She is a good one!

   As is my habit, I rise well before the sky begins to lighten in the east.  This gives me time to collect my thoughts over that first mug of coffee.  The cat and I tend to be the only two awake at the bright and early time of 4am so we have the place more or less to ourselves. After breakfast for both of us, he goes his way and I go mine.  His way is prowling around to find any lackadaisical night critters that he can "hurry on their way" and my way is prowling the gardens to see what work needs to be done.  Usually, there is just enough light by the time we exit the house to feel relatively safe against those "larger night critters".

  This morning, it was necessary to drag the hose about the gardens.  The heat and drought have been brutal to the plants even with my efforts to help.  Sometimes, I think I am just prolonging the suffering of the plants but it pains me to know they so desperately need the cooling water.  While hosing down the last remaining zinnias, a slight movement was enough for me to put down the hose.  A praying mantis was clinging to one of the zinnia stalks as it searched for breakfast.  Ahh, my friend!  I love these critters and was only too happy that Bat, the cat, had made his way down the hill to the pier.  The mantis would live to see another day.  

  While pondering the mantis, this morning, it dawned on me that, while I love them, they are kin to two of my least favorite critters!  Praying mantes are kin to both cockroaches and termites. Those, I can fully do without...especially the termites as they are in the process of eating, not only the Little Bayou House, but every tree on the property.  (Yes, LIVE trees.)  In all fairness, however, the mantis would gladly dine on either of the other so perhaps I just need more of these critters.

  It was not long before the praying mantis made its way deeper into the zinnia bed and well out of sight of the cat.  Now it just had to be watchful of the little ribbon snake that also inhabits the gardens.  Life is not the easiest.  

Thankful for Little Friends

  Sometimes, you only have to look in the garden to find a good friend.  Being as my time outside has been strictly curtailed by caring for the old dog, the gardens are literally on their own.  I do little more than spray a bit of water on them every day or so and then hope of a bit of rain on the days when I cannot even get out to do that.  The plants are suffering greatly and it breaks my heart but there is just not enough time (and I do not have the energy) to tend to their needs. I'm running on empty here.

  I did, however, manage to sneak out for about fifteen minutes early this afternoon. Our temperatures were pushing the triple digits again and there was no rain in sight.  It was not the best time to be outside but since Son was not busy elsewhere at the moment, he volunteered to "dog sit" for Mr. PJ.  I hurriedly sprayed everything with a bit of water and then rushed back indoors.  While I was out, I did find one fine friend in amongst the plants. A huge praying mantis crawled from a young poinsettia plant (leftover from last Christmas!) onto a avocado sapling.  I would not have even noticed had my spraying the water hose not sent a small cricket scurrying.  The cricket sought refuge from the water droplets only to be snatched up by the mantis.  This slight movement was enough to make me grab the camera for a few photos before I headed back to check on the dog. 

  A praying mantis (or any of the several species found around here) is a welcome friend to gardeners.  It is beneficial due to its indiscriminate diet.  A mantis will eat just about anything it can overpower which includes a lot of the nuisance insects that attack plants.  The one today ate a cricket but it would not hesitate to eat squash bugs, stinkbugs, any number of caterpillars, moths or whatever wiggles.  The mantis uses stealth to capture the insects.  It will sit almost motionless or will sway a bit like a leaf in the wind until a critter ventures too near.  Then, the critter will call upon its lightning speed to spring forth and grasp the prey. Those folded front legs are used like arms to clutch its dinner. 

  I was happy to see the mantis in the garden this afternoon and equally as happy to see one on the window screen this evening.  In fact, I would love to see dozens upon dozens of the critters living in the gardens which is exactly why I refuse to use insecticides.  Why poison the plants and yourself when there are those who will do the dirty work of ridding the garden of pests for free?  

A Battle For Life

  Sometimes life on the Bayou is not easy.  The critters here are in a constant battle for survival and it truly is the fittest that wins.  The stronger, braver and more cunning a critter is, the more it will get to eat.  It is evident that the weak will not survive long and if they do, it will be a struggle.

