Found this guy in our pool. The tarantula hawk wasp
These wasps require a tarantula to serve as a host or ‘meal” for their larvae. The female wasp will look for a burrow that contains a tarantula and then disturb the webbing around the burrow to coax the tarantula to come out. She stings the tarantula on its underside paralyzing it and drags it down into a burrow. She lays one egg on the paralyzed spider and seals the opening to the burrow. When the egg hatches it eats the still living spider.
DesertMuseum.org
They have the most painful (but not fatal) sting of all animals in the world. Still, I helped him out of the pool.
We were walking behind our lovely Airbnb off Route 66 in Parks, AZ (to get away from three-digit temperatures)…
Our Airbnb off Route 66
in a National forest…when Ava I noticed something hopping about.
This lovely creature is the Arizona Treefrog!
According to reptilesofaz.org, this is their call (audio file). We think it sounds like a bunch of muppets.
The Arizona Treefrog grows to 1.5 inches. They breed in mostly temporary waters, which I find strange because they look like they need a lot of water.
“In Arizona, Arizona Treefrogs have been found to feed on beetles, spiders, earthworms, flies, and bark beetles. They likely feed on a variety of other small invertebrates, as well.”
reptilesofaz.org
This finding was a lucky one as they are nocturnal animals. However, it appears that their skin is toxic and holding them is not the best idea. Oops. Well, I didn’t feel any after effects. My family is doing a collective eye roll as I tell them this because I once caught this in a jar:
nerdist.com
According to Sciencefriday.com, being stung by one of these is painful. Quite painful:
“The pain is so debilitating and excruciating that the victim is at risk of further injury by tripping in a hole or over an object in the path and then falling onto a cactus or into a barbed-wire fence.”
Aren’t you glad I passed this on to you? Now you’ll be extra careful when you try to catch one.
Kismet 