Tag: fauna

Photography

Look at the Bones…!

Shelly

I’m running out of old yard sale junk, and will need to buy some real, live stretcher bars soon. But, for now, I have a tacky woodworking project. Not mine, but something I picked up at a flea market. If the writing on the rear panel is to be believed, Pam Wheeling received a B+ for her masterpiece. I feel kind of bad about ruining something someone obviously spent hours creating, but it’s just too dreadful to salvage. It’s screaming out for a new life, I think.

But for now, look at the bones…!

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Jar of Cicada Shells, grey Holga SSFS filter

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Box Turtle Skeleton, grey Holga SSFS filter

I’m happy that I had the presence of mind to put my drafting table right under a (south facing!) window. Aside from providing the cat with a place to bask, the light there is great for taking photos. Flash ruins most pictures, so I really appreciate not having to use it. On cloudy days, all I have to do is open the blinds. On sunny days, like today, there’s plenty of light even with the blinds closed.

Photography

Mr. Groundhog

Shelly

There is a surprising amount of wildlife in my “backyard.” I know that most of the residents are normal city dwellers, but considering the high density of dogs and free roaming cats, I didn’t expect quite so many wild critters.

Mr. Groundhog seems to live underneath the sprawling bramble thicket on the western edge of the back field. He likes to come out in the late mornings and graze and sun himself. Miss Brown disapproves, of course. Mr. Groundhog couldn’t care less, it seems, because even though Harriet was whining and barking and boxing at the window, he carried on as if she didn’t exist. He’s a brazen little cuss.

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I took this photo early this afternoon. Mr. Groundhog refused to oblige me with a head shot, so all you get to see is his lard ass, which is still pretty darned cute.

Photography

Bugs

Shelly

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Grasshopper

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Skiff Moth Caterpillar (Prolimacodes badia)

It was brought to my attention last night that I have been neglecting my photo posting duties. Mea culpa! So here are a couple of my newest little friends. I haven’t identified the grasshopper, but I assume it’s a juvenile, due to the immature wings. She was ginormous (approximately 70-80mm)! On one of my last trips out to the old house, she was sitting on the step. I didn’t think she’d hang around long enough for me to run to the car for my camera, so I almost talked myself out of even trying to get a picture of her. I’m glad I did, though, because it came out pretty well.

The bottom image is of a Skiff Moth caterpillar. This little guy attached himself to the driver’s side mirror of a friend’s car, travelling with her from Owen county to Monroe county. We found him a nice shrubbery to hang out in, after taking his picture.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Milton

Shelly

Milton

No, not the blind zealot who wrote Paradise Lost. I’m talking about the guy who had an unhealthy relationship with his red Swingline stapler. Milton is my new upstairs neighbor. He’s also known as Ravin’ Disco Aerobics Man and TeeVee Man. For the first two weeks, I heard him but never saw him. Finally, a couple of nights ago, I ran into him in the entryway to my building. I’m sure Milton is a wonderful person, but I do wish he would throttle down on the ravin’ step aerobics at 3am.

Anyway… I’m not completely moved yet. I had been planning on being out by the first of the month, but I’ve still got a couple of carloads of junk and a whole lotta cleaning to do at the old place. C’est la vie, eh? I also haven’t even begun unpacking. I have boxes and piles and stacks and heaps of crap everywhere, and no place to put any of it, because most of it involves books or other assorted things that go on shelves, and I have not yet solved my shelving dilemma. So the new place looks kinda like the old place, only with more furniture.

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Miss Brown is settling in nicely, as is Pandora. There are lots of groundhogs, bunnies, birds, and one damned cheeky chipmunk to watch. The sliding window is large, and provides hours of entertainment for the girls.

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The night we moved in, there was a nasty storm that passed through. It was actually quite enjoyable to sit inside the big window and watch the clouds and lightning.

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Morning mist rising.