  This morning, I headed out the back door to do a bit of yard work.  Armed with a weed-trimmer, mower and snips, I was ready to tackle this rain-forest we used to call a yard.  Ducking under the peach tree, I plugged the trimmer cord into the outlet only to find that I had a large critter crawling up my arm.  Silly mantis!  I am not prey!  Gingerly, I set him on the workbench so I could continue my chores.  It did not take long before I realized that the chores would be postponed for a bit.  I had inadvertently set the praying mantis on the same board as a katydid.  The battle for life ensued and things did not bode well for the katydid.  A praying mantis is a formidable predator with a voracious appetite and the katydid looked mighty fine as a meal.  

  It became apparent that the katydid immediately realized that it was in extreme danger even though the two critters were not too much different in size.  Instead of fleeing, however, the katydid froze.  Normally, this defense would be somewhat effective if the katydid was on a plant and its natural camouflage could hide it but in the openness of the workbench, freezing just gave the mantis more of an opportunity to stalk the katydid.  At first, the mantis swayed back and forth in a gentle motion.  Then, it eased forward a bit.  The katydid stayed motionless.  Again, the mantis eased forward but slipped off the edge of the board to become almost hidden from view.  The mantis was sneaking up on the katydid!!!  Closer, closer...ever closer but so very slowly did the mantis creep. 

  Then, up on top of the board again and face to face with the katydid!  The mantis was about to dine upon the katydid!  As the mantis made its final lunge at the katydid, everything changed.  The katydid did a flying leap off of the workbench and into the grass below!  At first the mantis seemed confused that it did not have the other critter in a death grip!  However, it did not take long before the mantis spied the katydid just a few feet below and it, too, jumped off of the bench to the ground.  The chase was still on but this time, the katydid was more active about escaping.  The freeze method had not worked and almost made the katydid lose its life so now it was scrambling toward cover.

  This time, the praying mantis did not win.  The katydid escaped into the marigolds and the praying mantis slowly eased its way under the fig leaves for a wren family had made its way to the garden to hunt for breakfast.  Either of the insects would have been a prime target for the wrens.  Me?  I was late getting started with that yard work and had to hustle!  Too much time was spent dawdling as I watched the struggle for life.  Time to work! The battle between critters would just have to take place without me!

No Use Fretting!

  With the huge amounts of rain that the Gulf Coast has seen in the past few months, mosquitoes have multiplied greatly.  They are vicious! Step outside in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and you are just asking for trouble.  Hoards of the pests surround you and start their feeding frenzy.  This worried me a bit as the grandlittles are visiting the Bayou.  I could only imagine the bites that they would suffer.  Mark bought a small swimming pool for the kiddies but, being a worrier, I fretted that the mosquitoes would devour our grandbabies as they played! Something had to be done to remedy the problem!

  PawPaw and MawMaw put their heads together and came up with the idea of a screened tent to cover the pool.  It worked beautifully!  Still a few mosquitoes and flies weaseled their way into the tent and again MawMaw worried.  This evening, however, Mother Nature was at her best!  She was handling the problem in her own way.

  A rather large praying mantis decided that the tent would suit her needs well as a feeding spot.  She climbed up the tent side and started munching those mosquitoes with glee!  The mantis was literally scampering after the pests!  Back and forth, back and forth across the tent, the mantis went all while feeding on the bugs.  MawMaw was not fretting any longer.  With this sort of help, the kiddos will be safe enough! 

 

Nothing Doing!

  Nothing doing!  That is exactly how the Praying Mantis from yesterday felt about my offering of a free meal.  Nothing doing!  The mantis absolutely refused any handouts.  My offering would have pleased the critter except for one minor detail....it was dead.  Yep, that Praying Mantis was a little too uppity or, perhaps, had a too refined palate for dead bugs albeit a large dead bug.

  Actually, I should have known better than to go to the trouble.  A Praying Mantis is fully capable of catching its own supper and does not need my help but I just happened to have found a lovely dead horsefly and thought I would give it to my friend.  My efforts were spurned with an upturned nose!  A mantis prefers live prey.  It is the motion of a live bug that actually attracts the mantis in the first place not just hunger. Mantises do have voracious appetites, though!  They seek out the movement of a live bug and then stealthily await until the prey is within range.  Once a bug is deemed worthy and is near enough, the mantis pounces.  In just a split second, the mantis is feeding.  The prey never knew what hit it.  

