Let's see your yard critters

I just found this thread. I can't believe NOT ONE COMMENT about Badseed's LEECH!!!????!!???
Eeek... I have nightmares for weeks every time I see African Queen. Where ever was this creature
'chele? Looks like a lively place you've got there.

Andy - those are simply amazing photos!

vcb - great thread! I love your turtles.

Tam

I was pretty much feeling unloved. Glad the leech got some attention. LOL He was the third and largest we have found here. He was out squirming in a puddle. Nice, huh? Ick!

Sorry Badseed but I hate leeches. Yuck
Andy P

I guess I leaped over him looking at the frogs! LOL! I like frogs. I haven't ever seen a leech (of the animal species that is), they are pretty eeekk alright!!

I'm sorry Badseed. I got sidetracked by the squirrel.

Ick! I can't believe you found him in a puddle! All your pictures were good. The girls are cute holding their crawfish. Love Libby's teeth! Love the tadpoles!

Funny how different areas say either craw or cray.

Are crawdads the same as crawfish?

Yes, I think so. Actually, that's what we call them in my family. (Shades of Andy Griffith.)

Does everyone know about the new photo contest going on?
It's for the Banner for the new "BugFiles".
Check it out, in the Photos forum.
Andy P

Edited to add the link. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/635151/

This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 11:28 AM

No I didn't, thanks for giving us the link. I love to look and vote for the banners. I have put some in before too. Not sure I have any good enough to compete on the bug files but we'll see.

I was snapping pics of a couple Mantis today and later noticed an empty mantis skin in the Day Lilies.
Later, after uploading the pics I saw this.
What a stroke of luck.
I wish it was more in focus but .....
I didn't know that they shed their skin.
Andy P

Wow, I didn't either, but I looked it up and they shed several times evidentally. Here is the link I found.
http://www.jlgardencenter.com/uploads/handouts/Praying%20Mantis.pdf#search='praying%20mantis%20shedding%20skin'

Yup, they gotta do that, if they want to grow up....Great shot - the "new" guy and the old shed.

Have you see the new bug files? http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/bugfiles/all/
They are looking for a banner photo for it. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/635151/

I got a shot of this guy yesterday -- he was climbing up on plants in the garden catching and eating bugs. I tried to get a pic of his full length but he moves too fast! I don't know what kind it is -- he's all black. I've seen him (or one that looks just like him) around my garden for a couple of years now. I also come across his skin when he molts. He's about 2 ft long.

-- Vicky

I wonder where Margaret is. Haven't seen her for awhile. I sure hope she's OK. (Our favorite snake.)
Here's a photo of one of our night critters. We have lots of geckos, and they are the only lizard that has a voice. We hear them chirping to each other at night. Have to do lots of rescuing with these guys, because they get into the house, or one of our cats brings one in. We can tell when there is one that needs to be saved - the cats will be on point.

Vicky, As long as he only eats bugs I guess he's welcome. I have a few Garter snakes around. They can stay, too.

CJ, Here is one for you to ID. I've seen pics of these before, I think they are bad bugs.
The markings on it's back are familiar but .....
Andy P

Milkweed leaf beetle - Labidomera clivicollis. I've seen these guys eating aphids. The Entomologist at TAMU said no way!, but I saw it with my own eyes. They eat leaves....

This message was edited Aug 5, 2006 4:31 PM

Thanks CJ.
I'd like to add it to BugFiles but I have a hard time finding exactly where to submit it. Like most of my bugs.
I guess it can stay, besides I can't find it now, LOL.
Andy P

Well, I'm glad you can't find it. There's usually a whole mess of those guys. And that would not be good.

Goodle the name, and add +family and you should be able to get the rest of the information they want.
Like this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/2970 :-)

I must be pretty dense. I just signed up at BugGuide and wrote down every key word I thought was pertinent. I could not find any on the category list, Order, Family, Genus or Species.
I'm taking a lot of bug pics this season and I wish I knew how to categorize them.
Like this beauty I almost walked into today while I was trying to snap some flowers.
Andy P

Ah - my favorite spider, the Yellow & Black Argiope. Isn't she gorgeous?!!

