thanks!! and creepy crawlies & critters

((yikes!!))  my eyes are wide...in astonishment at ALL the comments...followers...and stopper-bys that i've received since yesterday.  a few of the comments had said something like "congrats on your BON!"  i had no idea what this meant.  Blog  Of  Nature??  WHAT?!  and then finally...someone said it...Blog Of Note!!  i had to go look this up. i just started this blog in april...and i'm still learning. no, i'm not a slow learner...but there's just so much information. and it all takes TIME. you know how it is...you sit at the comp...online...click here...and there...before you know it....the sun's coming up...or your hair's turning grey.  time stands still. til you look at the clock. WHOA!

anyway...i am HONORED!!  HUMBLED!!  and embarrassed at all the attention! and although i've been (trying to) comment on comments left by others...i see now...i would NEVER be able to get anything else done! so what do other people do when comments are left? do you email thanks? comment back? just read...smile...and carry on?!  anyway, i'm sure the comments will slow down...prob later today...it's just the NEWNESS.

so i want to say THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by...and to ALL those who left  a 'comment'...i truly appreciate all your kind words. to everyone who dropped in to take a peek at my blog...thanks!  it's nice to know there are others out there who appreciate all the little things in nature. from the tiniest little bug...to the magnificent sunset...it's amazing!  ok...enough laura...you've already spent the past FOUR hours giving THANKS!!  time to move on....  =-)
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the other day i saw this little caterpillar on the front porch. certain times of the year (like now i guess)...they're all over the place. but this is the first one i've seen this year, so it must be the start of their season here. anyway, i grabbed my camera.

the hairs on this caterpillar can cause severe allergic reactions!

here's what the male white-marked tussock moth looks like :

(not MY photo...copied from online)

the adult females are flightless. they lay a froth-covered mass of up to 300 eggs on old cocoons, after mating.

here's a couple of more pictures...just around the house...in the yard...

this one's a skink...caught in the act of munching on an inch worm. he kinda blends in pretty good to the ground and leaves. 

       a stick mantis!
    

look at the 'smiley face' on this banana spider!  i never noticed that before! i'm guessing it must be to 'scare away' predators?!!

dragonfly...head on!











noon...no work today...but i DO have some chores to get done!    stay cool!  :-)

'scuse me while I kiss the sky.  ~jimi hendrix

...into the woods...

for about the past week, i thought i might talk about bumper stickers. you've heard the expression  'we are what we eat'.  well, i think,  'we are what we slap on our cars'...or trucks...holds true too!  =]


BUT i decided to hold off on that topic. yeah, i know...what a tease!  i'm just trying to keep you coming back. =]   i  need to finish gathering my thoughts, ok? no big deal.           so...moving on...


since you (already may) know, i live outside the city limits. in fairbanks!  nope, not alaska.  it's a small area of gainesville, florida...north of the city.  from 1909 to 1923, fairbanks a was the nation's leader in turpentine production!  so, how did they collect the pine sap?  clay collecting  pots were nailed to the pine trees...with metal strips inserted along downward  V shaped cuts in the tree, above the pots...the thick pine sap would 'bleed'  into the clay pots. this 'V' formation cut into the tree was called a 'cat face'. 

we have a (small) forest of pine trees in the woods behind us, but we've never seen one with the 'cat face'. to see one in person, chances are you'd have to go to a state park...that's where we've seen them...in the OLD forests where some of the huge, ancient pine trees still survive! BUT we have found the clay collecting pots...on our property!! just knowing that what you've spotted sticking up out of the peat and dirt...could be close to 100 years old...is...exciting...to me!!  (i have to admit, i'm easily excited when it comes to finding old bottles, artifacts...rocks, feathers...bones...) 

i LOVE to go exploring! trudging into the woods out back...fighting my way through the vines, downed trees, swampy areas, spiderwebs and underbrush. sometimes i'll drag Sam out there with me. with a roll of his eyes...he'll get ready...long sleeve shirt, jeans, high rubber boots. we usually go on our deep wood explorations during the cooler weather...when the mosquitoes and ticks aren't STARVING for our BLOOD!

we found these pots this past winter!

sam...in the wet and swamp-yish area...

tree riddled with woodpecker holes...

  evidence of DEER...(yep! POOP! SCAT!)

raccoon prints

red shouldered hawk...all puffed-up...scratching his chest...

deer in backyard

pileated woodpecker

fence lizard

           dragonflies...

spiderweb...small banana spider












if you want to see more of my pictures...local animals...birds, snakes, lizards, bugs...check out my past posts by searching through the list of labels/subject.  and in case you haven't been here before, i also like to collect animal bones...skulls...and have lots of pictures of my collections!


Let nature take you on its journey. ~Jamake Highwater 


so, that's it for now. another day. another adventure.  =]       laura