  It makes me happy to see so many mantises wavering about the garden.  Their back and forth motion as they mimic a leaf in the wind, makes them quite difficult to see unless you are careful.  I have learned to search the plants for them before harvesting.  I would hate to inadvertently snip one in half!  They are wonderful insects to have about the place even if they are a bit persnickety about their meals!

So That's Why!

  I am one of those weird people that ponder the most unusual things. Things like why did someone ever give a critter a name like "elephant" or "mouse" or "butterfly"?  What possessed the early folks to call a frog by the name "frog" or owl by the name "owl"?  There has to be some logical reason.  Sure, most of those are common names and the critter has some unpronounceable scientific name but why?  What gives? Sometimes there is a bit of logic, I guess...be it an appearance or action that dictated the name but others are just pure made up words.  Case in point.."aardvark" or "platypus".  Yep, I think those are there just to confuse us.  The name for today's critter is easily explained and you will see why in the photographs!

  Out on the back porch, there sits a small table and two chairs.  Mark had used these, today, as he boiled a bunch of crabs.  Obviously, he left a bit of "crab smell" on the tray and table afterwards because flies were quickly gathering.  I was just about to snatch the tray and give it a good scrubbing when I was halted in my tracks.  It is not good to disturb anyone in the midst of prayers.  A Praying Mantis was also on the tray and appeared to be praying for (or giving thanks for) its next meal.  As I watched, the little mantis actually tilted its head skyward and appeared fully to be praying.  At that exact moment, a fat fly landed on the tray next to the mantis!  Had God answered a bug's prayer?  Hey, why not? God made the bugs so who says they cannot pray to him?

  The Praying Mantis does appear to be praying with its "hands" folded in front of it but that action of looking skyward did, indeed, make it appear that the bug believed in some higher power.  Perhaps the mantis could teach humans a thing or two about being thankful.  It seems as if a lot of us have let that go the wayside.

You Never Know When You Might Find A Friend!

  Making sure the garden stays moist is a chore that appeals to me. Dragging the water hose around the garden and giving each plant a nice drink seems to be refreshing to me also.  I can only imagine how the plants feel!  While I was out tending the flora, the fauna needed a bit of assistance as well. The birdbath was bone dry.  Since it is further down the hill than where the hose will reach, a jug of water was toted.  As I headed out the gate, a bright idea struck me.  Why not replace the bottles on the bottle tree?  Son had pulled the bottles during one particularly windy storm.  He figured that there was no need in having a bottle slung into a window.  With a water jug in one hand and three of the many long-necked bottles in the other, I headed down the hillside.  It was then that I felt the familiar pitter-patter of little feet on my arm. Oh, geez!  A critter must have been inside of one of the bottles and was now making an escape right up my arm!  Looking down, I breathed as sigh of relief.  My critter was nothing more than a baby praying mantis!  

  Once I reached the bottle tree stand, I stopped long enough to set the bottles on the ground and let my new little friend disembark onto the post.  I figured it would be long gone by the time I returned from filling the birdbath.  I was in for a happy surprise when I returned.  The mantis was still on the post.  It had climbed up to the tiptop and then onto an osprey feather that I had found and jabbed into the post.  The tiny critter sat proudly on its new home.

  The mantis was busy while I replaced the blue bottles on the tree.  It caught a spider and was munching down on it.  Ok....this was a good chance to take a picture to prove just how good it is to have a mantis friend!  Not that I have anything against spiders (even though I can fully attest at how their bites hurt!), but just having the mantis eating bugs made a point.  They are excellent bug catchers and are not one bit persnickety about the type they eat.  Spiders, stinkbugs, gnats, mosquitoes, cabbage moths are all on the menu for a mantis!  Finding this critter made my day much happier.  Knowing it resides in the garden makes life a bit easier.  So....water hoses, bottle trees, birdbaths and a praying mantis filled my day!

Hey! Take it easy with those snips!

