Or, the original was getting too big for the dial ups!
So what is this guy doing? Found him this morning when making my rounds. He was totally immobile, just kind of folded in half.
X
Critter Photography Part 2
Well, I expect it is not a guy but a girl, first thing. But as far as what she is doing, I don't know. Maybe she hasn't been eating enough oat bran...?
Not depositing eggs, since she appears to be a wasp, and their young are generally carnivorous, not leaf-eaters. Maybe she was deposting her own eggs on the eggs of something else?
This message was edited Aug 5, 2006 5:35 PM
I found this gorgeous moth early this morning. I took a whole slew of photos of him and checked the Bug Guide to see just who he is. Xylophanes tersa is a perfect match for my guy. Rather than uploading a whole bunch of photos, I made a collage. I was going to add him to the bugfiles but I couldn't figure out all the technical info about him and I saw no place to send the photo. Hopefully someone who's done this will come along and fill me in on how to add him to the files. I didn't see him in the photos shown.
Janet
I was wandering around the yard.... Bugs on my mind, when I spotted these two doing da dragonfly tango.
The female flew away and there was the male with a "cat that ate the canary" look on his face. HAHAHA
Janet
One HUGE dragonfly, resting on my Cat Claw grass...
Julie
That's a beauty.
This pretty little moth was waiting for me outside my garage this morning.
Here is my latest pic of one of my Mantis.
Andy P
He's brown - does that mean it is late in it's life? I have only seen the brown colored Mantises in Auntumn... (Mantii?)
JRush, My understanding is they live only one season.
They start out green and change to this brown as they mature. The one above is 'middle age'. It still has green eyes and the wings are only starting to form.
They shed their skin like snakes as they grow, too.
Here is a baby I snapped in Spring.
Andy P
Is it my imagination or does it seem that the Mantis look at us as we look at them. So many bugs don't appear to look at us, though they probably are in some way. The Mantis looks in our eyes, it seems. Kind of eerie.
READY FOR TAKEOFF!
Another shot - his wings have nice color.
I like that second shot. Cool
My favorite Bee shot, so far.
Andy P
I shot this big guy today, it's about 2 inches long.
Any ideas what it might be?
Andy P
Might be ugly! lol
Bugs, other than bees are not my favorite part of the gardening experience.
Andy, His irridescent wings are beautiful. I'm not a big fan of wasps, but he's a handsome fella. I wish I could help with the ID, but I'm not that familiar with them. Check the bugguide. That's where I found my Cicada Killer Wasp. It helps to identify them with more than one photo, showing different angles of the body. But then, I'm sure YOU knew that! Hahahaha!
Janet
Since I broke my little toe last month, I won't be doing much in the way of dove hunting, or even possibly duck hunting, until I can wear my boots comfortably.
I'm not going to let it get me down though. I have a couple of critters making themselves entirely too comfortable on my back deck. I can't use poisons or traps because of the squirrels that also hang out there during the daytime. I don't want to take a chance on forgetting to remove the traps, etc. before the squirrels are awake. I'm going to Gander Mountain to buy myself a pellet gun. I'll get hubby to paint me a backboard and install it above the lattice so I'll have a nice clean target area that won't "ding" as I shoot. We've been needing a new pellet gun for a while. There is a drainage ditch behind my backyard, so we get lots of these critters. I don't mind seeing them wander on top of the fence. But when they start invading my deck, well.... I'm gonna be kicking some rat butt!
Janet
Oh boy - you need a nice big CAT now! I was going to get all whiney about the concept of shooting some poor little critter, until I saw your photo. No rat is a GOOD rat - it is just the way things are. They are trouble - not disease spreading scorns of the earth as many believe, but gnawing destructive creatures. And there is never just ONE rat...
The wasp photo is familiar to me - I see these around my home & garden, with their wings in a constant flickering motion. They are good pollinators. They also frequent the dish of water I place on the deck for the butterflies & other insects.
I've already seen evidence of this family's destruction. A while back, I bought a new bird feeder. I set it on the picnic table until I could build a hanger for it to hang on the fence. The very next morning, I saw where some of it had been chewed. I mistakenly blamed a poor squirrel. Now I realize that it was one of the rats, during the night. Those squirrels have been around forever and I feel bad that I blamed one of them.
On my way to Gander Mountain right now! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! I used to love shooting the rats, back when we DID have a cat or four. We have dogs now and they just chase the rats along the top of the fence. They also jump up on the deck walls to try and get the rats. We've recently installed a water fountain on the deck. No doubt, they are coming there for their nightly parties.... and though there's no food, they just eat whatever IS there, including my plants! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Janet
Good hunting, Janet.
My dog Sarah is an excellent control for those critters, if they are IN the yard. Mice, moles, opossum, anything that moves, lol. She is very good, only kills on command. Otherwise she just plays with them. She gets a nice treat for every capture.
My big black bug is a Mud-Dauber, AKA 'Black & blue spider wasp'. I found it on BugGuide.
Andy P
Thanks Andy! I'm glad you found out what you had there. That Bug Guide is wonderful! I'm so glad I found out about it. I like the Bug Files, but sometimes have a hard time finding what I'm looking for there. I just need to spend more time familiarizing myself with Bug Files.
