A Bargain Made

  All of my work cutting the new hiking trail seems to have been for naught.  Now that it is clear enough to walk, the bugs are too bad.  It seems that this is a fine year for ticks as once you enter the woods, you are invariably the host to a dozen or so.  With all of the diseases that those critters carry, hosting them for a short while can mean trouble.  Then, there are the deer flies!  Oh, my goodness!  Those things are down right vicious!  Stepping onto the path means that you are in their territory and they are hungry rascals.  A dozen or so will immediately attack!  It is not fun.  So...I have not been hiking. The path needs cutting again but I guess it will have to wait.

  Speaking of those deer flies, another critter friend is at least trying to help.  What Pop used to call a robber fly will attack the deer flies and, in a sense, protect me!  This critter is also called an assassin fly and for good reason.  The scary looking critter is just the thing we need around here as a security guard against the biting critters.  

  This morning while out turning on the sprinkler, a quick movement on the ground caught my eye.  Almost under my foot, a rather large nymph was trying to climb up a tomato stalk.  The sprinkler was knocking the poor critter back to the ground each time.  Not thinking of what might have been, I reached down to let the critter crawl onto my hand.  "There you go, Little One." I remarked as I held my up next to the hanging basket. The critter looked appreciative as it left my hand to climb onto the basket.  While I worked the gardens, the critter morphed. After a bit, I came back to find a robber fly in place of the nymph. "You are a beauty! Now since I was so kind to spare your life, you can return the favor by eating lots of deer flies!" I said. (Yes, I actually talked to this bug!)  

  If I never see this critter again, I can feel assured that it is keeping its end of the bargain.