Survivor

I was not going to do a bug walk today, but when I went out to get the mail, I saw this:

This is the board under which The Cricket passed the winter. Lo and behold, it is not buried in snow anymore! And today the temperature was in the low 50s, so I looked under the board, and...

Backyard Bug of the Day!

... The Cricket is a alive and well! It survived the horrible cold, and being buried under two feet of snow for nearly two months! Yay Cricket! Welcome to almost-springtime! The Cricket was kind of sluggish, but I did see it move, so it is alive. I don't know when it will venture forth outside of its little hole, but I am happy to see that it survived the winter. However, I hope when the winter gets nice it plans to find somewhere else to live, because that board is not going to be staying on the lawn.

It was not alone under the board today:

 Non-insect arthropod of some kind

 I have no idea what this is, but it's kind of creepy and gross.

 The pointy end with the spike seems to be the "front." At least, when it moved, that's the end it led with.

Here's a test of your bug-spotting skills. It's a pretty easy one.

 Little looper. I wonder why these are out. Meaning, I wonder what they eat, because if they eat leaves like most caterpillars, there's nothing for them to eat yet.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Last night I read an article my dad emailed me about Daddy Long-legs - a Facts You Don't Know About... kind of thing. I did know some of the facts, but I didn't know that there are thousands of species of them, and that some of them are quite small. Then, having learned that last night, under The Cricket's board I find this tiny daddy long-legs. An exciting moment in bug watching.