When my niece was in college studying psychology, she told me once that (and I am going to explain this badly), your brain sees everything as a snake. Not everything, obviously, but anything snake shaped, if you are outside walking around, on first sight your brain tells you is a snake. I have actually experienced this many times, although not as much as I used to, because you kind of get used to seeing roots and vines and things in particular places. I asked her today to re-explain how that works, and she said, your "Amygdala processes visual input very quickly and makes that guess first to keep you safe. Then a slower processing route through the frontal lobe reassesses the situation." So your amygdala says "SNAKE!" and then your frontal lobe says, "No, it's just a stick." The reason I asked her about that today is because three times today I almost stepped on a snake, which is to say that three times today I encountered snakes while I was looking up at something, and not at the ground in front of my feet. Of course, after that I was very careful about looking where I was walking for the rest of my walk.
I'll show you the snakes at the end of the post, as usual. Right after the spiders, and I have stories about those, too.
The bugs, on the other hand, I don't have much to show for. They were not very cooperative today.
Backyard Bug of the Day:
I think this one is a female:
The female builds the nest, and the male stands guard. I wonder if this is going to cause a conflict when the house wrens try to use this house this year.
Okay, it's late, and I'm tired, so I think instead of being organized I am going to just post things in order that I saw them, regardless of whether they are insects, mammals, frogs, flower... whatever...
On most days I would consider this a good picture of a six-spotted tiger beetle, but after yesterday I am spoiled. This was just a few steps from the back porch, on the old raised garden.
It's hard to see, but this rabbit has an engorged tick on its neck, which is pretty common for the rabbits in my backyard.
Even when I'm not trying to take pictures of bugs I end up with pictures of bugs. Ant on a blueberry blossom.
Bathtub frog is still around:
Buttercups
Weevil
I just decided that this is Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:
Moth fly, a really tiny fly that looks like a moth. I saw a lot of these on the undersides of the leaves of one tree, and later saw one in another part of the woods on another tree. I rarely see these, so that was a lot for one day. They are hard to photograph, and I never got very close to this one, but since I may not get another picture of one for the rest of this year, it's BBotD.
Oh, look, another uncooperative insect. There's a moth on the bottom of that leaf in the center.
Don't you just love springtime?
American toad
Daisy fleabane, I think.
Beetle
I was just thinking today that I haven't seen a lot of caterpillars this year:
And I still haven't seen a lot of caterpillars this year. But I saw this one today.
Some kind of hemiptera nymph
Winter fireflies
Canada mayflower
Frogs in the ever-dwindling big pond:
We could use some rain.
The crane flies were very uncooperative again today.
I think this is solomon's seal...
... and this is false solomon's seal.
Solomon's seal...
... false solomon's seal
It's not just snakes that I almost step on. I also almost step on frogs. This one dove into the stream to avoid being crushed underfoot. I think it thinks it is well hidden.
Stonefly
There was a water strider skating around near the vortex, and I was impressed that it didn't get sucked in, but I guess if it's used to currents, it can handle this.
I couldn't see what it was doing, but it created a commotion.
More commotion
A nice look at the vortex.
I think this is called a pistol case bearing caterpillar. That case it travels around in is made of its droppings.
Bee with a fungal infection. The fungus takes over the bee's brain and makes it into kind of a zombie, and it makes the bee clamp onto a plant with its jaws so the fungus can spread and then sent out spores.
There's a spittle bug in there somewhere...
Arachnid Appreciation:
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This blurry photo is part of one of my spider encounter stories. I was walking along and saw a bit of a commotion on this plant, and saw that it was a tussle between two insects, or as I soon discovered, an insect and a spider. I thought the spider was trying to subdue its prey, but I think what was actually happening is that the spider was trying to avoid becoming prey. There are species of wasps that prey on spiders, killing or paralyzing them and then carrying them back to their burrows as food for their young. I think the wasp was trying to capture the spider to feed its babies. When I got close the wasp let go and flew off, and the spider ran across the plant to another leaf. When I tried to take its picture it scooted to the underside of the leaf. Then the wasp came back, and something extraordinary happened. The spider scurried out from under the leaf, ran along the plant and then JUMPED off the plant and landed on the ground, and started to run right at me! I stepped back (mostly because I was trying to get a picture of the spider, which was, as you can probably guess, futile), and the spider ran right up to me and onto the side of my shoe. My first instinct was to try to take a picture of it on my shoe, but then I realized how easily it could run up the inside of my pantleg, and I may like spiders, but I don't like them that much. So I nudged it off of my shoe, and took this picture:
It's a nursery web spider. There were still wasps patrolling, and while I was watching them the spider disappeared. Yes, I did check my pantlegs. I think the spider ran to me for protection from the wasp. I feel a little bad that I pushed it off my shoe, but come on. Anyway, I am pretty sure it got away. It is missing a couple of legs, and I don't know if that happened in the fight with the wasp. I also don't know if the wasp had already stung it, in which case I don't think the spider could survive. It was a weird, kind of sad thing to witness.
I was sitting on the bench that wraps around the hemlock tree when I saw this tiny jumping spider.
It kept crawling on my pantleg, and I had to keep shooing it off.
Finally I got up and moved to the next section of the bench.
It followed me, and kept trying to climb on my pants again. I finally got up and left it on the bench. So it climbed on my water bottle carrier.
This spider tries to be invisible by stretching itself out along a plant:
It doesn't work very well on a curly fern frond.
I saw this crab spider on a fern...
... and on the next frond over on the same fern plant, I saw this crab spider...
... and on the next fern over, I found this crab spider.
Snakes:
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This is the first snake I almost stepped on, while I was looking up a tree at a squirrel. It zoomed into the bushes, and startled me. I don't know why they have to wait until I almost step on them to zoom off.
Snake #2 that I almost stepped on:
It appears to be in the process of digesting something. I wonder if that slowed it down.
Snake #3 that I almost stepped on:
By this time I was on the alert, and noticed the snake about one step before I got to it. And this snake didn't move.
It also appears to have recently eaten.
I took picture of it from several angles and it didn't move, until...
... it did deign to turn its head and stick its tongue out at me a few times.
