Ranger Sarah at the entrance to to Lignite Cave. The cave is home to tricolor bats, cave salamanders, slimy salamanders, cave crickets, and pickerel frogs.
— at Roaring River State Park, Missouri.
Ranger Sarah found a friend, a Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus). The Giant Walkingstick is the largest insect in North America, at least measured by length, with females up to 7 inches long. The Giant Walkingstick is one of 30 varieties of stick insects in North America. Four types live in Missouri.
Ranger Sarah's newest friend a Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus) takes a ride on her hat. Their are more than 3,000 species of stick insect worldwide. The giant walkingstick eats leaves. It is perfectly camouflaged for a life in trees and shrubs. Walkingsticks not only look like twigs but also sway their bodies to mimic the motion of branches in a breeze.
Ranger Sarah checks out more of the rooms at the village of Tyuonyi at Bandelier National Monument. Tree-ring dating shows construction here started more than 600 years ago.