All I have to say about the title of this post is…Roget let me down yet again. For the past couple of months I’ve been observing a female yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia; a type of orb weaver) just outside one of our garage windows. During that time, it’s grown from a half-inch “wingspan” juvenile into… Continue reading The Incompetent Arachnid & the Cunning Coleopteran
Category: Wildlife – Invertebrates
Posts in this category contain references to insects, spiders, worms, aquatic creatures such as clams, mussels, jellyfish, octopuses, etc.
Random Thursday: Spreading jam on the toast of life
Sorry; I don’t know what the post title means either. Howdy, buckaroos, and happy Thursday to you. Today is, of course, International Bow Day, so feel free to take a bow, look for a [rain]bow, grab a bow (arrows are optional), and hye thyself to the nearest boat bow. Oh, and today is also when… Continue reading Random Thursday: Spreading jam on the toast of life
Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 7)
Howdy, y’all! Today is National Intern Day and also National Chili Dog and National Chicken Wing Day, so we’ve sent the Gazette’s army of interns out for a junk food scavenger hunt. Fingers crossed that tomorrow is National Antacid Day. Boy, there’s a lot going on nowadays in the Wonderful World of Nature, so let’s… Continue reading Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 7)
The Miracle of Metamorphosis: Black Swallowtail Butterflies in the Making
Debbie and I have been monitoring the life cycle of black swallowtail butterflies, and it’s a pretty fascinating process. But, first… I started writing this accompanied by the dulcet tones of a just-now-repaired clothes dryer, and it’s a good feeling to know that we won’t need to employ the makeshift fan-in-garage approach (which, I will… Continue reading The Miracle of Metamorphosis: Black Swallowtail Butterflies in the Making
As The Worm Dangles
Imagine, if you will, a pair of drunken-yet-paradoxically-overcaffeinated zombies staggering along a tree-lined cart path on a golf course. That mental picture is not far from the reality of my and Debbie’s morning runs lately. You see, we are well into the Season of Dangling Worms here in the Texas Hill Country, and the act… Continue reading As The Worm Dangles
Caterpillar Complaints and Captures
Alert Gazette readers will recall my lament from last spring regarding an infestation of walnut caterpillars and their fecal flotsam. Well…lucky us. It turns out that these creatures make twice annual appearances — spring AND fall — and we’re now in the middle of their curtain call. This is also the time of year that… Continue reading Caterpillar Complaints and Captures
Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 6)
Happy Friday, folks! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today so try to keep up. (Just kidding. If you’re here for the pictures, there’s plenty; if you’re a former Playboy reader and have just stopped by for the articles, there’re a few things for you, as well, but none of it requires your… Continue reading Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 6)
A few photos for your perusal…
It’s been a stressful week around here, for reasons that I won’t go into. I tell you that simply as an excuse — as if I really need one — to not tax my brain by attempting to come up with with any of the witty, pithy, and wise words that I know you all… Continue reading A few photos for your perusal…
Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 4): Circle of Life Edition
I don’t know whether it’s because we’ve been stuck at home more this year, but I’ve noticed more evidence than ever before that spring in our neighborhood is a matter of life and death…and I’m not talking about COVID-19 at all. If the Circle of Life was unrolled and laid flat in a trend line,… Continue reading Neighborhood Nature (Pt. 4): Circle of Life Edition
Frickin’ Frass
Re: the post title — pardon my French. Except in this case, “frass” is actually German. As long as we’re on the subject of disgusting worm-related phenomenon, lately we’ve been dealing with an infestation of walnut caterpillars on our pecan trees. It’s bad enough that they’re not abiding by their names — no one in… Continue reading Frickin’ Frass