Yesterday, I asked if anyone was reading my blog and I got 4 responses. I really appreciate everyone that follows my blog. I had considered just going back to posting on the forum. But I like the blog because I don't have to be as "pc" as I do on the forum. Plus, if people click on my ads, I get money that I then donate to various charities that support wildlife conservation. (I have to put in a disclaimer here: I'm not encouraging anyone to click on my ads in order to increase my revenue from them. The program can tell if I'm getting bogus clicks and I can be banned from the program! So, please don't do that! However, if you really do see something that interests you, I'd appreciate it if you navigate to it by clicking on my ad!) Bottom line: I'm happy that people find my posts interesting. Please keep coming back! I'd burst if I didn't have a way to share all the neat stuff I find!
There is a training update for Bald Eagle Buddy. He is still in vacation mode while some of his flight feathers finish growing in. But he is still being trained -- for now, they are working on his manners!
I have some observations from my yard:
I live on wetlands. Half of my property is wetlands. And it's the same for the two neighbors to my left and the two neighbors to my right. If you continue one way, it's water. If you continue the other way, there's maybe an acre of woods. You wouldn't think we'd have a lot of wildlife. But we've got a family of deer. I see ducks and egrets out back occasionally. There's a tree down by the water where Bald Eagles and Osprey like to perch. In the fall I've got raccoons and possum in my yard all the time because of my persimmon tree. The two big nuisance animals are muskrats and rats. And the other night, surprise! A fox!
Speaking of rats... (I'm going to start by saying that I really thought I was being careful. I was mindful of the potential problem and thought I was careful enough...) I'd spotted a rat on my back deck a couple of times. I try to peacefully coexist with wildlife here. But I can't have rats on my back deck. (I have three dogs and rats carry diseases...) So, I bought one of those spring loaded rat traps and baited it with a lump of cheese. I'm not talking about some little mouse trap. I got a big ol honkin' rat trap. And I caught a rat. Then I baited it again and tonight when I checked it. Darn it. I got a bird. (I'm really upset that I killed a bird. It died instantly -- at least it didn't suffer.) I really thought I had placed it where birds wouldn't be interested in going and it's one of the places I'd seen the rat. How do you place a rat trap so it will be accessible to a rat but not a bird? Seriously. Any suggestions?
Tonight I spotted a Cicada in my yard. Finally! On May 28th, I blogged about the Cicadas in Fredericksburg, VA. There were so many! And finally tonight is the first one I've seen here. Another notable thing, this is the first time I've seen one before shedding its skin. It had a slight crack along its back. I just went out and checked on it and took the following picture (isn't it pretty!) If I'd known it was going to shed its skin that fast, I would have stayed out there and watched it:
The other day, I blogged about Hallie Art. Well, I have to admit that I bought one of the paintings... I feel like it's really an over-the-top indulgence. But I love three things about it: It's original artwork. It's done by a (blind) dog. And it benefits a good cause. This is the one I bought. It's called, "song birds." It arrived in the mail today and it's so pretty! I'm happy I bought it -- I've been interested in buying some original art... And I think this counts!
The 17 year cicadas are emerging, and boy are they making a racket! I spent Memorial Day Weekend camping in Fredericksburg, Virginia. During the day, there was a steady droning noise in the background. There were cicadas and exoskeletons everywhere. Here are some pictures and two short videos:
Cicadas first emerge when the ground temperature at about 8" deep reaches 63/64 degrees Fahrenheit. You can see all the holes in the ground where they have emerged. Yes, that's for real. And the holes went on and on...
Once they emerge, they molt and shed their exoskeletons. It seems that holly trees were a favorite of these critters. Many crawled up the tree into the leaves before molting:
Many exoskeletons dropped off and collected at the base of tree trunks. This picture was not set up. I didn't rake these together. This is how nature arranged them:
All of the trees had exoskeletons still clinging to them, with the live ones walking around them:
Cicadas look pretty freaky with their big eyes. But they actually have 3 more smaller eyes in between. Despite their size and look, they are harmless to people and other animals. This Cicada has molted out of its exoskeleton and is climbing up this tree to get away from ground predators: 
I have two short videos to share. In both, you can hear the constant drone of Cicadas in the background. First is a 23 second video of a cicada climbing up a tree past exoskeletons. Once it feels it has climbed high enough, it will make noise to attract a mate. If it's a male, it will make a very loud noise with its abdomen. If it's a female, it will respond by making noise by flapping its wings. Here's a link to a 14 second video of the sound they make when they flap their wings.
These two must have fallen out of the tree while mating, because they were on the ground...
After they mate, the female deposits her eggs into slits that she cuts in a branch. She will lay several hundred eggs! After the eggs hatch, the nymphs will drop out of the tree, burrowing into the ground until it finds tree roots to suck on the sap. In 17 years, they will emerge, and the cycle starts all over again!
You can see Cicadas without waiting 17 years. Some stragglers will come out 1-2 years before and after the year they are supposed to come out. And there are also 13 year Cicadas and their stragglers. Those are the big hatches! There are also Cicadas that come out every year. If you aren't expected to have Swarmageddon in your corner of the world, it's a great time to take a trip and check it out! Google can point you to websites that track the emergence.
