Survival!

Behind the house is a large pile of lumber or at least what used to be lumber. Most of it has seen better days so Son is sorting and discarding. By sorting, I mean..saving what is salvageable to use as garden walkways or to build birdhouses and feeders. He pulls board after board from the pile and "tests" it for strength. To do this he just whaps it on the ground and if it breaks then it is deemed no good..if it stands to the test, he moves it to the save pile. This is the same pile that has been here since Hurricane Katrina and the same pile that passes through this ritual every year. Sort..test..restack..and forget for another year. Why we just don't toss the whole thing and forget about it is far beyond my wisdom. Still, every Spring..it is the same..sort..test..restack..and wait another year. Hmmm..whatever would we do without our pile of lumber..or stack of rotten boards??

In the middle of this stack, he found a huge centipede. It was one of those.."don't touch" centipedes. The kind that are big enough that they would pack a hefty wallop if they decided you were stressing them. I know..I have been bitten before and hope to never have that delight again. Anyway, this centipede was probably about five inches in length and was not one bit happy about being disturbed. I am quite sure if it could have it would have probably given us quite a tongue-lashing about privacy, intrusion and meddling.

It was skittering along, hunting for a new place to hide when suddenly..danger loomed on the horizon. This formidable predator was being stalked. Out from under one board came a green anole. It eyed the centipede and carefully lifted one foot to sneak a bit closer. I thought sure the end was near for the centipede. I was to witness a battle for survival between two tiny but fierce foes. But..the trouble doubled for the centipede. A very large gecko popped up on top of the board. It, too, ogled the centipede. Which would have lunch for the day? Or would either lizard?

The anole eased in closer..measuring each step..slowly creeping closer to the prey. It has a very distinct hunting method in which it will watch almost motionless until the prey is close enough to grasp. The gecko on the other hand..simply bursts into action..it more or less seems to depend on its speed to catch its dinner. (Yes, I did waste quite a bit of time watching lizards and centipedes!) At about this point a hapless fly wandered into the scene and distracted both lizards. The centipede took advantage of this diversion to slip under a piece of plywood and made its escape! Smart centipede! It has lived to tell the tale of being stalked by two enemies!