I am going to have to buy a butterfly net. No, not one big enough for me. Not even for the little girls who live next door and wake me up every morning at 8:10 am, Monday through Friday. One has to stand in her driveway, one right outside my bedroom window, and they have to screech at each other. I don't know why they have to be 100 feet apart every morning to yell at each other, but it is a given.
I was sitting here at the computer doing a little research, and saw a leaf on my window ledge. Hmm, I thought, how is it staying attached? Are my windows really that dirty? I got up, walked over, and saw that the leaf had feet. It also had antennae. That put it in the bug category. Grasshopper, I figure. Not a stinger-bug. It is beautiful. It made a 180-degree turn, watching me back. Upon closer inspection (about 3 inches from my face), I saw it breathe.
Never before have I seen an insect breathe. I once watched a lightning bug flash away on my front screen door, and got a magnifying glass to get a most excellent light show, but I never saw one breathe before. It made it more alive to me. How can I kill bugs that breathe?
So from now on when I find hornets/wasps/bees making lazy circles in my living room, knowing that their intent is to insert a stinger into my flesh, I will have to do a capture and release. No more flyswatters.
I couldn't get the zoom to go any farther than 1.5, so my grasshopper is fuzzy, but the trees in my backyard are nice, aren't they? I put them in when I moved in this house. They were in gallon containers, brought from Grand Rapids, MI, given to me by my ex-husband's sister. When it's windy, the branches look like fingers playing a piano. I can watch them for hours.
10 comments:
your grasshopper is oh so cool! I have never seen an insect breathe either!
hugs,
Kathi
I'm a capture & release kind of gal...with the exception of mosquitos...I hate those guys.
I have been blessed with a visit by a couple of these guys...itsn't it surreal?
Wonderful picture!
Elizabeth~
If you show me your grasshopper, I'll show you my lizard. I swear to God, Suz, you're scaring me. I took the very same picture this week of a lizard on my screen door. From inside, I got a very closeup look at his soft underbelly. I would never swat a lizzard, but I will still fight a wasp to its death.
You're right about the evergreens. They are lovely.
What a great entry Suz!!!
We get a ton of Moths in
our house. I always try to
catch and release them.
A net. Great idea!
-Connie
I have been informed that my grasshopper is a katydid.
Isn't life amazing? I'm always in wonder of it.
Best wishes,
Debi
Did you try cropping the photo to get a closer look? It still is an amazing pic-- and I know those things seem like fairies or something.
About the trees-- love your piano playing simile, and I love how their growth marks our comfort in our own homes. I know what ya mean.
Suzy, I'm only going on a hunch here, but I do believe that's a katydid.
I also know what you mean...we scoop up spiders and flies...
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