Hag Mouth Larvae or Monkey Slug

Hag Mouth Larvae or Monkey Slug

Phobetron pithecium

At some point in time a couple of months ago a visitor to Old Rag came up to the Contact Station in the parking lot and asked the Ranger and I if we knew what the following caterpillar was.

We did not.   I looked it up when I got  home and I thought I had posted it to my blog but had not.

The answer to his question was Hag Mouth Larvae or Monkey Slug and below is a picture of what it looked like:

All pictures from following link:

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&aq=&oq=&rlz=1T4ADRA_enUS456US456&q=Phobetron+pithecium&tbm=isch#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7tEGsab8NxR4iM%3A%3Bw1OjEI9gQrusmM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu%252FFiles1%252FJV%252F300%252FJV4677f-300.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu%252Fspecies.php%253Fhodges%253D4677%3B300%3B225







This is what the moth looks like:



Nature continues to amaze me.

LNT Fifty Shades Of Gray

 

 

 

LNT

Shades Of Grey

Safety Versus Preservation

Leave No Trace is not a system of rules but rather ethical guidelines.  What initially seems an egregious breaking of "rules" is not always so.

Scout Leaders Destroy Ancient Rock Formation In State Park

Ancient rock formation's destruction could draw charges against Utah men

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

Authorities in Utah are considering criminal charges against a group of men who gleefully shoved a boulder off its perch in a state park — and disturbed a rock formation that park officials say is 170 million years old.

The men, identified by The Salt Lake Tribune as Boy Scout leaders, recorded the antics, and cheered and high-fived after they toppled the rock. As one of the men was jostling the boulder loose, the cameraman sang a 1990 dance-party hit: “Wiggle it — just a little bit.”
The Tribute posted the video to YouTube:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/18/21023331-ancient-rock-formations-destruction-could-draw-charges-against-utah-men?lite


Upon reading further down in the article it turns out that their underlying motive was that they thought it looked like it was about to fall over any moment and it presented a safety hazard.

Is mountain top mining appropriate?    Was hacking away a large portion of Six Grandfathers to create Mt Rushmore appropriate?    Was destruction of The Buddhas of Bamiwam appropriate?   Is any graffiti on rock appropriate?   How about pioneers names carved into the rock at Chimney rock is that appropriate.    What about Anastasi Petroglyphs should they be removed?

Mount Rushmore

The re-imagining of Mount Rushmore goes beyond disputes about, for instance, who should be considered the "real" founding fathers -- Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills, land that is sacred to a number of tribes. It's also land that, according to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was forever ceded control of to Native Americans only to be unilaterally abrogated by the US Government.

Is purposely causing  avalanches or trundeling  OK?

Trundeling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlxf5wnWxMo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVxxodxHUE


Unexploded shells used to trigger avalanches liter the landscape?

Park's bombs litter slopes

Yellowstone can’t say how many unexploded shells lie above Sylvan Pass, or how to find them.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=9959


 Should an image of Crazy Horse be carved out of a mountain?



I will not pretend to know the answers but in my opinion this is why LNT is considered a frame work of ethical guidelines and not a set of rules or laws.    

One-On-One Training (September)

 

 

 

 

 

PATC Trail Patrol One-On-One Training

Note: This post is chronologically out of order it happened in September.

 

 

The following shot is of Joe C on his Trail Patrol One-On-One Trail Patrol Training day on Old Rag.   Joe will be a great addition because among many other things he is deeply involved in ham radio communications.

A week after his training this is a shot of Joe letting the park dispatcher know that a separated party incident was successfully resolved.

Shut Down

 

SHUTDOWN

Nature Gets A Vacation From The Hikers

 

• A gorgeous Fall day and the Old Rag Lot is closed and EMPTY. 
• Imagine that.
• Air crisp and moderately cool.
• Leaves changing color.
• Walking Sticks soon to be seen near the ground.
• Snakes migrating to hibernaculum.
• Carpets of leaves covering the ground.
• Not even one vehicle in the lot!
• What alternate reality is this?

