Beauty Can Be Misleading!

   When I was a kid, play toys and games were hard to come by.  More oft than not, we had to "make" our fun.  Instead of being tied to an electronic gizmo like kids today, we were told to go outside and play after the chores were done. (Yes!  This was way back in the day when kids had chores!  Those odd things that molded our character and made us have good work ethics.) Anyway, usually, the playtime outside involved some type critter.  It was not beyond Mom to find my brother and me (we were the two youngest of five kids) playing with some wild animal or reptile or insect.  There was the time that we brought baby foxes home after finding them in a den in the woods.  Sadly, we were made to go return our puppies to their home and it is a wonder that we did not get attacked by the mom fox.  And there was another time when baby rabbits were our play friends.  That time, the mom rabbit was keeping a careful eye on her brood.  She was there with us.  Baby birds were always a happy find but Mom drew the line when she caught us playing with a moccasin.  Insects, on the other hand, were neat little toys,  With a stern warning of "Do not get stung" ringing in our ears, we would catch all sorts of critters and pretend they were the occupants of our dirt village.  Often, tiger beetles became our residents but if those could not be found, we relented and caught several velvet ants.  Yep, both of those can inflict stings (or bites in the case of the beetle).  How we never were on the receiving end of this viciousness, remains a secret.

  Today, I was out emptying some remnants into the compost pile when I found a beautiful velvet ant bustling about the place.  She darted here and there in search of some untold treasure.  Actually, she was probably hunting for a bumblebee hole but that is a different tale.  As she darted around, I tried to photograph her.  This is difficult to do with her speed!  Later, I put the photograph on social media and received all sorts of comments of stings.  My goodness!  Obviously, the velvet ant (also known as a cow killer ant) has a rather devastating effect on humans.  I had no idea it would be so bad but tales of excruciating pain abound. 

  I pondered if there was some mystical, magical reason why I have never been stung.  Perhaps, these critters felt no fear from my intrusion or perhaps I was just lucky.  I have gone barefoot my entire life but now I am having second thoughts that I might step on one of the wasps.  (Yes, velvet ants are actually female wasps.)  I am not sure that at my age I need to experience such foretold pain.  Thankfully, I have grown passed the stage of wanting to catch the velvet ants so maybe I will be spared the agony.  After hearing all of the stories of extreme pain, I figure those wasps can just go about their merry way with no interruption from me.  Whew!

Been Toppled

  Back when they were small, my kids had a game called "Topple".  It consisted of a wobbly tower like structure and some strange little game pieces.  The idea was to see how many of  your color pieces you could stack on the tower before the whole thing went kerplunk.  You had to have a steady hand and a keen eye for balancing.  The kids played with the thing occasionally but it was then stuck in the cabinet to be lost among the other board games.  Here recently, I donated the whole shebang of games where, hopefully, someone else can get some use out of them.

  The toppling of this morning had nothing to do with a balancing game but appeared to be a game nonetheless.  Obviously, squirrels like to have fun, too! With all of the rain pouring down upon the Bayou and surrounding hillside, mushrooms of all sorts have sprouted up everywhere in the yard.  This morning, I noticed that dozens of the mushrooms had been toppled. Some had wee nibbles taken from an edge but most were just sort of uprooted and left to rot.  The squirrels seemed to taste one now and again only to toss it to the wayside.

  So, it came to thought that the squirrels were just out to have a bit of fun.  I guess playing with your food spans across the board even to the critter world!

The Visitor

Before daybreak, I went out to pick the figs.  The birds would not beat me to the trees this morning!  Our two small trees are trying their best to show their appreciation for the quality care we have been giving them.  I picked almost a half of bucketful of the little jewels!  Not many by some standards but enough to make me smile!  After that chore was finished, I headed back inside to make a pot of coffee.  Just as I went through the door, something as quick as a shadow caught my eye! It was there and just as quick..gone!  Now, what was that?  I peered into the corner of the room.  Whatever it was..it was small!  This was strange indeed!  Ms. Ez had been in the room this whole time and never even made a whimper!  Some protective dog I have!   I kept staring where I last saw the movement...nothing.  Hmmm?  Perhaps this was just a figment of my imagination?

I made my coffee and called to Michael.  While we shared a cup, I mentioned what I had (or had not) seen.  It took a few moments before my constant prattle even made contact with his groggy brain.  I suppose that it is a futile effort to talk to some folks before that second cup of coffee!  Finally, he made his way into the living room to see for himself.  Aha!  I did see something!  There it was as plain as day!  I saw it again but at least this time, I had Michael as a witness!  There on top of the cabinet was a small bird!  A wren had somehow found itself trapped inside the house!  Not wanting to traumatize the poor, little bird anymore than necessary, we pondered how to extricate it calmly.  The plan was made for me to slip around to the right and open the screen door.  This I would have to prop open since it has a spring attachment that slams it shut.  While I did this, he would make his way around to the left of the bird causing it to veer towards the door.  All was going well, until I broke out in giggles! Michael was heading left alright only he had decided to do so by climbing across the back of the sofa! From there he stepped to the nearby cedar chest and then onto a wicker chair!  My giggles could not be contained!  These actions so reminded me of a game the kids concocted when they were younger.  The floor was the Bayou filled with alligators and they were explorers.  The object of the game was to climb from furniture piece to furniture piece to cross the room..err..Bayou without being eaten by the gators!  Michael was doing well at doing this!  The little wren hopped just out of his reach onto the window ledge.  It tried with all its might to find a way through the screen.  Next hop led the bird to my gourd stash and then to the top of Mom's antique sewing machine.  Michael finally made contact with the floor and amazingly was not eaten by hungry gators!  My giggle attack was starting to wane about this time as I realized that Ms. Ez had taken interest in the game.  She was crawling on her belly toward Michael.  Why she decided to do a belly crawl was beyond me but there she wallowed like some giant caterpillar!  Oh, geez!  The giggle attack struck again!  Poor little wren!  She was being held captive by a bunch of crazies! I lurched forward to grab Ez's collar while Michael eased toward the bird.  The bird, by this time, was mere inches from the open door.  Outside, another wren was calling frantically!  It had seen the little one in the window and knew something was afoul!  Only then did I realize that this was a baby bird that had just fledged!  No wonder the poor, little thing was lost!  At this point, Michael scooted the little one to the open doorway and away Little Wren flew to its mama!

What a story this little bird had to tell!  It had ventured into a scary place filled with alligators, climbing explorers, giggling, crazy ladies and fat caterpillar dogs!  All of these things were chasing the little bird but it was smart enough to find its way out!  It had entered the scary place but made it out alive!  Whew!  That is one brave little wren!