Does it bite?????
I was wearing shorts, wading my way through dense plantings to snap a pic of Hibiscus flowers. I almost walked into it !!!!!!
Andy P

Hi, ceejay. I can appreciate your enthusiasm; I know crawly creatures are your "thing." However, I HAVE ARACHNOPHOBIA AND COULDN'T EVEN BEAR TO LOOK AT THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL

I read some research somewhere, sometime, that said spiders will walk across your arm (or whatever) and not bite, because you are not prey material. It is only when they feel their life is threatened that they bite. Example: swatting them, sitting on them, poking at them in their webs when they have nowhere to retreat...that sort of thing. I know (Oh bivbiv, I am just picturing you right now!) that would be hard for most people to allow, but it is the thing to do...nothing. And they eat insects, not plants. Now that's pretty great, isn't it?!

BTW, that is the female, and she does get quite big, doesn't she, Andy?
I told this on another thread some time ago, but just to let you know how wacko we are:
The Yellow & Black Argiope that resided in her web next to some windows (which supplied light to attract insects to her web) in a corner of our deck had grown from a small spider to a very large spider. We named her Charlotte, of course. As the days grew cooler in the fall, and there were less insects, I would find insects and throw them in to her web. In great health, she responded by making two egg sacs.
DD married in October, with a garden reception at our home. (When we were preparing for the reception, the window cleaner was warned not to disturb Charlotte. He replied that it was a good thing we warned him because Charlotte would have been very disturbed, if he had his way - a bivbiv kind of guy) Anyway, at the reception we saw the bridesmaids taking their friends around the corner of the deck to show them our pet spider - the insinuation being that we were, indeed, wacko. Alas, there was a frost that night and Charlotte lay dead on the deck the next morning. But due to her progeny, we had little Charlottes all over the yard the next year.

Here is a picture of an egg sac.

A recent visitor to our garden. And, of course, there are those pesky unseen visitors who turned my sweet potato vine into lace!

CJ, that's a great story. A fabulous pic, too. Have you submitted it to BugFiles, yet?
(See, if you get it started, I'll know where to post my pic, LOL.)
Andy P

Does anyone know what kind this is? My husband thinks it's a grass snake, but he's not really sure.

RU OK with snakes, bivbiv?

Andy - You just go to Bug Files by clicking on the tab at the top of the page, next to Plant Files. It will have you fill in the name of the critter and then you just upload the pic. Easy.

Yellow rat snake

Google it and go to the educationcentral.org site. I couldn't get it to link, the URL was too long.



This message was edited Aug 6, 2006 9:17 PM

A good s----r story, ceejay! Even if I don't like them. :) No, I'm not ok with snakes either, but I can at least bear to look at them. Not that I spend hours gazing at them in fascination, mind you.

Bivbiv, he looks like an everglades rat snake, with those dark stripes. Is his belly yellow? Next time you see him, flip him over. He is quite handsome.

CJ, thanks. I know where BugFiles is but don't I have to know the bug name to know where to stick it? I have already submitted a couple pics. That Milkweed leaf Beetle has me stumped.
Andy P

Andy - If you go to the link I supplied, and scroll down, it has the whole Latin name for the critter. Try it again.

Thanks ceejay. My DH looked it up, and it is indeed a rat snake. Good! Just today we saw a baby rat crawling on the porch screen. Last summer we had a problem with rats using our bird feeders as nurseries! I guess mama liked having a roof over her head and a supply of food. Yuck!!!! Unfortunately, rat snakes also eat lizards, frogs and birds.

I think I would re-locate the rat snake and get a cat, if it was at my house. I love for my lizards and frogs to eat insects around my pond and deck.!

Believe me, that snake could never eat all the lizards that live here, so I'm sure I'll still have plenty patrolling for bugs. The problem is that I doubt the snake can eat all the baby rats either! Does anyone have a good solution for getting rid of rats without harming squirrels, birds or other wildlife? There are several neighborhood cats that come around here, but they obviously aren't a deterrent.

We had to stop feeding the birds...the birdfeeders bring them in. Our neighbors still do it, but rats will stay close to the food source, so that's in their yard.

I've heard the rat snakes will leave when there aren't any rats.

http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/mantids/praying/

Please go to "Diet" and read the last 3 sentences.
Praying Mantis will eat small nesting birds, such as
Hummingbirds. Of course, they eat them alive.

I think you need to know this.