Hidden in plain sight!

  Sometimes things in nature can mimic their neighbors so well that at first glance you can hardly tell one from the other. Well, at least it seems that way with my bad vision!  This morning as I sat at the kitchen table drinking my first cup of coffee, I admired the lovely False Indigo bush that was blooming just outside.  One of my favorite things about spring and summer is the fact that I can keep my windows open and practically bring nature inside with me.  My breakfast is made that much more enjoyable by having such a happy view.  

  This morning, however, the view was a bit puzzling.  The False Indigo bush seemed to have dropped several of its limbs all the way to the ground!  (Again, bad eyesight!)  I stared at what I thought was the fading blooms.  Hmmm?  Did I really just see a few of those flowers move? Something told me that I really had better take a hike outside to investigate!  So, out the back door I went!  As I moved closer, I came to realize what I thought were branches of the bush was something entirely different.  Grasshoppers!  Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers to be exact! Several sticks on the ground were covered with the small black and red grasshoppers and made them look almost identical to the waning blooms of the False Indigo!  Oh, geez!  If there were that many grasshoppers on a couple of sticks, that meant that the lower part of the hill was covered with critters!

  It was a mere coincidence that the grasshoppers looked so similar to the blooms.  These critters were not intentionally trying to disguise themselves.  They do not have very many predators that causes them any need to hide.  Still, I thought it was rather interesting to see how "invisible" critters can become when tucked in among the plants.  This, also, caused me to ponder how many other critters may be hidden among the leaves!  Nature provides many hiding spots and most animals know how to use those to their advantage.  Each hike about the gardens probably puts me in close range with many critters that I do not see.  Their eyes, however, most likely watch my every move!  The garden has eyes!