OK, so I went to GM and talked to the Firearms Manager. Told him what I was looking for and after looking at several of them, he found just the right one for me. I had to decide between a rifle or a pistol. I figured the pistol would be less weighty to handle. The one I chose is a Crossman Single Shot Air Pistol. The feet per second was faster than the rifle, so that was a bonus. I also got some pointed tip pellets to shoot. He said this set-up would defiitely kick some rat butt, provided I practice. :-)
After I paid, I asked him, with a perfectly straight face, if I killed a big rat would he like me to bring him to the store to be stuffed for display. (Gander Mountain has some of the coolest stuffed animals in their stores. ) He laughed and said that if I wanted to take a photo of it, I could put it on the "Brag Board" along with the rest of the kills. I laughed with him and told him he was on! :-)
I had some other errands to run and then I went over to my sister's house for dinner and just got home a while ago. I let the dogs out to pee and saw a rat scurrying across the lattice boards o the deck. When the dogs finished their business, we all came inside and I removed the packaging, etc. and got the pistol ready. I went back outside and I went over to my sunflower seeds and got me a handful of them and sprinkled a small pile on the lattice boards. I sat there for a bit waiting on him to show back up. I thought to myself, I'd better take a practice shot to see if I can aim or not. So I aimed for a rung of a wooden ladder that is up high, mounted sideways above the lattice. I heard a ding, but not a thump. I'll have to look in the morning to see if I actually hit the rung I was aiming for.
I sat there for about 20 minutes and he never did show back up. I just got a phone call from hubby. He's out of town for the night. He asked what I was doing. I told him that I was on rat patrol. He laughed and said, "I should have known."
Earlier, I was filling up my truck, after I'd bought the gun and he called to tell me he was leaving the house to go on his trip. I told him that I had bought the pistol. He came to the gas place I was at, close to our house, and said I'd made a good choice. I had ask him for advice on what kind, etc. to get and he was very vague about it all. I don't think he thought I was really going to do it! HAHAHAHAHA
I think I'll get my bath and see if they are out when I get done. I'm bound and determined to get rid of the rats. They are entirely too cozy! Plus, I want to get my picture on the Brag Board! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Janet
eeeeeeeeeeeewwww, rats! I don't blame you. go get em. Andy, can I borrow Sarah to flush out my voles? they're not out in the daylight enough to shoot em. and they're fast. but I'd rather have voles than rats.
I tried the Castor Beans this year for th voles - I truly believe that it has made a difference. The vole damage is much less (Although my father has been steadily trapping all season as well) I surrounded the veggie garden with Castors, & the Asparagus is totally unscathed this year. I also dribbled castor oil onto the soil where my Hostas have been ravaged by voles, & they too are intact. The true test is in the Autumn - voles seem to do their worst late in the year. But I like the idea of a natural repellant, of course I like to see my plants survive!
Sure, Gram. Sarah can catch them, Janet can shoot them and you can snap a pic to brag with. LOL. You'll have to stock up on dog treats first.
Andy P
No problem on the dog treats, put her on the next plane ;-)
actually, I bought some castor oil spray stuff. I've been spraying everything new I plant as it goes in the ground. and when I find a hole I pour in the bait. I think they've built a condo under my creeping thyme.
Fresh pics of my Mantis. This one now has wings.
I think it's getting used to having a camera in it's face, LOL.
Andy P
He IS posing!
I have been watching this guy for about 8 weeks...he was much smaller at the begining of July. His body has doubled since then!
That's a good one, Pixie. I like to watch critters grow, too. It's been a treat to see the mantis grow.
Andy P
Andy how on earth do you get such incredible shots!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Magoobu, I don't know how to answer that. I'm happy you like the shots.
I will ask what this common bug is, though. It was on a small grape leaf.
Andy P
EWWW that is a mosquito!!!!! or do they call that a mosquito eater ????
Andy, At first, I thought it was a mosquito because it looked very much like the full one that you posted before. But if that is a "big" bug, that bounces all over the place, we call them Mosquito Hawks. We get them in the garage all the time. They get in cobwebs, etc. Not sure how long they live, but I don't think it's very long. They probably beat themselves to death while bouncing around.
Don't ever kill one if you can help it. One year we went to a timeshare condo that my parents had. My sister and I stepped out on the porch to smoke. We left the sliding glass open. When we came back in, just a few minutes later, the room, with really high ceilings, was full of mosquitos. A couple of those mosquito hawks came in as well. We stood there in awe and those few bugs zapped hundreds of mosquitos. I've never willingly killed one since. They are your friends!
Janet
Janet, yes it's the 'big' bug that bounces all over. Thanks for the insight. I didn't hurt it.
Andy P
I think this bee was frozen here last night and is just starting to unthaw this morning.
I keep seeing the too - I thought perhaps they just got too drunk on the nectar to get back up...
They are cold blooded, they slow down when it's cool.
I remember when I was a kid, we went to a TV tower in the Fall. There was a small building at the base with lots of wasps in it. The maintenance guy said he could pick them up on cold mornings and toss them out. Funny what a kid remembers.
Andy P
I saw 2 owls in my backyard the other night just outside my backdoor. By the time I got my camera, only 1 was left. He's small.... about 7 inches tall, at the most. Out of a half a dozen photos, this was the only one that turned out decent. I've been hoping they'd come back.
I wonder if their presence is why I haven't seen any rats since I bought the air pistol.
Janet
