Let's see your yard critters

Isn't this a sweet little leech? BLECK!

Don't know what kind of moth (?) this is but it had some kind of stinger or pointed tail and acted like it wanted to poke/sting you.

Barn cat from somewhere here. It comes to visit off and on.

Alien bug! Was ID as a tussock moth I think.

Who really cares if the pond is done or not?

My final offering...tad poles. Lots of tadpoles! LOL

Potemup, that was a funny video in the Yankee Flipper ad!! I too faithfully feed the squirrels, but don't like them on my bird feeders so I try to keep their food filled. I have tried everything, maybe that will work! LOL! We get a kick out of watching all the effort they go to in order to get a few sunflower seeds!
Last summer we had a horrible hot summer and the pecans did make, etc. I was out it the yard and hear something fall out of the tree near me. It was a portion of a squirrel's nest. I looked up and saw a squirrel tearing up a nest and throwing it down. Two baby squirrels fell also, one died quickly. I guess they knew it was going to be a tough drought and couldn't find food, or it may have been a rival squirrel... just don't know.
Anyway I rescued the baby that was crying and looked up on the web how to care for him. They recommended you leave it until you are sure the mother isn't coming down for it. Then that you call a rescue group if they don't. I read that gatorade is a liquid that the babies would eat at their age. Got that, and a syringe, fed the baby until I could get it to the lady that worked with squirrels. Thank goodness it happened on the weekend, or I would had to take it to work with me. 3-4 hr feedings like a newborn. LOL!!

Been there done that, but mine was older. I got up in the middle of the night to feed him with a baby bottle, but he didn't. He slep thru the night every night. We called him Grunt because he did. We turned him loose when he was bigger and supplied him with food. I'll have to find the pictures of him and post them.

Your's sure brings back memories. Poor thing. I've never seen a nest being torn up.

Cool pic, Sheila.

My dog, Sarah just now cornered a raccoon inside the fenced yard. I had to call her off, who knows what that coon might carry. Sarah didn't get scratched and her shots are up to date.
The coon is now trying to dig under the 3 foot fence to escape, we will check on it in a bit then fill the escape hole.
She had a nasty encounter with a woodchuck a couple of years ago, got all bloody. No more of that!!!!!!

Anyhow, this is what I wanted to post.
I think it's a Tent caterpillar moth on the house siding.
Andy P

I think it's a large maple spanworm moth. Has a really neat larval stage that mimics a twig....

CJ, is it a good or bad bug?

It feeds on maple and oak, but I've never known it to be a problem. I wouldn't worry about it. Here's a picture of the "twig" looking larva... Long address - I hope it can be linked.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.visualsunlimited.com/images/watermarked/212/212408.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.visualsunlimited.com/browse/vu212/vu212408.html&h=350&w=238&sz=14&hl=en&start=14&tbnid=OF50vTue_6yL8M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=78&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlarge%2Bmaple%2Bspanworm%2Bmoth%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DHPIA,HPIA:2005-37,HPIA:en%26sa%3DN

Edited to say: Nope, the link didn't work. Google it and look for the larva photo. Really cool...

This message was edited Jul 29, 2006 12:31 PM

Try it again CJ. Cool pic Andy!

When you look at the moth, it resembles a maple leaf! First a twig, then a leaf.

Andy you posted what I think was a Neon Skimmer before, but I don't think you knew what it was at the time. It is my favorite dragonfly to watch, they are in your face bold!!!! They come up on the deck after catching bugs in the air and light on a sheperd's hook and eat. My DH is usually right there beside him, but with no camera, but it is cool to watch. This time he had the camera, but the Neon was only smiling.
Here is a link about them. http://bugguide.net/node/view/36801
If you hit home you should be able to look up the moth too.

CJ, thanks for the info on the moth.
Sheila, Thanks for the link, the moth was there. It is now in "BugFiles".
I'm not so sure about the dragonfly, though. Mine has black veins in the wings and a longer slimmer tail. It may be a common skimmer, not sure.

On another note, the raccoon managed to get out under the fence and the hole has been filled. All is well in Mudville.

While I'm here. This is another Dragonfly, from yesterday morning. Much smaller than the Skimmer.
Andy P

Cute little red helmet! LOL! Nice shot too.

I have a lot of damselflies around the pond too. Can't figure out why there are so many!

OHMYGOODNESS, Sheila! Wonderful! If you send this photo to JaxFLGardener. He might want to paint it...with your permission, of course.

Sheila, that's quite a shot. Love it.

I was watering a perennial bed this morning when a quick movement caught my eye.
The largest of 5 Mantis I have in the yard had captured breakfast.
Andy P

Great one there Andy, that's a good guy, earning his keep. Grasshoppers are not my favorite critter, interesting though.

Thanks, bivbiv, guess I will look into it.

Oh my gosh Shelia, that is a great picture!

