The One That Got Away

Check out this paper wasp. I was pretty excited when I saw it.

Finally, a wasp “processing” a caterpillar right out in the open. It was an event that I’d been hoping to capture in photographs for quite awhile.

She was using her mandibles to cut the caterpillar into hunks. At one point she tried to lift off with a big piece, but she literally tipped over. She went back to cutting.

Imagine:  there I am with my eye in the viewfinder, fully focused on the drama, capturing every move…

When a collared lizard came out of nowhere and grabbed the wasp!

It looked like a full-sized dinosaur through the macro lens and I admit I did not have the presence of mind to snap the shutter. I was too busy jumping about three feet into the air 🙂

Sometimes the predator becomes prey. And sometimes the great shot gets away.