It's a Wee Buggy World

Those 1382 miles pulled me out of zone 3b and into zone 7b. In the plant world, this is VERY exciting. In the bug world, it's mysterious and fascinating. You heard them singing their hearts out in my last post. Seriously, fascinating. I've learned a LOT about bugs so far and I'm sure I have a lot more to learn. The house was a previously foreclosed house and the people that lived here before did not take care of outside things like grass, plants and bug eviction. This, and the fact that no one lived here for months means there were some invaders to learn about and evict.

I was blessed with stumbling upon my first snake just a couple months in. I'm not afraid of snakes and actually find them interesting to observe. However, there are these three dogs in my life and if anything happened to any one of them, I'd lose it. Completely. This means that any type of snake bite is not allowed here, whether or not it's poisonous. Especially not in the back yard which is the safe place for the dogs to run and play. Copperheads are poisonous and King snakes are not. King snakes keep Copperheads away so you want them around I'm told. Fine, that's just fine. They can stay, they just cannot stay in the back yard. They will have to learn their boundaries. This visitor was going to learn that boundary quick.

Shortly after it came by, mesh was dug 6-9 inches into the ground and stapled up and around the whole fence really quickly to help create that much needed boundary we were talking about....

I haven't seen Mr. King since so I think it's working. Yes, I know snakes can "climb" - people need to stop telling me those things. So far they haven't and the boundary seems to be working so I'll continue to believe my dogs are safe here in their yard.

Another visitor came by one night when my daughter was visiting. Did I mention she REALLY hates bugs? The fire was just lit and starting to go strong and right down from the middle of the bin, a spider started crawling down it's web. It was black, with a red spot - it was indeed a Black Widow! That was the end of the fire for my daughter, and essentially the end of the outdoors for her whenever visiting the south. There's this spray you can get that kills spiders. The Black Widow got a nice taste of it. Those boundaries I mentioned earlier? They apply to spiders too. The fence area and all along the house get sprayed weekly. You can buy the stuff by the gallon. It's on auto-ship. The bugs on the other side of the fence get to live free and be their wild gangster selves. Inside the fence is the kill zone. The dogs must stay safe.

Outside the fence area, I really do like watching and observing the bugs. They are HUGE here! The spiders are really tough looking. This little guy - or girl - was hanging out in the back woods. Pretty sure nothing will dare mess with this one.

Thankfully a lot of the pretty bugs are huge too. The butterflies are simply breathtaking. They like all my plants so we enjoy each other's company.

The moths are just a huge. I'm honestly not sure what moths do, but they are still interesting. I know they must do something....

I happened upon this adorable stick bug at work one day. It stopped by to say hello and went on its merry way.

Another not so wonderful visitor is the Stink Bug. It REALLY does stink! When you scare it or squish it, it emits this extremely odd horrendous odor. This one can stay with the spiders on the outside of the fence line.

This guy or gal is a Wheel Bug. I've never seen anything like it! I was very fascinated by this visitor.

The frogs and toads are over-sized as well. There is a frog that likes to hang out in my front garden. We are friends. I give it water, and in return it eats the spiders that I prefer not to have an overabundance of.

The toads kind of come and go at their own pace - but they are still fun to see. Toads emit defensive toxins so this is another visitor that isn't allowed in the fence area with the dogs.

This little friend stopped by for a quick visit one day before slowly meandering off into its own world again.

This is a Skink Lizard. They are pretty because they have blue tails but by the time I get to them, the tail has already detached from the lizard's body in a defense to distract those three dogs I mentioned earlier. The dogs love to hunt little things. It is their primary job in keeping the back yard safe - or so they think. They always see the lizards. They are quick about it and never seem to miss them. Poor little things need to learn those boundaries we keep mentioning so they stay safe. The trick is to get to them quickly and get them over the fence line to safety. I know they grow new tails quickly so I don't worry about those detached wiggly parts too much. I still toss the tails over the fence because I don't want the dogs getting them. Safety first! Sometimes I am not quick enough and the poor little fellas meet their demise, but I always try.

This is another little lizard that seems to be coming around a bit more. This one seems smarter and so far it stays on the other side of the fence where it's safe. The other day when I was watering the plants, it followed me and the water all the way around the yard. I think it likes me, or maybe just the water.

I do have an incredible little humming bird that comes around and explores all my plants; however, the darn thing is so fast I cannot get a picture of it. It does make me smile every time I see it though.

I saved my favorite for last. This is a Praying Mantis. It has three dimensional vision.

It can turn its neck 180 degrees and will turn its head to look at you! I got a video of it for you to see for yourself. I was SOOOO happy when this little friend stopped by for a visit!

Isn't the world we live in completely fascinating and wonderful?!? There's so much to learn and explore all around us every single day.

#nature #bugs #explore #plants #spider #snake #insects #prayingmantis #skinklizard #lizard #stinkbug #wheelbug #stickbug #butterfly #hummingbird #turtle #toad #frog