  Just after daybreak, I was out getting the garden ready for the fall planting.  It is time here to harvest any seeds, dry herbs and pull up spent plants.  I was snipping away on the basil plants as I collected seeds for next year's plantings.  Both the Sweet Basil and the Thai Basil were covered with seeds that were the perfect maturity for harvesting. The Lemon Basil is just starting to bloom so it will be a bit longer before those are ready but other herbs were in dire need of trimming. The snips were just a'clicking along when suddenly, I almost made a horrible mistake!  Whew!  I drew the opened cutters back just in the nick of time.  One more swipe could have been a life threatening situation....at least for a critter.  

  Nestled down under the leaves of the Sweet Basil, a Praying Mantis had sought shelter from the coolness of the night.  The critter was still a bit "groggy" from the lack of warmth and was not able to quickly escape the sharp blades that were bearing down upon her.  When I pulled back my hand, the sweet face just stared back at me.  Poor baby! I must have terrified her!  I gently put my hand near the mantis and was not surprised that it readily climbed aboard.  The warmth of my hand appealed to her cooled body.  Ahh, sweet thing! The Praying Mantis cocked her head to one side as she stared at me.  After a bit, she was ready to move on in search of breakfast.  I only hope that warming her might have given the mantis an edge on finding prey.  All other insects were still slow-moving in the foggy coolness of the morn.

  A Praying Mantis is a fine find in the garden.  With the number of plant-chewing critters that this helpful insect will catch, I can fully appreciate her presence.  My garden is a much nicer place because of her.  Whew!  I feel so much better about watching where I snip.  So, Folks, keep an eye open for unsuspecting, helpful critters!  They are great to have residing in your gardens!

Well, that hurt!

  I was out early trimming the jasmine vines and rose bushes.  With the extreme amount of rain that we have had for the past few months, these things literally have taken over the yard.  I could not even find the arbor underneath all of the mountains of vines and the walkway beneath had become quite creepy.  I was always afraid that a moccasin was going to be lurking under there.  So, down they came!  While doing this, I found more than my share of creepy-crawly bugs.  They were on my shirt, on my jeans and in my hair.  The critters were crawling about just enough to be aggravating but, thankfully, none bit nor stung me!  

  My chore made it necessary to clear a few things from under the arbor. I moved the potted plants so the falling debris would not mangle them. A small cedar tree was lugged out from beneath the arbor and set in the sunshine.  This was a wild sapling that had been rescued from the path of mowers clearing beneath the power lines.  Son very patiently dug several small saplings for me and I potted them until I can find a safe place for them to grow.  As I tugged on the cedar tree which has grown to nearly four feet tall, I felt another critter crawling on my arm.  Instinct made me swipe my hand across my arm but immediately, I regretted the move.  I felt so bad.  The critter was a praying mantis and those are ones I never wish to harm.  Poor little guy!  Seeing the insect twitching on the ground really made me sad.  Ever so gingerly, I picked it up and set it back on the cedar tree hoping for some miracle healing!  

  Occasionally, I would stop my task to check on the mantis.  It never moved.  My heart was sinking a little more with each glance.  Come on, little fellow!  LIVE!  After about an hour, the mantis started stretching his legs and turning his head. He was alive!  Whew!  I felt ever so much better and I am rather sure that he did as well. 

  I did learn something from this encounter with the praying mantis.  I never knew that they could camouflage themselves so well.  This little guy's legs were the same exact green as the fronds on the cedar tree. His body was the same brown as the twigs and even had a similar texture. When he was motionless, he was extremely hard to see.  No wonder, I never spy these things in and among the plants!  Unless they move (or crawl on me), I never know they are there.  I researched this and found there are tons of different camouflaged mantids.  Wow! These guys are masters at disguise!

  Oh, and in case you are wondering why I keep calling this a "little guy", it is a male.  Just so you will know, if you look at the underside of the abdomen, you can count the segments to determine male or female. Males have eight segments while females have six.  Now see, there is a handy bit of information....or not.

The "Unwanted" Relatives

   There is always that "crazy relative" in the family.  In mine, I cannot point the finger at anyone.  Perhaps, and most likely, that means that the weird one is me.  Out of all the labels that have been attached to me over the years, I prefer the one that my daughter tagged on me back when she was a young teenager.  She had to do a paper for school describing one of her parents and I was the oh-so-lucky target.  While most kids were giving the usual and expected glowing accounts of their mom or dad, Darling Daughter described me as eccentric and eclectic.  Hmmm? She meant it in a good way, though or at least she explained it as such.  I suppose she was (and is) correct in her description.  I brought her up well.  A lot of folks tell us we are alike in so many ways.  (I take it as a compliment!) Then there are those relatives which no one claims.  The embarrassing, black sheep of the family.  Most families can at least point the finger at one relative that has a record of doing things that are not quite up to par.

