Big Bend National Park: The Ant and the Grasshopper PG-13

The Ant and the Grasshopper, Aesop's Fables. Credit: Milo Winter. Source: Library of Congress.

Yes, well.

There's Aesop's version of the ants and the grasshopper, and then there's Big Bend National Park's version.

While visiting the camp store next to the Chisos Visitor Center, I walk by a dead grasshopper.

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

Something about it catches my eye. Ooh, those yellow sac-like things. Ooh, there's movement; what's that? Ahh, a red, translucent ant is excavating within and without the carcass. I need a closer look.

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

What are those yellow things? Grasshopper guts? Eggs? The grasshopper has a metallic sheen.

A short film:

I still don't know what those yellow ovoid sacs are. Maybe spiricles? Britannica offers an image of these below:

Grasshopper spiricles. Credit: Britannica.

A final look at the remains of the Big Bend grasshopper:

Dead grasshopper and living ant, Big Bend National Park, Texas. September 2017.

Big Bend National Park: My Gentleman Lubber

My knight in gleaming, shining, black-and-green armor.

The jaunty, yellow neckband.

Those long, bendy legs.

His large eyes, dark orbs, that look you up and down, unblinking, unnerving you a little.

His feelers, which he applies so dexterously to probe surfaces, from which he gathers the intelligence he needs to know how best navigate his way over the soft and hard places.

My Texas lubber, Big Bend National Park, Chisos Basin Campground, Texas. September 2017.

In Texas, he goes by the name Lubber.

In Louisiana, he answers to The Devil's Horse.

Shivers.

Mexico: Juarez: Fourth Date: Grasshoppers and Cow Udders

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

This visit to Juarez was my time for adventurous eating. Chapulines and tacos de ubre.

As soon as I saw the shiny buckets of grasshoppers - crickets? - I knew I had to have some.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

They cost 35 pesos, or about $1.50 USD, for about 2/3 cup.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Fried chapulines - grasshoppers - Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

You can have 'em with lime or with hot sauce. Or both, I guess. I chose lime, but I soon set that aside just to munch on the crispy crickets alone. Tasty.

Some more shots of the chapulines at the bottom of this post. And some info here and here and here on the delectables. It doesn't seem that chapulines are actually in season right now, so I don't know the story on these that I saw in February. Could be from last year's crop; could be some grasshopper species outside the traditional chapulin.

For lunch, I had four diminutive tacos. With the help of another customer, I noted my filling options included tripe (tripa), liver (hígado), steak (bistec), cow udder (ubre), and some other choices.

I went with liver and cow udder. The liver tasted like liver and the cow udder was surprisingly flavorful.

Ubre tacos (on left) and hígado (liver) tacos on right, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. February 2017.

Lunch cost 28 pesos - 18 pesos for the tacos and 10 pesos for the bottle of Coke Light. 28 pesos is about $2.50 USD.

Apparently, cooked cow udders used to be quite commonplace in Great Britain a couple of generations ago. Here's someone who really went to town with cow udder. Here's a roasted cow udder recipe.