They are so high, you can barely hear (and see). Obviously, I could see better with my human eyes but you CAN make them out.
fauna
‘Ace, that’s not a toy’
Trying to find Ace’s chipmunk toy, I asked him, ‘Where’s Toy?’
He ran over and stood next to a lump.
I’m not 100% but I think that’s an European Starling in Winter plumage but it could be a Common Grackle. Some birds I know well and others, not so.
Still don’t know where the chipmunk is.
Anybody have a clue on this carcass?
baby Fence Lizard, on a fence
He’s still sunning with me. He’s ~4.5cm long from nose to tip of tail. Rather late in the season, perhaps. He’d better eat and dig himself a burrow!
5 legged grasshopper’s got more to worry about than some odd legs
BillDunehew’s a good man, not really related but ya know.
‘It’s The Beetles!’
Worst nature doc ever but here’s me a couple of minutes ago.
You could say that I’ve played with the Beetles…
And I should say, I really expected it to squirt an horrible-smelling goo on me or at least pinch. It did neither, so I’m sticking with scarab or stag but I could swear stag beetles had way bigger ‘racks’ when I was a kid.
I think it’s your general shit-bug.
in which Ace brought Sissy a coon
::sigh::
Gone are banner days of 7 turtles since he got all the slow / stupid ones. He can only manage about 2 most days.
Today, however, he killed a raccoon for me. It’s still fresh though it won’t be for long at 38C.
fauna, Parsnip Swallowtail
This guy was mad-busy on this planter so long, I decided to take some snaps. It’s REALLY HARD to try to capture one with their wings open when they’re, ya know, constantly fluttering!
I’m lucky to get a partial open wing to show his brilliant blue spots towards the bottom.
American Toad NSFW
NSFW due to my Dolittle translation of Mr. Toad.
I refer to him as a frog but that’s what he told me OR ya know, my Amphibian American may be rusty.
Fauna: Crawdaddy!
We have crawdaddys (daddies?…CRAYFISH) in the front creek. I used to bait them with bologna. Srsly.
Ours are super-small and not worth eating but I’m in active look-out for them now (once it gets hot, I see them).
Since I don’t actually know anything about them, I nabbed another cracker from the Missouri Conservation Department. Please, do read, if you’re interested in fauna of the Ozarks. Apparently, Missouri boasts more species than virtually anyplace in the world!
Big River (not the ‘big river region’ illustrated on the map but THE Big River, which isn’t the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers, which make up the ‘Big River Region’ — confusing, I know), which is local, has a species not found anyplace else in the world! They have some kind of eel nobody has, too. I forget what-all’s going on with Big River but my opinion is because the Ozarks (region) is the oldest (therefore, worn down) range in the world. We were above the seas when the rest of y’all were still swumming!
After reading that fan-damned-tastic article, I believe ours are Neosho midget crayfish (Orconectes macrus), quite possibly the saddlebacked (Orconectes medius) variety. We’re above (and I mean elevation, it’s hard for the little critters to swim THAT far up, although generations could migrate, I suppose, but they certainly aren’t swimming down) the Meramec River but we’re close.
If one googles ‘Missouri crayfish,’ the top linked article pops up. The second article is recipes 🙂
redux: attack of the leeches
| redux | |
| adjective | |
| brought back |
(this was written a couple of summers ago)
My nieces and their daddy were out this weekend (for too long) and it got hot. Finally the kids jumped in our front pond! They’ve all had swimming lessons. I float. As a child, I preferred OldHelen’s pond (bigger/cooler, cleaner/ clearer water) to ours…
I’ve had lessons for two summers but too many years of having my head held under water by a family member developed an aversion. Point is, I’ll get in water but it’s not a common occurrence. It was hot, though, so there we were, splashing in the muddy pond. Good times!
I’d seen a critter swimming by moments earlier. It looked like a small, water snake. Most snakes of this region are non-venomous; however, a local folkway is “all water snakes are poisonous, treat them as such.” (it’s not poison, it’s venom but that’s what everybody says)
Being the female hillbilly version of the Crocodile Hunter, I grabbed it and chucked it onto the bank, never mentioning to the kids. After the eldest and baby got out, the middle and I stayed in for a bit.
“Ta? What’s that squiggledy thing on you?”
I looked down and hoped it was vegetation. It was greenish-brown…
Mmm, leeches in a candy jar!
When I grabbed it, it was super-sleek and moved of its own accord. That’s when I realized it looked a lot like that “snake” I’d chucked out earlier.
“Is that thing attached to you?”
“Yup.”
I yanked the six-inch leech off my underarm and chucked it on the bank. As I turned back to middle niece, I saw another one snaking towards me. I must smell delicious. I chucked it, too.
“Time to get out!”
When we got to the house, I ran a load of wash. The washwater was so dirty, I ran it again. It was still dirty. Dang. That’s some filthy pond water! Told you I preferred OldHelen’s! I’m unsure how one “acquires” leeches. We did not have them in that pond when I was a kid and we’re the top of the valley, so there’s no run-off coming to us.
[since writing this, I’ve considered: we have blue herons that love to come hang out with us…maybe they brought them in from afar]
I don’t want to skive this person’s art (it’s ©). It shows a blue heron track next to a human hand for an idea how effing large they are! They’re amazing and beautiful. I’m humbled that they love the Reed Ranch.
opinions expressed may be incorrect 