  This trend is also seen in the critter world.  I was drinking my first mug of coffee this morning when something sort of waltzed its way across the window screen.  Adjusting the glasses, I was happily surprised to see a Praying Mantis clinging to the screen.  Ahhh, good news!  That sucker could feast on all the gnats and mosquitoes it wanted!  Good job, Mantis!  I watched the insect for the rest of breakfast time.  It was great entertainment!  Sort of like a movie and dinner although not really as it was breakfast and an insect devouring other insects. (So I guess that analogy was about as wrong as they come!)  Anyway, watching the critter creep across the screen made me wonder if it was kin to any other bugs in the garden.  Most of the time, the Praying Mantis is considered a "good" bug contrary to things like Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers or Tomato Worms (which are fine as moths but not as caterpillars).  I decided that I really must research the Praying Mantis.  (Oh, how wonderful is the internet!)

  After looking on several different articles, I found that the Praying Mantis does, indeed, have a few relatives out there in the bug world!  Only, contrary to the "goodness" seen in the Praying Mantis, the relatives could possibly be deemed the black sheep.  Those rascals really are BAD!  Bad bugs!! Bad, bad bugs!  To my way of thinking, no one in their right mind could love the relatives of the Praying Mantis!  The lovely bug is kin to roaches (ick!) and termites (double ick!)!  Imagine that!  It just does not seem possible!  Entomologists have determined that all three have descended from the same ancestor!  They are all placed in the same order called Dictyoptera.  

  Since I discovered the disgusting family that the poor Praying Mantis has to endure, I figure that my own family should feel blessed that I am merely described as eccentric.  After all, it could be worse!  I could go around eating the house, causing disease and just generally being totally disgusting! 

Going Buggy!

  Darling Daughter, Elizabeth, is on a roll!  With her visiting the Little Bayou House, time has been filled with all sorts of fun activities but mostly crafting.  She and I could totally forget to eat as long as we are crafting.  It matters not if we are painting, crocheting or beading.  As long as we are creating, we are happy!  The current craft is a new one for her. She is still creating "bugs" from discarded items. (Well, what most folks discard.  Me?  I save just about everything!)  This all stems from the seahorse and dragonfly creations that I did last year.  My weedeater had a major accident so it was dismantled and parts were used in crafts!  She has taken it a step further and has started incorporating any "cool-looking" part or tidbit that can be scrounged from my stash.  (And oh, what a stash that is!)

  I had to laugh today as my once impeccably clean table had become overloaded with treasures...otherwise known as junk!  A wide assortment of wires, gears, bolts, springs, beads, buttons, watches and even dismantled clocks filled every inch of the table!  To any outsider, this must look like one huge mess but to us this is sheer bliss!  A table full of junk is a mind filled with creativity by our thinking!

   Her latest bug is a praying mantis.  He (or she) sits proudly beside the scorpion of yesterday.  I can hardly wait to see what her imagination spews forth tomorrow!  Gee! I am one proud mama!  My daughter has followed in my crafting footsteps only has taken it a few steps forward.  She sees not the mess...only the next project!  

Creepy Crawlies!

As a rule, I am not afraid of bugs. I had better not be since I can usually be found playing in the garden or hiking around in the woods where there is always an abundance of critters. They do not scare me..I am more interested in them than anything. The insect world seems to teem with critters of all shapes, sizes and colors and I think just about all of them live on the Bayou with me!

I was out in the garden examining the crowder peas when I noticed a rather large grasshopper. He was just lounging about eating my pea leaves! I did not bother to shoo him away as the peas have way too many leaves. This excess of leaves makes it difficult to find the peas so I figure maybe he was helping me in his own hungry way. Grasshoppers are not terrifying..they are not even remotely scary. They do not threaten in any way but merely look at you with their beady eyes and munch.

