Late September Critters

My contribution to Michelle's Nature Notes (#393).



I took a little video, but didn't get much...the snake had another appointment.

P.S. Here's Nutkin:

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Ashburn Bambi and More

I got all backed up with my weekly contributions, this week.

I'm too late for Michelle's Nature Notes (#367). But you should go visit her anyways! Here's another pic of the Black Rat Snake from last week. So cooperative!

Thursday's come and gone. Here's Amelia for TexWiscGirl's Good Fences #117 (I'm too late for that one, too. Just didn't have my blogging shoes on this week :P ).


I'm not too late for Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #131. Here's a sweat bee on a thistle flower:

Here's an Ashburn Bambi. Usually they run away when they see me, or shortly after. Not this one! A jogger came by. A plane went overhead. A couple people on the trail behind me stopped their bicycles to watch. And Bambi kept on eating about 10 feet away.


I've got four of these, I'm saving two for later.

I'm also linking to Carmi's Thematic Photographic 373 - In the metal.

After checking my June photos, this is about the only metal I took snaps of. It was rush hour traffic and this car had cut in front of me FOUR times. (Note the four minute difference between the two pics, and this after he'd aggravated me enough to take his picture in the first place.) For an encore, he cut in front of the car behind me a couple more. Obviously, the weaving in traffic approach was getting him no where, but he just kept on doing it.


And now for something pleasant again: Anni's I'd Rather B Birdin'. Some of these are house finches, I'm not sure who that is in front though.


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Black Rat Snake Fence

My contribution to TexWiscGirl's Good Fences #116. And I'm also linking to Michelle's Nature Notes (#366).

This Black Rat Snake visited my sister's backyard on Sunday.

He (or she) was pretty mellow...didn't even get too angry when I pulled his tail to keep him from going through the fence too soon.

"Nice to see you, but I have an appointment next door."

The End.

Here are a couple pictures from the backyard in D.C. that I've had sitting around:




Carmi's Thematic Photographic 372 is Monochrome. Here's Monochrome Theda!

Last but far from least, here's another fence + Amelia:

UPDATE: By popular demand, here is Monochrome Amelia:

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Ashburn Horses and Black Rat Snake

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #123. I stopped to take a picture of these horses...

And then I noticed Mr. (or Mrs.) Black Rat Snake heading across the horse trail toward the bike trail.

This snake is getting ready to shed its skin, else it wouldn't have stuck around. As it was, the bike trail is very busy (I much prefer to walk on the horse trail) and a pretty bad destination for a snake. So I stomped my feet to try to get it turned around.

Mr. Rat Snake was all, "You're not the boss of me!" And proceeded across the trail.

So I picked him up by the tail and put him back in the grass on the other side. (There was some disgruntlement, as you can see.)

And that was the end of that.

P.S. I plan to contribute to Anni's I'd Rather B Birdin', too, but I have to head back to D.C. first. P.P.S. Here are a couple more shots of the Red-bellied Woodpecker visit to the porch in W.V. early in April.


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Underwing Moth and Crotalus Horridus

My contribution to Eileeninmd's Saturday's Critters #87. Here's a member of genus Catocala (underwing moths).

Explanation of Names

Generic epithet Catocala is Greek meaning "beautiful below." (1)

Common name Underwings refers to the posture where the forewings are normally held together over the back at rest, hiding the hindwings beneath. Hence, the hindwings are the (bold and beautiful) underwings that this genus is known for.

The common names of many species are translations of the species epithets; Linnaeus chose a female/marriage theme when naming a few of the earlier-described species, and the practice was continued by later authors (hence we have The Bride, The Girlfriend, Old Wife, The Widow, Once-married Underwing, The Newlywed, The Darling, etc.)

These fanciful names help collectors and moth enthusiasts remember the various species but have no particular significance in themselves. A few species are named after a person or the larval food plant (example: Meske's Underwing, Hawthorn Underwing).

This is a timber rattlesnake my brother saw in the road on the way to my sister's place in W.V. He moved it off the road with a long stick (snake hissed and rattled, but otherwise stayed curled up and acted like a shuffleboard puck). I went back with him later that afternoon to see if I could get some better pics with my camera but the snake had moved on.

Here's looking at you kid Silver-spotted skipper.

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Theda Tuesday

Here's an interesting article about opossums. Why you should brake for opossums. We may not find them very cute, but they're excellent tick destroyers.

P.S. Normally it'd be hard to get a pic of a snake like this, but it was shedding. King snake, in my opinion.

Linking to Nature Notes (#314). Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Caught Redhanded

I did but tie one fellow, who was taken redhanded and in the fact, to the horns of a wild stag.

My contribution to eileeninmd's Saturday's Critter's #49 (and a second to TexWiscGirl's Good Fences #33):

Here's a praying mantis with one of the ladybugs that swarm to the south side of the bulding on sunny fall days.

German Village fence cat:

Here's another picture of the 2nd Brown Snake I saw a couple weeks ago. This was before it puffed itself up in an attempt to look bigger:

Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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Saturday's Critter - Storeria dekayi

My contribution to eileeninmd's Saturday's Critter's #48:

I ran across a couple of Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi) during my last visit to the Scioto Audubon Metro Park. Here is Brown Snake 1:

Picture shown for SCALE (these are adult Brown Snakes):

Brown Snake 2 puffed up as a defensive measure, although I did not pick him/her/it/Storeria dekayi up:


I looked around for the bullfrogs again. I found one (and vicey versey).

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