With SNP closed it was the perfect opportunity to tour the back roads that run up into the many hollows just outside of SNP.  I enjoyed the countryside vistas and the feel of early Fall 2013.   It allows me to explore and add pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of my mental map of the lands bordering the SNP.

 

 

Sunday September 29, 2013 Backcountry Interpreters

FALL IS HERE

  

Twenty minutes after I took this picture I met a Dad and his two daughters (estimated ages 4 and 7). It had become dark and they were hiking with headlamps.   They were coming up to have a late night dinner at Chez Old Rag Summit.   Their ceiling sparkled with stars including an absolutely gorgeous Big Dipper.   They would be serenaded by a wonderful symphony of tree frogs and other night wildlife voices.  The homely lights of Graves Mountain Lodge, Etlan, Culpepper and Madison glowed down in the valleys to the East.   Lights of distant cars would be seen moving high across the western horizons on Skyline Drive.  The American wilderness experience would shape the spirits of a new generation!  In wilderness is the preservation of our children!

A new generation of employees representing the long proud heritage of The National Park Service!    Sherri and Gwen (sp?)   I can not say enough good things about the wonderful salt of the earth NPS employees I have had the chance to interact with in the back-country of our National Parks.
       

 

 

HUMOR ALERT:  

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Moms and Dads do not let your kids grow up to be politicians.

Note:  This was written at a time when the NPS was making sure no one was within National Wilderness Areas within their jurisdictions during the 2013 government shutdown.   Heard that technically folks could not even walk from Independence Ave. to Constitution Ave. across the lawn of the Capital Mall because the government says it is technically shut down.     Hmmm Constitution, Independence, the Peoples' Lawn, thought provoking?    I wonder what they are going to do about any climbers half way up the Nose Route in Yosemite, bivouacked on the Exum Ridge, or camping in the deep back country of Denali?  

When humans are involved things certainly can get complicated.   ;-).

End of humor and back to the simplicity of nature:

 

 

HOME SWEET HOME

An excerpt from the Summer 2013 finale of Old Rag TV's Summit Sunsets.

 

 

 

Copperheads

Copperheads

Old Rag has both Rattle Snakes and Copperheads.  I have often seen Timber Rattlesnakes during the day but I have almost never seen a Copperhead during the day.  I often see them at dusk, twilight and early evening.    They are very pretty and are nothing to worry about as long as you do not get too close to them.    Please do not hassle or hurt them as they eat rodents which are reservoirs for many  tick bourn diseases and tick bourn diseases are arguably the most dangerous things in the park.

Spot the Copperhead


Photo came from following link:

 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nativetreesociety.org/forestecology/photos/copperhead1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nativetreesociety.org/forestecology/can_you_spot_the_copperhead.htm&h=476&w=613&sz=79&tbnid=k9KaPj_ISth9_M:&tbnh=111&tbnw=143&zoom=1&usg=__mZgpJWZ11zYo3VjwcV5rh-r3gtM=&docid=CHJ7cciv72dVyM&sa=X&ei=hps8UrjnFIiS9gSLl4DoCw&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAA



While generally not life threatening for an adult, Copperhead bites can be very serious.   Check out the following pictures of a Copperhead bite injury.





If the pain and tissue damage are not enough to get your attention Google for the cost of snake bite treatment.    The following is one such search result:

I was bit by a Copperhead on 8-8-13. The hospital (LNRMC in Mooresville, NC), kept me overnight, administered 4 units of anti-venim. Total cost of treatment= $89,226.86.The anti-venim alone was $81,159.16! That equates to $20,289.00 per vial- I think that there is a mark-up going on somewhere... Going to the news about this one; I hope that they like the "free advertising"!

Eric Ferguson of NC 2:22PM September 19, 2013

LNT Trainers Course