A bit later I came across another of the Leaf footed Bugs. I knew now that these are harmless even if they do make enough racket to wake the dead and smell nigh as bad as a polecat! This ugly-bug was not one that would make the skin crawl unless you were one prone to the heebie-jeebies!

Why I did not even get a case of the jitters when a Praying Mantis decided to use my clothesline poles as a shortcut to the blueberry bushes. I was ok..this little guy is definitely a friend! I can recall a time when I realized that perhaps I was pushing the "friendly" bug thing a bit too far with my children. One night about twenty years ago, I went in my daughter's bedroom to hug her goodnight just to find her happily playing with a Praying Mantis. She wanted to keep him in her room and let him sleep on her pillow! Nope, Praying Mantids do not scare me!

Live bugs just do not frighten me..fake ones on the other hand..might. I have been working on the hallway for about a week now. With all of the tearing out and reconstruction, the doors have been propped open for extended periods of time..anything smaller than an elephant could have crawled in unnoticed. (Maybe even the elephant could have if he tiptoed!) Many things probably did..and many things will be swatted as they make their appearance known. Today, however, when I was painting the door jambs, I heard what sounded a lot like a critter crawling around somewhere in my near proximity. I listened..where and what was that noise? Flippity..flippity..flippity! Ok..so there was a critter here somewhere. I grabbed a magazine and started the search. Flippity..flippity. I narrowed the sound down to my daughter's vacant room..oh, geez...that Praying Mantis could not possibly be still in there! Flippity..flippity..it was going crazy now! I had to start giggling when I found my "critter". There in a jar was this butterfly thing that my sweet niece had given to me back in March. It is a fake Monarch Butterfly that has a little fiber optic cord attached to it that runs to a battery in the jar lid. Static makes it flip flop around the jar just as a real butterfly would if disturbed. It must have been very disturbed as the goofy thing was going bonkers in the jar! Perhaps the battery is running low or maybe there is just a mass of static electricity in my daughter's bedroom..who knows. I must say..this one had me a tad bit scared..not of the bug itself but rather that one was flippitying around in my house! Thanks, Eva! You and little Evan brought me the only critter that gave me the heebie-jeebies..and it was not even real! heehee!

Friend or Foe!

I write a lot about gardening since that is what I do a lot. Today is no different..today I write about bugs! There are bugs that do much damage to a plant but there are also beneficial insects to have in a garden. I try not kill spiders..at least not the ones of the garden variety since they are "good" friends of a garden. (Some, I gladly squish..Black Widows, for example. I was bitten once!) Ladybugs are also great garden friends as they feed upon aphids. One of my favorite friends of the insect world is the Praying Mantis. They are so called by the appearance of their front legs that are held in a "praying" position. Mantids eat so many other bugs that they are literally an "insect insecticide"! They have no qualms about eating anything that moves if it is smaller than them, which in itself might seem strange as the females do resort to cannibalism soon after mating. (Note..the female is much larger than the male making him an easy target for dinner.) They are remarkably adept at hiding among the plants which not only helps them find prey but also protects them from being eaten. This one is climbing on my clothesline pole so it was an easy find. Perhaps there are many more among the pole beans and maybe a few on the bell pepper plants, one can only hope! Praying Mantis..friend!

I was out and about early this morning and noticed that some of the miniature gourds were chewed off at the stem. I inspected the gourd..it had definitely been attacked by something with vigorous gnawing habits. I immediately thought that perhaps a mouse had ventured into the garden without regard to the ever watchful eye of Ms. Put, the resident mouse-catching cat. I peered under the leafy gourd vine hoping to perhaps find more evidence of the culprit. Not only did I find evidence, I found the evil-doer itself! There munching contentedly on another tiny gourd was a huge grasshopper! These particular grasshoppers are about three inches long as adults and can chew their way through massive amounts of vegetation every day. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are not ones to have in a garden. Even as tiny nymphs they have voracious appetites. They start out life as very small reddish brown nymphs that, with the heat of the sun, turn shiny black with red stripes. After several months, they evolve into huge yellow, red and black grasshoppers. Their bright red wings are of little use as they are only about a third of the length of the body. This grasshopper does not fly and can only jump short distances. It is remarkably clumsy for an insect which made it easy to catch and "dispose". Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers..definite foe!