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| Gloriosa Lily vine |
due to all the recent rain...and standing water...
the mosquitoes are numerous.
and humungous.
their appetites are ravenous.
venturing outside...you have to keep moving...
or they'll swarm you, obscure your vision and suck you dry!
ugh.
they're immune to citronella candles...
and all the shelves in the stores are bare of skeeter repellent.
so, when i go outside..it's a mad dash...to stay ahead of these blood consuming insects.
so...lucky for you...all you have to do is sit back and look.
you don't have to swat at these annoying critters.
remember the Orb Weaver that was living on our front porch?
i haven't seen her in a while. :( one night she just wasn't there anymore.
but we have a NEW spider taking up residence.
she would spend most of the day crammed into this bell.
coming out at night...
to silently await her prey.
i hope she has a taste for mosquitoes!
~LOVE is in the air~
while dashing around the outside of the house the other day...
i spotted a couple of Gulf Fritillary butterflies doing the mating dance.
nearby...was a young cardinal...
obviously wondering what the heck they were doing?!
(head tilt...questioning...curious stare)
MORE ~love~ going on...
as i was hightailing it to the front door, i spotted a pair of
Two-striped Walking Sticks on one of my planters.
(AKA the Devil's Darning Needle)
that's the smaller male...riding the female's back.
uh, doing their thing.
i saw another small male...nearby on the handrail...waiting his turn??!
he's going to have a long wait.
three hours later...they're still at it.
stamina.
well, that's it.
OH, even milo doesn't spend much time outside these days.
she ventures out just long enough to take care of business.
then it's time to do what she does best.
stay cool. be safe.
don't let the...skeeters bite.
laura
“People who claim they don't let little things bother
them
have never slept in a room with a single mosquito.”
~Christie Todd Whitman
They are probably related to the mosquitoes around here and instead of being repelled by the citronella, they are getting high on it. Little, bloodsucking monsters, I tell you.
ReplyDeleteYou should send that pretty spider after them ;-)
i agree!!! they are definitely getting high from the citronella!! i just wish they'd get so stoned...that they'd just lie around...and not care to fly about & SUCK!
Deletebut maybe the citronella is giving them the munchies??!! :)
Oh for heavens sake, and lots of scratching here too! It's been horrible out here, and we actually have been avoiding our back yard! I can't believe how mean and nasty they are...and the way they glue themselves to our all black dog! Seriously thinking of replacing cement for grass! Ha! Ha! Not really, but hey it might work in areas! I have to show this post of the spiders to my 2 in a half year old grandson, he is just crazy about spiders right now! He'll love this!
ReplyDeletebad blood suckers are all over i guess! ugh!
Deletethe problem with the cement, is that when it rains, you get that standing water on it...so either way, you get the skeeter larvae!! oh well!
stay away from west nile! we're getting more and more cases of it here every year...
ReplyDeleteThen I should be glad we've had no rain, I guess! Here, in the woods our problem is Deer-flies...they hurt when they bite!...:)JP
ReplyDeletethey must be like the 'yellow flies' we have here...when one bites...MORE are sure to follow...and they HURT!!
DeleteNot too bad with the mosquitoes here, but so hot that we are not outside much!
ReplyDeleteCan't stand mosquitoes ! Once outside it takes less than three minutes to obtain a first bite. Luckily this year, so far, not many other insects. Miss the forest of home though. Please have you all a good Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteOh...I am so sorry about the mosquitoes! I have heard they are really bad down there! That is why we are moving back to AZ. Not so bad with mosquitoes there! So far it has not been too bad up here but we do have to watch out for West Nile virus and Eastern Equine encephilitis, both carried by mosquitoes and both found in our state already. I cannot believe you cannot find insect repellent! that's awful! love the quote at the end!
ReplyDeleteARIZONA!! what a change...that sounds nice!!
DeleteHI Laura...Well for a change the mosquitoes have not been bad at all where I live!!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about you plight : {...they are miserable creatures, and what use they are is beyond me,but I am sure the spiders might have something to say about that : }!!
I thought the mosquito was the unofficial bird of Maine, but I guess it is for Florida too!! lol
Milo has it right ..that's just what I have been doing!! : }
Love that quote at the end..ain't that the truth!!
Hope all improves for ya down there!!
Grace
Ps thanks for your comments on my post appreciate it!!
1. recently learned (although via a fictional novel, but author is an M.D.) that people with O blood types are more attractive to mosquitoes. Explains a lot.
ReplyDelete2. re: that last quote on your post, good one, but makes me think about benefits of being a biologist. if somehow I KNEW there was ONLY 1 mosquito in the room, and I heard it bzzzzzing, I'd know it's a male (calling for a female), and male's don't bite. =) In real life, though, the females, which DO bite, are also usually around, and do NOT make a sound so you won't know until too late you've been had. =)
3. Good shots for such mosquito-y environs. =) I've taken a few one-off photos in the wilds when pursued by those creatures. Lowers my standards considerably.
Thank you for the relationship between female and male mosquito sounds. But not so happy I have so delicious a blood type for them.
DeleteThree hours?! Good grief, who has that kind of time! ;)
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos. I love looking at nature "up close and personal" your photos provide that...thanks so much!
ReplyDeletegreat photos Laura ....thanks for stopping by The West Wing I only just started that new blog for the purpose of publicity being done by the Studio owners thought it was more 'professional' to have a blog just dedicated to what I am up to work wise .........xx
ReplyDeleteThe new resident spider is creepier than the last one. But I hope it gobble up mosquitoes!
ReplyDeleteThe mosquito is the state bird of Minnesota--LOL! I am so glad that we got my porch sealed off decently now. The mosquitoes are bad up here, too. Another advantage to me being housebound--LOL! I'm hardly ever out there with the hordes.
The cardinal made me chuckle right out loud. The two of them together maybe were just a bit too big to try to fit in its little beak, I suppose, but it was sure wondering.
Three hours! That walking stick is going to have to call his doctor in another hour, isn't he? LOLOL!
Milo looks so contented. Cats really know how to fully relax. Have a great weekend! :)
Yuk mosquitoes - they must be a bit like our midges. They come out in the damp weather and suck your blood. Not nice!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness 3 hours seems like a long time to be at it. They sure will need a rest after that. :))
I HATE mosquitoes very much. The bugs here this summer have been out of control as you'll see tomorrow. Some are cool and most are ugly:) I love the spider on the rusty bell. Really cool shot. I don't even go outside for more than 30 minutes now.....it's nasty out there.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you'd better stay clear of the skeeters! We're forcing ourselves to wear long pants and shirts to go out and water. And, there are quite a few cases now in the Dallas area of West Nile disease. You're right, citronella is a joke! I even put cotton in my ears to keep them out if I'm watering close to the ground.
ReplyDeleteSo, hope you're faring well Laura. Your walking stick bugs are hilarious! They aren't so colorful around here, just a grayish brown, and we haven't seen any in a few years! Your photos are great, and a sweet little cardinal. We've been able to keep the birds around this year-love cardinals! Have a good weekend...hugs to Milo!♥
I think I've told you before that I love your creepy crawly insect pictures. I like the pix and I like bugs, in general....but definitely draw the line at mosquitoes. Yikes. Lee County (Ft Myers) has a spray program which kind of scares me too, I don't want to think too much about it -- but it sure makes it nicer to be outside (we had pretty bad mosquitoes in December, but then they started spraying and they never got too bad again.) Of course we have a few here in Oregon, but nowhere near like you do.
ReplyDeleteI want a necklace patterned after that third spider photo--it is perfect!
ReplyDelete