This is the field just off the patio. It’s large and lined with trees on three sides, so while it’s big and open, it’s also sort of secluded. The complex I’m in is also in a good neighborhood for dog walking.

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Bunny

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Grass Spider

Some of the local “wildlife.” There are bunnies galore, living under the ginormous, sprawling thicket in the back field. There is also a Grass Spider (a variety of funnel weaver) living in my kitchen window. Kitchen windows just wouldn’t be the same without spiders living in them, I guess. He’s kind of big and hairy and juicy, but Grass Spiders are docile and eat bugs, so I’m happy to have him. They’re supposed to be shy, but this guy spends a lot of time out of his hidey hole and doesn’t seem at all bothered when I open the blinds and watch him. It’s kind of like having a pet tarantula in a terrarium.

That’s pretty much it, I think. Hopefully I’ll get the studio unpacked sooner, rather than later, so I can get to work on some actual arting. In the meantime, I finally got the DSL hooked up (praise be!) and the cable has been installed. The cable is probably sucking more of my time than it should, considering that I really ought to be at least pretending to be productive. Those home improvement shows are mesmerizing, though, and with cable, they’re on pretty much round the clock.

Uncategorized

A doe, a deer, a female deer

Shelly

There have been a few discussions in one of the dog groups I frequent about silly things our dogs have been mistaken for. One of the best stories involved a sighthound that was misidentified as a deer by a clueless stranger. I never could figure out how someone could make that mistake, but now I have a little more sympathy for the clueless stranger.

I took the back road home yesterday. It’s twisty and hilly, and it can be kind of nerve wracking, but the scenery is so lovely that it’s well worth it. While on Hardscrabble Road, near the Quality on Tap water tower (for those playing along at home), I rounded a curve and saw what I assumed was a large dog running down the road toward me. I slowed down, in case it darted into the road. As it got closer, I realized it wasn’t a dog, but a deer. A large fawn, in fact, with only a trace of spotting remaining in its coat. It occurred to me that mamma must be nearby, so I slowed almost to a stop. Sure enough, mamma was on the opposite side of the road from the fawn, and I was stuck in between them. Eeep!

If you’ve never seen a deer in action, their movements are about as predictable as a super ball. When its feet touch the ground, you cannot predict which direction the deer will bounce. Even stopping your car entirely may not save you from having a deer hit you. So I was stuck with having to decide whether to stop and let mamma go around me to get to her baby, or creep along and hope that mamma stayed put until I was well past her. I opted for creeping slowly along, reasoning that stopping altogether wouldn’t necessarily keep my car from being damaged, because there was no telling what mamma would do when she finally moved. If I drove off slowly, there was a good chance I’d be able to get far enough away before she tried to get to her baby. And that’s what happened. As I drove off, I watched mamma in my rear view mirror. She boing-boing-boinged over to her baby as soon as I was out of the way.

Ladybusiness, News & Politics, Photography

Git Along Little Froggie

Shelly

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I woke up one morning last week to find a Spring Peeper fastened to my kitchen window. He was an itty bitty thing, no bigger than the first joint of my thumb. It was about 5am and I wasn’t really awake yet, so I didn’t get a very good picture of him. I should have turned on the porch light and used the macro setting.

Check out those adorable little suction pads on his toeses!

Non-sequitur: I often get frustrated that no one ever asks my opinion about current events. Because, you know, my opinion is Very Important. Or something. Anyway, last night I got a polling call from what I assume–based on the questions–to be a group associated with the John Hostettler congressional campaign. I was asked a few general questions about my political leanings, and was disappointed that none of the options allowed for Pinker than Pinko. Hrmf. Democrat will have to do, I guess. The race in my district is between Hostettler (R) and Brad Ellsworth (“D”[1]). I was unable to state to the poller’s satisfaction which of the Lesser of Two Evils I would vote for, because neither is an option for me. Yuck. Hostettler suffers from everything that is wrong about the Republican party, while Ellsworth is an forced-birther. I just cannot bring myself to support either of them.

