deer.coolest moth. life...bone art. memorial day.

a good portion of this post was made possible by sam's expert eye for wildlife spotting.

sam...he's the one with the beard.

thanks sam.

"DEER ALERT! OUT FRONT"  sam shouts in a whisper from the front porch.

OH. i know what that means...Grab the Camera ~ Come Quick!

otis (lower right) and the visiting deer (left) were watching each other until the deer departed...

heading toward the road...and the forest/field/mud pit across the way.

*  *  *

a few days before this deer sighting...

sam spotted a "big, bright orange something or other. moth? butterfly?"

grabbed camera. ran out front.

wow. cool.

a Royal Walnut Moth!!!

the Royal Walnut or Regal Moth is a very interesting moth...

besides being awesome looking!!

as an adult (like this one), they do not eat (having virtually no mouth parts). they only live for about a week. the male spends his time searching out females & mating, the female spends her life laying eggs. the caterpillars molt 4 times...finally burrowing in the dirt, where they pupae over winter.

so very cool.

*  *  *

life.

been a little crazy lately.

my youngest son (30 yo)...you might remember my mentioning him before.

more than a year ago...was court ordered to a residential rehab program.

he's transitioned out of there. he's working. he's living with us until he finishes with his drug court obligations.

things are a bit topsy-turvy on the home front right now.

i...we...are hoping for the best. hoping that he continues on the path he is now travelling.

hoping he makes good choices.

i've been down this road with him before. many times.

maybe this time will be his life-changer.

anyway, i could go on and on...but enough of my personal sh....

just wanted to explain why i disappeared for a few weeks.

i've been a little scatter-brained...and trying to immerse myself into creativity when i can.

doing some bone art.

i finished that hog skull i posted here a little while ago.

i've also done a few "bone doodles"

*  *  *

today.

memorial day.

every day...

honor the American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

for our freedom.

remember the fallen.

stay cool.  be safe.

lk

mayday mayday

mayday!

four May Days so far.

day 1...

another first time sighting of a bird!

or maybe they were here in the past and i just never noticed them. but i doubt it.

a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers.

they were perched on high branches near a dead tree covered with woodpecker holes.

taking turns flying to...and hovering...outside one of the holes.

catching bugs i presume.

day 2...

lantana, gardenia, roses, honeysuckle, jasmine, milkweed, flowering weeds...

to name a few...are blooming!

BUTTERFLIES!!

Gulf Fritillary

Zebra Swallowtail

Zebra Swallowtail

florida's state butterfly. the Zebra Longwing

and the final butterfly...the little Phaon Crescent, where they can usually be spotted...

on the flowering 'weed'. i always knew this weed as 'beggar's tick'.

i don't pull them, even though they can be kind of annoying after the flowers turn to seed...

sticky things that cling all over your shoes, laces, clothes!

but bees & butterflies love them!  so i keep 'em!

while out there in cyberspace i found this really cool website,

where the writer talks about these weeds in one of his posts.

'shepherd's needle' is a good green. lots of nutrients! can be boiled, sauteed, steamed.

cool.  check out Florida Survival Gardening if you get a chance.

Phaon Crescent

Phaon Crescent

day 3...

yesterday...

while wandering in the field across the road, and the  (almost dried up) mud pit.

OH, mud pit? you may wonder? well, when there's a big mushy muddy area...

you can surely find some mud bogging going on. especially down here. in the south.

but i think it happens all over now.

4x4 pick-up trucks (usually) that are modified with lifted suspension & HUMUNGOUS tires...

drive their trucks as far as they can through the MUD...before getting bogged down. i guess.

sound like fun? (nah. not to me it doesn't)

i've never been to watch. but we can hear them out there after dark.

anyway...sorry...i got sidetracked.

i spotted this bird...at the mud pit.

cool reflection.

i THINK it's a Solitary Sandpiper. 

next sighting...

brace yourself...for the creeps. 

can you tell what it is? 

here...i'll zoom in...

yep!  creeped out??!

a nest of baby spiders!!!!!

yikes!

OK.

lastly...i found some snake BONES in the field!!  yeah!

lately, i've been making all sorts of things out of snake vertebrae.

here's a sampling of earrings & necklace i've made.

i know...this BoNE stuff isn't for everyone.

some might be just as creeped out by the bones, as with the spiders. 

oh well. i am crazy for bones!

day 4...

this post was way longer than intended.

i'm trying to keep them shorter.

TRYING.

but a lot has happened so far in May.

have a good week.

be safe.

laura

*Publish*

stubborn 'possum, larvae & lubbers

for months we knew something was living under the trailer.

every night around 10:00 we could hear movement down there.

sometimes it sounded like something was trying to come up through the in-floor A/C vents.

we figured it must be a 'possum.

i hoped it was a 'possum...and not a monster boa constrictor...

or some other creature with beady eyes, long talons and big sharp teeth!

we finally decided to set up the (have-a-heart) live trap.

it took a few nights...but finally mr. 'possum's nose led him to some yummy smelling cat food!

poor opossum.

we hated to have to relocate him...

but we gave him plenty of time to move out on his own.

time to take action, before he tears into all the duct work down there.

bye-bye 'possum

(one of the most misunderstood & unappreciated critters)

sam took him up the road to a nice woodsy area...

where he moseyed away to find a new home.

*   *   *

i spotted some larvae this week. cool looking larvae.

finally ID'ing  them...i thought i'd share them here in case you happen to see the same.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail larva  (POOP goes the larva!)

the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail with 2 false eyespots to scare away predators

Eastern Tiger Swallotail

NEXT...

Pipevine Swallowtail larva

Pipevine Swallowtail

AND...

Red-spotted Purple larva

Red-spotted Purple butterfly

*   *   *

with all the rain we've been having lately...

the smart little Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers

are staying high & dry!!

young Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers

*   *   *

well, that was a look into a few little things from this past week.

anole with a bit of shedding stuck to his head

have a good one.

be safe.

laura

another tree...SNAP

we had a lot of rain this past week...

and as sometimes happens, the trees get waterlogged...top-heavy...

and they SNAP, or just keel over...roots lifting out of the ground.

this time, it snapped.

the whole top half of the tree...on the ground...

making for some good hunting grounds for anything that has a taste for bugs.

Gray Catbird

nearby, waiting his turn...

Cardinal

nearby...also waiting his turn to enter the tangle of branches, leaves & vines...

male Anole on a Bromeliad

a dragonfly also in on the action...

otis...a blur of motion on the branches...

off to my left...looking as though he just went for a swim in our 'swampy-ish pond' out back...

Pileated Woodpecker

same bird...scratching his face against the tree!!

caught him with his eyes closed!!  really weird looking!

if i turned that picture sideways...i think he'd look dead.

yep.

so while the critters are feasting...

sam's starting to cut some of it back. 

no rush. 

OK. one last picture. THIS is my lucky shot of the week...month? year?

it's that Red-bellied Woodpecker that made a nesting hole in this tree you see him on.

i didn't realize until i got the pic on the comp, that there's a dragonfly in the pic too!!

cool!

have a good week coming up.

be safe.