Andy, that's some mantis!

Thanks, Sheila & Billy.
I started a thread with 3 pics in Wildlife for this one.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/633319/
Since I posted this I'm finding the Mantis all over the yard. I almost stepped on one yesterday, it was on the door mat. Two jumped off the day lilies this morning as I was watering. Mostly, I see them on the day lilies.
Andy P

Neat! I usually find them when I'm mowing and have to wait till they get out of the way. Quick movement is right! I'm glad he caught a grasshopper. I haven't had any yet this year. They're so big they're scary!

Here is another visitor to the Agastache.
A green? bee?
Andy P

That's a tough one. Sure is pretty!

Since the honeybee population has been declining, I've noticed more green bees. Actually, I don't think I ever saw green bees until last summer. They must have been around, but certainly not in enough numbers to have noticed them.

I think we in Iowa still have honeybees. I hope that's what they are! They look like it! Scares me to think they can die out.

An Asian parasite has decimated the honeybee population across the U.S. Last summer the problem really became apparent in our garden. I saw perhaps two honeybees all summer. Our neighbor didn't have watermelons because there was no pollination. I read about one beekeeper who had lost half his hives, which he used to rent to farmers for pollinating. So this is becoming a threat to agriculture in some areas. Universities are studying these parasites, and one of the most promising things I've read about is a fungus they're introducing into hives which kills the parasite and has no ill effect on bees.

At first I thought you were going to say the decline was do to the Killer bee population. Don't they attack the honey bees?

I thought the African (Killer bees) were brought in to South America to breed with the domestic honey bee to develop a honey bee better suited to South America. I don't think they got what they were wanting, more honey production. The African bees passed on more of their less desirable traits than the good ones, such as their famed aggressiveness. They are nasty little guys that stick together when attacking. At least, that's what I always understood it to be.

Diann

You're right, Ticker. European honey bees didn't fare well in the S. American climate, while the African bees are very adaptable. But before they got a suitable crossbreed, some of the African bees escaped in Brazil; so now we have Africanized bees spreading their territory. I don't think they actually attack and kill our European honeybees; rather they displace them and also crossbreed. They attack without direct provocation and can be set off simply by the sound of fairly distant machinery, such as a lawn mower or a power saw. They're dangerous because they sting en masse and will chase their target up to 1/4 mile. If you're ever attacked by them, don't stand still and swat; that only makes it worse. Run for your life and protect your face and eyes. If you ever find any kind of bees nesting in your home or on your property, you should have them professionally removed; it's not a job for a DIYer.

Now, if someone could just get that nastly little mite to jump over to the Africanized bees...

Speaking of bees. Here is a gold belly one on the Agastache, it's pretty big. (I check every day for new bugs on that plant, I got 3 today.)
Andy P

Thanks everyone, that is good info to know.
Another interesting critter Andy!

Thanks Sheila.
Here is one I just snapped.
A robber fly with lunch.
Andy P

I'm still watching.....LOL Just don't want to have to say WOW all the time - so WOW for all of them!!! Keep it up....
CJ

BTW, Sarahskeeper - I was doing some research and it mentioned the maple spanworm. (Now there is a different species called the large maple spanworm - which is what yours was, so I don't know if this applies to it also.) But FWIW, because they lay all their eggs on a single host plant (instead of a few eggs here, a few eggs there), when all those babies hatch it can cause defoliation of the tree. They put it in the same category as Elm Spanworm, Walnut Caterpillars, Eastern Tent Caterpillars, Fall Webworms.... Of course, the BIG problem comes when several adults lay their eggs on the same tree. Really not much you can do about it, anyway. Bt - sprayed on the leaves of the host plants - when they are small is the recommendation. Have you seen any skeletonization of leaves? Not just maple leaves..

CJ, We had a bad Spring with 4 different types of caterpillar, who could tell which one did what.
Last week I found Sow bug larva on my hardy hibiscus. First time I've seen those. I posted this pic on the Hibiscus forum and a very kind DGer helped me out. Insecticidal soap did the trick.
It's been a weird season so I guess it's only logical to have unusual bugs, too.
Andy P

Well, not sowbug larvae. They just look like teeny little sowbugs (which aren't really bugs, anyway - nor insects either). Probably hibiscus sawfly larvae....

CJ, My error, Saw fly. Don't tell NCPlantsman I got it wrong.
So embarrased....
Andy P

Bivbiv, I think it was in china, the honey bees would detect the mites, pull them off the bee and kill it. I don't know how that progresses. I think I saw it on nature on IPTV a few years ago. They did formulate something to put on the hive entrance to keep the mites off the bees.

Killer bees are also set off by carbon dioxide. They did a test where they had a suit with a long breathing hose. If the bees were provoked and didn't detect their breath, they didn't attack. But bring the tube up to the hive and provoke, and look out!