Hopping To It

While leaning over the fence to prune away some branches, I spied a green lump on my next victim.

 

It was a  Gray Treefrog
(Hyla versicolor), blending in as best it could.

 

I pulled the Panasonic from my pocket and commenced shooting.

 

 

 

 

He didn’t mind me recording his back view.

 

And the shot from the side didn’t seem to bother him, either.

Even a Down The Twig Pic was fine. 

 

 

 

But … moving in for a serious close-up was apparently too much.

He

 

hopped

 

away.

 

I glanced around, hoping to find the spot where he’d taken refuge and discovered that the spot was

ON ME!

(Wow. Didn’t see That One coming!)

So he gave me the Evil Eye and turned to slink off.

Maybe it was because The Ant nipping at his heels got him confused, I don’t know.

At any rate, he hopped again …

 

… on to the Chain-Link Fence.

NOT the best hiding place*, even for a small frog!

 

 

 

 

*Here’s why I believed that Gray Treefrogs share a trait with the famed Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.  Both believe that “If I don’t see her, she doesn’t see me.”   ;~D

 

 

 

 

He tried to hail a cab, apparently not knowing that there are no cabs in this neighborhood. (Ok. That was just plain silly.)

 

 

 

In preparing for his final hop,  his right-side feet got kind of tangled up on the fence wire.

 

Wouldn’t you know, the same thing happened on his left!

 

 

With a mighty heave, he got his feet straightened, hopped off the fence, and disappeared into the ‘safe side’ of the yard.

And we all lived happily ever after.

The End

An American Toad (Bufo americanus) Tale

I was working beside the Wet Weather Creek when I spied a Toad backing into a hole in the bank.

Of Course I had my Trusty Panasonic in my pocket!

There was only time to snap one picture because …

Zacchaeus The Kitty moved in for a closer look.

I didn’t see The Toad again.

Zacchaeus The Kitty was a Different Story.

Munch, Munch, Munch

This Caterpillar eats Iris …

This Little Fly eats leaves …

This Bigger Fly eats Pollen …

This Little Worm eats Green (Tomatoes).

And this Silly Beast  …

moves his Dish

which leaves a Trail Of Food

for him to Munch On Later.

(Munch, Munch, Munch)

Waiting For The Hummer (Or Someone Like Him)

Sitting on my porch … waiting for a Hummer to visit the feeder … borrowed camera in hand …

Beyond the feeder, the Mountain Bluet is still flowering.

 

 

 

At the feeder … nothing.

 

 

 

Beyond the feeder, the neighbor’s yard is aglow in the sunshine.

 

 

At the feeder … a bit of glowing as well. (But no hummer.)


 

 

 

Beyond the feeder, the Hanging Basket blooms with reckless abandon.

 

 

 

While at the feeder …

 

 

 

 

 

The Visitor hums in!

(Yay!)

The Wooly Booger Shoot

Today, a Hypercompe Scribonia Caterpillar (who will grow into a Giant Leopard Moth someday)  arrived on my sidewalk — ready for his photo shoot.

I quickly learned that he really doesn’t have big shiny bug eyes.  What I thought were eyes are ‘lobes‘, and his eyes are on the lower front edge of each one. He’s got  several eyes on each side.

 

He doesn’t have a nose, either.  Instead, he has 18 nostrils along his body.  Only they’re not called ‘nostrils’, they’re called spiracles’.  Anyway, that’s  where he breathes.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s another spiracle — up in the right corner of the picture. It’s on his ‘4th abdominal segment’.  In people, an abdomen is also called a ‘belly’.  Caterpillars sort of have 10 bellies, but they’re called ‘abdominal segments‘.

 

 

 

 

We discussed his legs. He has a whole lot more of them than you and I do, even more that a dog or a cow!  But not all of this caterpillar’s legs are ‘true legs‘. There are 6 of those. They’re up front near his head.  Besides being on his front end, you can tell they’re true legs because they each end in a claw.

Those other legs are called ‘prolegs‘.  They end in a bunch of tiny hooks called ‘crochets‘.

He has no arms, but it’s ok because all the legs kind of make up for that.


SO … on with the Photo Shoot.


The first order of business was to see just how big this guy really was.  An impressive 6 centimeters!  Wow!  A very big caterpillar!  (Just for fun, he also stretched out on a brick.  He was as long as the space between 2 holes.)

 

He played around on the brick for awhile, but when he decided to go INTO a hole …

 

DISASTER STRUCK!!!!!

** When something is stuck on its back and can’t right itself, we say that it is ‘Turtled’.  If something is stuck head-first in a hole, is it ‘Pillared’? **

From there, things just got silly.

 

 

 

He said he was a ‘Hip Cat’, and pretended to be wearing shades …

 

 

 

… wiggled his prolegs in the dahlia pot …

 

… and relaxed in the rose of  sharon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After ascending the gargoyle (of which he wasn’t a bit frightened despite its Massive size and Fearsome expression) …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… he slid down it’s wing!  (Can you BELIEVE that?)

