it? I felt it somewhere above my knee.”

Tore:  “I found it.  You want to see what it was?”

Still terror stricken I turned around and looked.

It was not a life-threatening creature… it was a grasshopper.  A very large grasshopper managed to crawl up my pant leg all the way to my knee without being noticed.

And that is why I will forever feed grasshoppers to spiders every chance I get.  I will also be tucking my pants into my boots. 😉

A harrowing experience at the LBJ National Grasslands

 

Cameras:  Canon G16, iPhone, Big Bertha (Canon 5D Mark II)
Date:  September 24, 2016