Soldier Beetles and Lizards Tails

Warning, some of these images may disturb you.

 Bees are sipping nectar from fallen flowers. I am constantly reminding the children to put their shoes on, not to walk around bare feet, or in their socks. We have had one Jumping Jack ant bite already this season, they sting like crazy. Rubbing a fresh lavender leaf on the bite helps soothe the pain, but is a bit best avoided (lavender also helps bee stings).

 Soldier Beetles are swarming. They cover everything but are apparently not doing any harm, in fact they are predators of many of the garden's foes. The mating swarm will disperse once the party is over, they have been around a couple of weeks and seem to be increasing in number, it's quite a sordid affair. The eldest Bowerbird is squeamish about their abundance and refuses to move the guinea pig cage that is covered in them. The beetles emit a white liquid to ward off predators, amazingly the CSIRO have discovered the same beetle juice has anti-cancer and antibiotic properties that may be synthesised for our benefit. 

 The little Bowerbird is not the slightest bit fazed by beetles.

Nor fashion, a look entirely her own.

 Nor dead things.

The Little Bowerbird visited this poor Blackbird daily until we buried it. I'm not sure what killed it. Death takes a lot of observance to get your head around, she studied the bird closely, even poking it with a stick.  I remember the other two being similarly fascinated by dead things at this age. Always asking me to stop on walks so they could study decaying creatures, wanting to know what had happened. Almost 40, I am still getting my head around death, it's just so ridiculously final, perhaps there is something to be gained from looking at it up close.

 

 Then there is life, the summer vegies are being planted, a new cycle begins. The little Bowerbird and I were having a pause in the garden, watching ants disappear and re-emerge from this hole, some hold little seeds in their jaws, some have wings.

 Our neighbour's cat comes to visit, strutting about with an air of ownership, prowling for his next feast. He has been a daily visitor since the arrival of an exuberant puppy at his home.

"Mummy mummy look what I found" pipes the little Bowerbird.

 A wriggling tail twitches wildly in her hand. "Put it down, put it down", I say a little too loudly.  It is my turn to be squeamish. She has caught me off guard with this offering of something to delight in. The cat has been hunting skinks and forced one to use their death defying, drop the tail and run trick. Of course it is fascinating, and there is no harm in holding the tail. I try and soothe the look of anxiety from my little ones face.  Anxiety is not a good thing to share, and I calm my nerves and we talk about lizard tails. She pats the tail and feels its shiny scales. I explain the lizard has probably survived and will grow a new tail. She leaves it near the ants nest where it will be quickly found and used to sustain their rapidly increasing population.

Life goes on.

Do lizard tails make you squeamish?

All Creatures Great and Small

The big kids climbed a mountain with their dad today, mum had the sniffles so she and little Bowerbird stayed behind. The big Bowerbird kids are great walkers and did an excellent job hiking up Mount Macedon, it helped that they had the company of friends to spur them along.  My lovely vegie group friends now have a once a month walk added to  our list of things to do together, I was sorry to miss the first walk although did a little bit of the start and shared the BBQ at the end.  The wild flowers are amazing this year, perhaps the wet winter, kind spring? In just a few short metres we saw Bearded Orchids, Milk Maids, Yam Daisies, Chocolate Lilies, Sun Orchids, Waxlip Orchids, Sundews, Paper Daisies...... I could keep rambling - shame I forgot the camera.


The big kids were feeling pretty exhausted by the afternoon and were after some TV time, but I managed to distract them with this activity.

A day at the races - take 3 beetles and four snails, draw two circles, watch and see what happens.

The beetles played dead for ages, as did one snail. One beetle disappeared down a crack, only to return later on. Little one kept putting obstacles in their way and they had to navigate the mass of fallen Wisteria blooms. Was pretty funny when a snail hitched a ride on a beetle.  Middle one told me that two of the snails were mating when they teamed up, I said I didn't think so and he offered to go and get the book from his library that talks of such things.

 

A great relaxing afternoon activity!  Middle Bowerbird won both races with his champion snail and beetle.

 I remembered to pick some flowers from my garden today, such a joy on the kitchen table. I just love poppies, each plant is a little mystery until those curiously shaped buds unfurl.

 We have some tiny new friends at our house.

A few months ago my friend gave me a bag of acorns for a seed/art project I am working on.  These seeds were placed in a big glass jar and put on display last week.  Little eyes were peering at our huge seed display when one pointed out that our jar had little critters in it.  At first I thought they were stick insects but they are actually baby Praying Mantis.  the eggs had stayed dormant in their acorn in a brown paper bag through the cooler months and had only emerged with the warmer weather - much to our surprise and delight.

image source http://www.raymondcostello.com/html/praying_mantis.html

These tiny guys are better than television, they are stalking aphids and sussing each other out, they can be cannibalistic so we are finding them new homes to separate them, in the mean time we squeal whenever they get close to each other.

Sadly we had room in our terrarium as this little caterpillar had passed away, we've been watching him for the last couple of weeks. 

 

 This is the face the little one pulls when she doesn't get her way.  She didn't want to let go of her little pet but I was worried he might have been getting too much love. I saw the exact same caterpillar today on the same plant I found this one on - a native bush pea that it blends in beautifully with.

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