# A Walk With Nature - Critters



## PiP (Jun 12, 2014)

I always feel nervous when I take photos of critters in case they bite!


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## Pandora (Jun 13, 2014)

Oh those are cool Pip, I can imagine! Look our for the Praying Mantis and Walking Sticks, cool to watch from a distance.





This guy here took a half hour freeway ride on my car. He nestled himself into the windshield wipers and held on going freeway speeds. I made a new friend that day.


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## PiP (Jun 13, 2014)

Pandora, I don't think I could have driven anywhere with that watching me! This is a praying mantis I found in my garden.


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## Pandora (Jun 13, 2014)

Impressive creatures, I hope that was a zoom lens! They also, besides a bite, have razor sharp legs. I find so many unusual bugs in the yard each year, new never seen before. I hope the aliens that might arrive someday are not of the giant insect kind, they are brutal to their prey, we might be done for. I have heard but refused to watch the video, a praying mantis can kill a hummingbird, how horrible is that, beasts!


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## Gumby (Jun 13, 2014)

Those are neat pics, PiP. Bugs are something that I try to admire from afar.  They give me the willies, but some of them are certainly pretty.


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## Ethan (Jun 13, 2014)

think they're scary. have a look at this bug ger, it's called a Weta. thank God they're in New Zealand.


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## Cinnamon Fringe (Jun 16, 2014)

Ugh! These bugs look like they're about to jump of the screen at me!

The one with the carrot is the worst though. Quite right, Ethan! Scary is an appropriate word for it. Its size alone is rather frightening.


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## escorial (Jun 16, 2014)

excellent pic's but bugs man... the most efficient design but so creepy.


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## Pandora (Jun 16, 2014)

ok a cute one for the mix :love_heart: it's ladybug love


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## Gumby (Jun 16, 2014)

Ethan...just _ugh!!!_

Pandi, I can almost hear Barry White in the background.


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## Pandora (Jun 16, 2014)

I had to sign back in for a big LOL! still chuckling :grin:


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## J.T. Chris (Jun 16, 2014)

This thread gives me nightmares. Insects terrify me. No joke. I'm nearly thirty, too.

My God, some of these are revolting incarnations of a sinister extra-terrestrial deity hellbent on the domination of our planet via nightmarish creatures the likes of which would make Clive Barker lose his bowels with his pants still on. Their very existence defies America's laws against Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Nature is a cruel mistress.


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## Ethan (Jun 17, 2014)

I am Ok with most bugs, but terrible with spiders! Here in Spain they have several types with really nasty bites,some of them can jump (fortunately not as high as I can)We have one which lives on his terrace, which is attached to my apartment, and he is the size of a Volkswagon...Honest!


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## John_O (Jun 19, 2014)

Great shots Pip. Love bugs!!! and animals .   Had a snake rescue call last week. When I arrived at the place I release them at I noticed the lid was ajar and... no snake inside LOL. It was just a harmless average size Rat snake. 3'.  Once home it took me about 10 minutes to fine it , all curled up under my front passanger seat.  I just carried it by hand into the woods behind my house and released it there.  But anyway, insects are awesome fun to watch.


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## Pandora (Jun 19, 2014)

John_O said:


> Great shots Pip. Love bugs!!! and animals .   Had a snake rescue call last week. When I arrived at the place I release them at I noticed the lid was ajar and... no snake inside LOL. It was just a harmless average size Rat snake. 3'.  Once home it took me about 10 minutes to fine it , all curled up under my front passanger seat.  I just carried it by hand into the woods behind my house and released it there.  But anyway, insects are awesome fun to watch.



If I come upon a three foot snake in my woods I will keep you close at heart, John. Your calm and courage will see me through, scary.
My daughter sent me this link, some very cool information about a favorite insect of mine. Good thing they are not three feet long, we'd be toast!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/dragonflies-natures-deadly-drone-but-prettier.html?_r=0


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## aliveatnight (Jun 21, 2014)

Why did I come to this thread? I hate bugs, and those pictures freaked me out. Especially the carrot one...yuck!


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## Kevin (Jun 21, 2014)

Oo... that is pretty horrible. We have Jerusalem crickets in the house occasionally. "Baby-heads" we call them. I like grasshoppers, and I don't mind crickets, but these are something different.


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## Pandora (Jun 22, 2014)

If you want to feel like you are in a fantasy world have a Luna Moth flutter past you, so beautiful.


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## PiP (Jun 24, 2014)

That's a beautiful photograph, Pandora


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## Pandora (Jun 24, 2014)

Yes Pip, my encounter with a Luna Moth we had no camera, I found that online. JB did see one recently on a garbage can while on a dog walk, snapped a pick with his phone but that left something to be desired. They are incredibly amazing, just breathtaking to have flutter by. A green so gentle.


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## Pandora (Jun 30, 2014)

Not my picture but impressive yes? Cicada Killer Bees, the female about the size of my thumb. We have been watching her by the pool. She likes the sandy soil around it and the sunshine. A few males protect her caverns made deep in the soil. She stuns a cicada and flies it back home where she lays her eggs on it. When they hatch they eat the cicada. I have witnessed her low slow flying as she manages to carry something that weighs much more than she for a long flight. It is theorized that the her sting would be slight to a human because it does not kill the cicada. The males do not sting and are very territorial, most often fighting amongst themselves,  disregarding the mistress of the yard with her hose. Ah, life in the garden, it's a plan, I am so lucky to be apart of it!


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## escorial (Jun 30, 2014)

bugs freak me out...i always feel guilty killing a fly but can't feel right when there in my place..bugs yuk!!!


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## Pandora (Jun 30, 2014)

escorial said:


> bugs freak me out...i always feel guilty killing a fly but can't feel right when there in my place..bugs yuk!!!


Yeah flies are gross, they regurgitate acid on everything they eat, out in the yard on the dog poo then think they are going to check out my burger or Bloody Mary. Filthy little spreaders of no good. What I think is cool is the plan that nature takes care though. Cicadas damage and kill our trees. On first sight, I experienced that! Cicada Killer bees look terrifying to humans but they are not a threat and are busy saving the trees. I call them my little tree huggers 8)


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## Ethan (Jun 30, 2014)

Would you like a spider to naturally control the bugs in your garden? I have one the size of a cadillac, living on my terrace, Free to a good home ....well any home .


actual photo...honest...well it's about the same size anyway


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## Pandora (Jun 30, 2014)

We had something that looked like that, really long legs and furry black. It lived in one of four deck lights resembling a Japanese house. It was as big as my fist, yikes! my hero had to remove it for me, just too dangerous, very threatening and no web, means they are fast, double yikes!


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