Thursday, May 10, 2012

On My Walk

Since being released from the cardiologist in mid-April, I have been working very hard at getting my heart into some semblance of shape and to hopefully lose some weight along the way. 

One of the things I have been doing is walking.  And I found a very convenient place to do my walking - the golf course that Vol Fan is working on.  So at some point each day, I can be found walking the course - all 18 holes.  Sometimes 21 holes!  And trust me, this course is NOT flat!  Since Vol Fan had approximate measurements for the amount of pipe needed for the main supply line, he estimates that I am walking between 4.5-5 miles each day.  Yay Me!

While on my walks, I see many things.  Golfers that really suck at golf.  Golfers that cheat at golf.  Cute little baby geese following their Mama around.  And sometimes I see very scary things.

Last week I saw the biggest, scariest-looking ant I have ever seen!  Unfortunately, I did not have my camera.  As soon as I got home, I was on Google.  And this is what I saw...
Thanks for the photo, Jeffrey Pippen via Google!

Isn't it the scariest thing ever?!?  And guess what this monster is called.....Cow Killer!  Supposedly it was given this name because it's sting is so painful that it could kill a cow!  And yes, I was hovering all around this thing, trying to get a good look.  Thank goodness I'm not dumb enough to try and pick it up!

The Cow Killer is also known as the Velvet Ant.  The one I saw was a female Eastern Velvet Ant, which is the largest of the velvet ants and can reach 3/4" long.  They are not true members of the ant family but rather are kin to wasps. 

I'm just hoping these things don't take over the world!

On a less ominous note, I also saw one of  these - a common whitetail dragonfly.  It was beautiful!
Photo by biosurvey.ou.edu

I've seriously got to start bringing my camera along :)

5 comments:

Busy Bee Suz said...

Or your camera phone???
We have those red velvet looking guys...didn't know they were kinda dangerous!
Yay for you and the walking....great for your heart and your butt too. :)

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Cow killer?!? I have never heard of that before. Ouch!

Mental P Mama said...

We called them Red Velvet Ants! I haven't seen one in 40 years! Wow...

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hey Girlie, I'm so proud of you for doing all of that walking... We've been doing ALOT of walking at the beach this week (mainly because we are eating FRIED seafood at nights).... Yipes!!!!! BUT--it is SO SO good.
Hugs,
Betsy

Susan said...

Ugh! I am happy to say I have never come across a cow killer. Wow!