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[1] The conspiracy theorist in me is alarmed at republicans masquerading as Democrats, and I think that is what is happening in Ellsworth’s case.

Art

Ugly Ducklings

Shelly

I don’t know if it’s true for everyone, but it seems like all of my paintings go through an ugly duckling phase. Some ducklings are uglier than others, and some paintings have multiple ducklings, but at some point in the process of every piece, I want to burn it, tear it into tiny pieces, or paint over it. I had a couple of those moments last night, while working on the new painting (I think it’s a painting, anyway). Hopefully, it’ll look better in the light of day.

I started this one in acrylic, which is something I don’t usually do. I’ve added a few layers of water-soluble crayon, and smooshed things around and generally done everything I could to get my hands filthy dirty. That’s one thing I do like about acrylics, is that I can get my hands into the paint. That’s not a good idea with oils, because some of the pigments contain lead, which is absorbed through the skin. The down-side of finger painting with acrylics is that the polymer creates a skin on your, um, skin, and as each layer of paint dries and is covered by more paint, it starts to tighten and peel and, I think, feel extremely yucky. I have to stop periodically and remove all the paint from my palms and fingers, because it grosses me out.

Spring Peeper (USGS photo)
Spring Peeper from USGS

I woke up this morning to find a Peeper frog on my kitchen window. They are just about the cutest things ever. Seriously. It was incredibly cool to be able to see his little white belly and his itty bitty suction cup feets. I tried to get pictures, but I don’t think they turned out. (There is a sound file available from the Indiana DNR. Imagine being surrounded by zillions of peeping Peepers, and you’ll have some idea of what early spring in the woods sounds like.)

Crankypantsing, Photography

The dragonfly forever passes like splintered diamond

Shelly

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White-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum)

One of things I’m going to miss about living in the country is the abundance of wildlife. Of course, it’s also one of the things I won’t miss. Butterflies and dragonflies and big, fat bumblebees are all very nice, but raccoons tumbling across my roof at 2am is something I could happily live without. I also won’t miss ‘possums getting into the trash. And then there is the mowing. Dear lord, the mowing. That I won’t miss one little bit.

Instant Review: The Good Life (UK) / Good Neighbors (US)

This was another Netflix find. It’s a 28 episode series produced by the BBC in the mid-70s, about a suburban couple who quit the rat race in order to live self sufficiently. Their neighbors are exasperated (who wants pigs, goats, and chickens next door?), but are generally good sports. I’m finished with the first set of discs, and so far, it’s been thoroughly delightful.

The humor is smart, and, most interestingly to me, the main characters seem to actually like each other. I guess I’ve gotten so used to shows like Raymond or King of Queens, where the characters don’t like each other (and who can blame them, since most of them are pretty awful people?), that I kept waiting for the Goods to tear into each other. They don’t, though. Even when they’re making jabs at each other, it’s not mean. It seems to be more of an “I know you and we’re sharing an inside joke” sort of humor, instead of “I know you and I’m going take advantage of it to score a point off you.” Very nice!

Instant Review: Ragweed

I cannot unrecommend it enough.

Photography

Pearl Crescent

Shelly

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Pearl Crescent

This little butterfly has seen better days. It had rained pretty hard earlier in the afternoon, and the sky was still overcast. It was prime butterfly photographing conditions, because they were all spreading their little wings, trying to warm themselves in the non-existent sunlight.

I had a heck of a time identifying him, because I assumed he was some variety of fritillary. I finally stumbled upon a most excellent on-line moth and butterfly identification guide, Butterflies and Moths of North America, published by Montana State University. You can search by location, and most entries seem to have photos to supplement the written descriptions. Another good resource for getting insect and spider photos identified is Bug Guide.

Once I finally identified this little guy, I realized I’d had the exact same mis-identification problem last year (almost exactly a year ago, in fact!), with another Pearl Crescent. Duh!