Work is a bounty of weird things...

So, work this week was a little busy.  I worked at the lab sampling and tagging mussels for release, then at the trout hatchery helping move fish.  There was lots of wildlife at both places!!  Unfortunately, I missed the bear at the trout hatchery.  Bummer!

One of our finds was the pipevine swallowtail caterpillar.

This guy hatches from eggs laid by the butterfly on pipevine (which has an amazing flower that is a little X-rated and resembles something that rhymes with Venus...) which it eats upon hatching.  The plant actually makes the caterpillar poisonous, helping prevent it from being eaten by birds, etc.  Pretty smart!  Here's what the butterfly looks like...  lovely!

During a walk around the hatchery, I found this plant.  I had no idea what it was, so I had to research it.  It's Euonymus americanus, or Strawberry Bush or Bursting Hearts (I love that name!).  It was gorgeous!  Now I want some for my yard.  

This was also a week for tiny snakes!  This one is a small queen snake.  They eat mostly crayfish, but will also eat tadpoles and minnows.  They don't get very big, and are pretty docile, which is one of the reasons I picked it up.  They do produce an anal musk they release when they feel threatened.  Luckily, this little one only released a small amount.  Ick.

I also found a small northern watersnake in a tank at work.  I stuck my hand it to move something and felt it touch my arm.  I may have freaked out for a second, but the snake was the only witness.  I managed to get it out of the tank without being bitten - winning!  He was pretty unhappy with me, but did cooperate long enough for me to get a sweet photo.

And finally, this little guy has been living in our pond at work.  I was out on the floating dock and heard something make a big splash.  Further investigation revealed this - a grebe, or didapper duck.  

These ducks are kind of funny... they have lobed feet and their legs are far back on their body.  That means they look "special" when they try to walk or run, and they usually fall over.  They are excellent swimmers, though, and dive under water to feed.  They can also manipulate their feathers to change their buoyancy, and can float mostly under water with just their head above the surface.

That's all for now.  Hopefully this week will lead to some equally awesome finds!