Here's a couple pics I took:
After posting this pic on facebook asking people to help me identify it, I noticed the abdomen was starting to move slightly. Nothing else. Just the abdomen portion. I was thinking it was probably a female and there was a larvae inside that survived and was trying to get out. Here's the facebook thread:
Scott Cotten definitely nailed it. Here is a great page dedicated to this insect: Pigeon Horntail Wasp
After a while the legs started moving too. Just one leg, and after about 15 minutes, another leg. Then it was able to barely crawl along with those two legs. Within about 1 and 1/2 hours all the legs were moving and it wouldn't stay put. Just walk around.
By the time night fell, it was just walking around in the same 10 square foot area on the patio by the hot tub.
The next morning, I went out and searched and it wasn't there. But after watering the plant hanging by the hot tub, I heard a deep sounding insect wings fluttering in the grass. And there it was trying to fly out of the grass about 10 feet from the patio.
I grabbed a rope and it climbed out of the grass on to the rope. I lifted it up to about my waist level. It attempted to fly, and I encouraged it "Go! Go little guy! Go!"
After about five feet of flying parallel to the ground about 3 feet up, it then was able to get some thrust and flew upwards around the tree, and then landed way up high about 25 feet up into the tree. This thing may actually make it! Way to go little buddy. Sorry your swim experience ended so badly, and that you were able to cough up the water and get back to living.
