The varmints are at it again!

I was excited to see the stalks of the Nerine Lilies popping up all over the yard! This was a sure sign that my yard would soon be a thing of beauty with their red and yellow "hats". These are the same lilies that many folks here on the Coast call "Naked Ladies" since they have just a stalk and a large blossom resembling a hat..there are no leaves or "clothes" on the stalk. These lovely flowers have a tendency to pop up where you least expect them which also gives them their much more respectable name of Resurrection Lilies. I was happy to see them out in the lawn and even smack dab in the middle of the pathways..it did not matter as I knew that later they would die down and not be causing problems.

Then this afternoon after an all day chore of housecleaning, I went for my daily hike around the place. What is this? Just where are my lily stalks? Sure enough, the budding lilies had disappeared. They had gone away as quickly as they had come..now, nowhere to be seen. My lilies were AWOL! Somehow, somewhere the lilies had gone..disappeared..vanished! I started searching..I am quite sure that lilies just do not up and walk away..they had to be somewhere! Perhaps I just was not thinking when I noticed them the other day..perhaps they were somewhere else and not where I thought they should be..perhaps something stole my lilies! And that presumption was right....

There on the top of one lily..perched high as if in defiance..was the culprit..the "Thief of the Lily"! Sitting at the very tip of a lily stalk sat an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper! He was munching away on my lily! After a bit, my eyes started focusing on the many grasshoppers that were all eating my lilies! All but one were eaten to the ground..this made me sad. I love these lilies as they bring back many fond memories of my childhood..back long before we had these grasshoppers in this area. I miss those days..I miss seeing the bright red or yellow "hats". Grrrr....grasshoppers! I sure wish I could miss them!