while their mother sat in repose nearby in my neighbor's yard.
I saw this rabbit while on my walk and it let me get fairly close for quite a while.
There was this shy box turtle with beautiful markings near the creek, but it seemed to sense I was nearby and wouldn't stick its head out, even after I stuck around for ten minutes.
I headed down to my mint patch to make a last pitcher of mint tea and spied this praying mantis, and I've seen it several times since. I think it might be a female, so I'm going to be looking hopefully for a praying mantis egg case in the next few weeks. Fun facts: female praying mantises have 6 abdominal segments while males have 8. The final segment of the female is much larger than the others while the male has several small segments towards the end of the abdomen. Also, Males generally have longer and thicker antennae than females do.
I live in central New Jersey, but there is still plenty of wildlife if you look around and keep your eyes open (even in New Jersey)!
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The winner of the yarn giveaway is Sarah, and your yarn will soon be on its way to you. I hope you knit something lovely with it, and I thank everyone for playing!
I can't believe how close you were able to get to all these animals!
ReplyDeleteSO COOL! I love finding praying mantises in my garden. (Deer . . . not so much.) XO
ReplyDeleteAll great pictures! We have had more praying mantises this year which is really great. Fletch always searches out the egg cases - fun to see them hatch in the Spring. Looks like your walks have been so nice!
ReplyDeleteOoo! Congrats to Sarah on winning that gorgeous yarn! I am quite confident that she will knit it into something most worthy!
ReplyDeleteAnd, your wildlife photos are awesome! (As are those praying mantis factoids!)
These are great photos today, thanks for sharing them and also the Praying Mantis facts!
ReplyDeleteWow, you have lots of wildlife! Do you live in a rural area? I live in the city with a huge yard and lots of wildlife, but none are of the large kind. No deer, no rabbits, etc. I hope there are lots more walks in your near future with lots of wildlife. Happy Monday!
ReplyDeleteoh I love the shiny box turtle, so squeaky clean :) You have been lucky in your nature sightings, there hasn't been much around here.
ReplyDeleteYou made my day with these pictures! This has been the summer of bunny rabbits around here. I have never seen so many. Thank-you Bonny this surely means a great week ahead!
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm amazed at the company you had while hanging out laundry!! Our bedroom overlooks our backyard and a ravine and, every once in a while, I open the blinds and have startled deer looking at me! It's always so cool.
ReplyDeleteOh those DEAR DEER faces ! DO be careful with ticks. I just finished podcast called Patient Zero. It was really fascinating to learn what we know and don't know about LYME I really found it fascinating
ReplyDeleteI use DEET and do tick checks after every time I'm outside, but I'm always afraid I'll miss one because the ticks are so tiny. I've had Lyme once but don't want it again. Thanks for the podcast recommendation; I'll definitely look for it.
DeleteEveryone seems to be peacefully cohabitating and enjoying the quiet of the day. Mostly around my condo I see the occasional hawk and/or feral cat. Maybe if I looked more closely at the plants I'd find more insect life (or the garden environs).
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a lot of wildlife. I am amazed when I take time to look but don't see deer in my suburban neighborhood. That is probably a good thing as they would be hit by the traffic.
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