Sssssss....Spiders, Snakes and Storms! Oh, My!

  This crazy weather has really been smacking us here on the Bayou.  Last night saw another terrific storm slam the area just about midnight.  I watched as lightning flashed continuously over the Gulf for a half hour before finally taking aim right at us.  Just after the clock struck twelve, hail started pelting the rooftop.  The wind blew at gale force breaking limbs as if they were toothpicks.  Then, the lightning reached us...literally.  The nonstop strikes bounced across the marsh and then up the hillside until finally one large bolt made contact.  The large TV upstairs took a direct shot and was fried.  The stench of burning plastic filled the upstairs of the Little Bayou House.  Thankfully, we have not found any other damage...so far.  This weather pattern has been a weekly occurrence.

  With all of the stormy weather, the critters of the Bayou and surrounding hillside are searching for drier places.  Mark and I saw a beautiful Black Racer sunning itself on the pier ramp on one of our walks.  The snake was trying to dry out a bit after the rains and the warm sunshine probably felt rather nice.  The snake lived up to its name and quickly slithered off into the marsh as we neared.  I only wish I had been quicker with the camera!  That thing was fast!

  Then, of all things, Mark found that spiders had moved into his trolling motor.  While spiders living inside the motor is bad enough, the fact that these were Black Widow Spiders made the whole situation a tad scary! Seven fat egg sacs were like some sort of weird bombs waiting to explode and strew billions of baby Black Widows all over the boat. Creepy!  Once he found the eggs, he smashed them all and hoped that the moms were no where around the area!

  So far, we have been fortunate with little damage from the storms and with no unwanted critters trying to invade the Little Bayou House. Hopefully, that will hold throughout the summer.  I just read where the National Hurricane Center is not giving us much hope for a hurricane-free season.  In fact, they predict just the opposite which is much like what I have been saying.  A gut feeling is telling me to keep an eye on the horizon and a few hurricane supplies on hand.  Things might just get a tad rougher before getting easier.  Stay safe, folks, stay safe.

Busy as a Bee!

After I finished many of the chores that needed attending, I plunked myself down in my favorite chair under the oak tree. It was hot!..too hot to continue working in the middle of the day. Our temperatures soared into the mid 90s as early as 10 am and when you have high humidity..that is just plumb uncomfortable! So, I decided to call it quits for a couple of hours. Later I finished the chores just before sunset. Anyway, my chair-sitting time was interrupted by a bee. Not that this bee was being a nuisance..more like it was being interesting. It was the prettiest metallic blue with black wings. Mrs. Bee landed first on my knee and after exploring the denim of my jeans for about a minute, it decided that the old railroad tie that was acting as a garden border was more alluring. The bee crawled around on the old gnarled piece of wood for about 10 minutes are so as if it was hunting for something it had lost. It would disappear inside a crack in the wood only to reappear a few inches down the board. I knew what this lady was doing..she was hunting spiders! Probably, a Black Widow Spider if she was lucky. You see, this was a Blue Mud Dauber. It is perhaps one of the biggest predators that the vicious Black Widow Spider has and I was elated to see it in my garden! I was bitten by a Black Widow Spider several years ago so now I am naturally a tad leery of hiding places for the creepy-crawly critters. But this Blue Mud Dauber was there to protect me from going through that pain again! (At least I hope I never get bitten again..it is definitely not on my "fun-to-do" list!) The shiny blue bee did not find any spiders in the railroad tie. I am assuming that either they were well hidden deep inside the wood, or perhaps out hunting themselves. The Mud Dauber flew off in search of prey in parts unknown.

The Blue Mud Dauber is a rather neat little wasp. As its name implies, it "daubs" mud. The Mud Daubers all build unique mud tunnels as brooding places for their larvae. These tunnels will be plastered on the sides of houses, in attics or any place that remains remotely dry. The tunnels can be anywhere from one to five inches long and contain many spiders and other bugs. The single egg will hatch and eat its critter meal before digging its way out of the tunnel to start the process all over again. The Mud Dauber, when hunting, stings the prey with just enough poison to paralyze it..not kill it. She wants the spider to stay fresh long enough for the egg to hatch. That way, the larva has fresh food not some rotted bug. Pretty smart when you think about it..she stockpiles food before the baby hatches! After she finishes building tunnel, stocking the tunnel with spiders and laying the egg, she caps the end with mud. Then she immediately starts on another tunnel for another egg.

Now just a thought..yes, those Mud Dauber tunnels are unsightly under the eaves of the house and they do make a mess during painting but it is sort of choosing which nuisance you would rather have. Personally, I can deal with having mud houses stuck to my wall in exchange for an extermination of Black Widow Spiders. And besides, these little wasps will not sting you unless you smash them..they are really docile..why else do you think I would let one crawl around on my knee? My goodness!