Keeping aliens

Well, if you haven't figured it out, a 'bug blog' is likely going to be a reoccurring theme here. I cannot refrain from taking pictures of the little creepy crawlies I find in the bathroom sink, or in the basement crawlspace, or the outside storage shed, or the the garden... or the small terrarium on my desk where I breed and feed them.

Something occurred to me a year or two ago; I don't live with my Mother and I don't need to be ashamed of my boyhood curiosities that I carried into adulthood. I can keep spiders in a jar if i want to! To me the world seems as new to me today, as it was when I was a kid. Just tonight I was drawing in the office while the TV was on, and I learned about a cockatoo in Australia that hollows out a tree with it's beak, fashions a drumstick out of a branch, and beats the tree like a drum to attract a mate. The deeper the beat, the larger house he's offering.

That's the kind of stuff that brings this response from me; How have I never heard of this bird before?

And so, when I find a similar creature online that amazes me, and is also available as an 'exotic pet'... I order it. I'm currently keeping a pair of ghost praying mantis's. They're called 'ghosts' because of their unbelievable ability to appear like a dead leaf blowing in the wind. The male of the pair recently molted into an adult, revealing beautiful wings.

Not only do they look like a dead leaf, but they only move when they feel wind blow on them. And when they walk, they sway this way and that way to look as much like a twig as possible. They're simply amazing. Madagascar, and South Africa is where they originate.

Yes, question in the back of the class...

What's that? Are there any amazing creatures that don't live on the other side of the world? Yes there are! take this species of garden spider I found last summer on the rose bush. You can't see it here, but this little guy is resting his legs on a chord that attaches to a freshly woven web that he created. He's patiently waiting for the dinner bell - literally. Once he feels vibrations on the single strand of web, he'll be running upstairs to see what's for dinner.



What gorgeous patterns.

Okay, onto the Mom spooker - I trapped this guy under a bucket after I spotted him run across the garden shed floor. When I first saw him out of the corner of my eye, I thought he was a mouse. He is by far the single largest spider I've ever seen out here.




He is in the family of funnel web spiders, normally building a web in a funnel shape that goes into the ground. According to the Internet, his bite is actually rather painful.

And from hairy and ugly, like a monster, to hairy and cute like a stuffed animal...


Look at those eyes. You could have fit three or four of these guys on a penny. I found him in the bathroom. He's a jumping spider, and while trying to catch him, I watched him crawl at top speed - backwards - away from me.



This guy conveniently built a gorgeous web last summer between my garbage bin outside, and the house. It was a beautiful web that I had to photograph before carrying on with my chores and emptying the garbage (unfortunately destroying his web).

I was making my breakfast one early fall morning recently, when I spotted this beautiful blue bottle fly on the barbecue outside. It was very cold out, and I was willing to bet that the fly would pose for a picture because of the cold temps. He posed for several.



Well there's my little bug blog for the winter. I'm sure I'll be photographing the female ghost as soon as she hits full size. She's gonna be gorgeous.

I'm really feeling like the crocodile hunter right now. whatever..

If it helps you to read this post with an Australian accent, be my guest.


Crikey! What a beauty!