 

Well, about the time I was convinced that things couldn’t get ANY MORE out-of-control,

Ewwwwwwww!

(By the way, did you know that caterpillar dung is called ‘scat‘?

Close Encounters of the Odocoileous Kind

Two short stories

(as witnessed by The Photographer who was lovingly laboring at The Cable House)

The First Story:

Two Deer considered crossing The Path.

Being the Safety Conscious Deer that they were, they checked for traffic (as was their habit). They looked left (their left, our right) …

 

… then right (our left) …*

*… except one Deer got distracted by an especially tasty-looking Blade of Grass and lowered her head for a quick nibble.

… then forward (just to make sure).*

*HowEVER, a Clump of Clover was calling to the other Deer, and she just HAD to, umm, … (ahem) … nip it in the bud. (There!  I said it.)

**Deer are not known for their common sense.**

(“Shhh!  Don’t munch so loudly!  I think somebody’s spying on us!”)

Then, 3 things happened at the same time.

(I like Audience Participation. You get to decide who said what.)

“Why do you think that?”

“Surprise!”

“Mmmmm.  Tasty!”

 

 

THE END

(But don’t stop reading yet!)

The Second Story:

There was The Exceedingly Polite Deer; browsing around The Porch; minding her own business.*

A White-Stockinged Cat strolled along The Path.**

*A Deer’s Business almost always consists of “Oh, my! Now THAT looks like a Tasty Morsel!  I must nibble on it!”

**A cat NEVER just strolls. Kitties are always looking for something interesting to do.

“Was that a White Tailed Deer browsing around The Porch?”  The White-Stockinged Cat sat beside the path and Pondered her Options.*

The Deer looked up and around.  She detected a faint, though unmistakeable, Scent. Kitty!  She Pondered her Options.**

 

*Every Kitty sees itself as a Wild Beast and a Fearsome Hunter.

**Deer know this about Kitties.

The White-Stockinged Cat, creeping back down The Path with Great Stelth, turned left onto The Way To The Porch, and …

…BUSTED!

“May I help you?” The Exceedingly Polite Deer inquired exceedingly politely.

 

 

The White-Stockinged Cat vanished. (Kitties have a way of doing that, you know.)

About the time The Exceedingly Polite Deer thought she could resume her munching, who should appear on the scene but Mr. Orange Cat?

He Pondered his Options.

 

 

Both The Exceedingly Polite Deer and Mr. Orange Cat knew that Courtesy demands Avoidance of Eye Contact.

They averted their eyes.

 

Mr. Orange Cat stalked The Exceedingly Polite Deer with Great Stelth.*

 

*Just ignore the Grey Kitty lollygagging on The Path. She’s not part of This Story.

 

 

 

 

 

“May. I. HELP. You?” The Exceedingly Polite Deer inquired. (Although, not nearly so politely as before. In fact, she fairly spat it over her shoulder!)

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Orange Cat and his Lollygagging Crony vanished. (Kitties have a way of doing that, you know.)

 

 

 

 

 

The Exceedingly Polite Deer resumed her Browsing — with just a hint of a Self-Satisfied Smirk flitting about on her Muzzle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And they all Peacefully Co-existed with Pleasant Expressions on their faces for a long, long time.

THE END


Life Is Fragile

(A true story)

A pair of robins built (as carefully as robins will) its nest among the honeysuckle vines.  Soon there were 3 eggs.

(How exciting!)

 

But then there was a Really Big Storm.

And 2 of the eggs disappeared. :~(

The remaining egg hatched. :~)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the parents said, “Baby, you light up our lives!”

 

 

 

(Ok, ok. I just thought this was a really cool picture and had to include it.)

 

 Well, the baby grew.

 For a week.

 

 

Then one day, the nest lay empty on the ground …

 

 

 

 

                                                 And a bewildered parent

 

 

 

 

 

chirped

softly

in

a

nearby

oak

tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The (very sad) End.

A Callosamia Promethea (female) Came To Call

I had a new visitor on the patio.

She was a very cooperative model.

Something about the way she battled the windy gusts made me think she was fairly newly emerged.

I do hope she has friends in the area!


Hitch Hiker

Today, I had a hitch hiker on the windshield — 3 miles down the Interstate, 3 miles up the highway, and down the road to the house.  It co-operated with the photo shoot and then went on its way. I never knew what to call it.


Knot It!

Natural Knots I Have Known

Knot

Lashing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supportive Knots

100% Natural, Organic Figure-8 Knot

 

 

← Knot

For

Peace

Knotty

Ladder

→

 

 

 

 

Lots

-O-

Knots

←

 

Knot The End

 

 

 

Twig-Toss Knot

(The End)

:~)