creatures from around the yard

[Smiling JOe]

The Lubbers are welcome to eat all of the grass, weeds, ivy, briars, fallen leaves in my yard, that they want. There is plenty to go around.

 

[organicmama]

Mom's can do things like that, can't they?

SJ, did you ever see the grasshopper-thingies over near Prince Ave in Athens? We had a yard full of them on Nantahala Ave... they were black with red stripes/spots, I think. Someone said they were an experiment gone bad and let loose on that side of town.... All I know is that if you went out the door, they would come for you, hopping straight towards you! I never got to enjoy the outdoors at that house!

SJ, that is so cool. I'm glad he was at your house, not mine, because I might have freaked. Very neat.

And don't get me started on lubber grasshoppers, aka "Georgia Thumpers." I could write a book. They will gnaw anything you have planted, especially young plants with tender shoots, right down to the roots.

One appropriate story...one of my brothers grew up to have a successful career in the USAF/NSA and has a second successful career in whatever it is he does (can't tell us or he would have to shoot us). As a young boy, he would sit cross-legged on the ground and talk to a snake. At the same time, he was absolutely terrified of the Georgia Thumpers, especially when they would hatch and totally cover tall weeds. He'd start crying "Overhoppers! Overhoppers!" and my mom would have to pick him up and carry him.

Thirty-something years later, the guys in the dark suits are interviewing all the family in preparation for my brother's security clearance, and my mother TELLS THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY that he is afraid of grasshoppers.

 

[Smiling JOe]

OM, never saw those, but I was once walking through Virginia and came upon a stretch of a few hundred feet where they grasshoppers filled the path, and as I approached, like a wave, they hopped out of the path, like the parting of the sea. It was eerily cool, just the sound they made as they hopped out of the way, only one step away from getting squashed.

 

[Will B]

Thanks for the pics, SJ!

We had a legless lizard that our neighbors called a skank, sitting right in front of our front door. Of course, we (who are still fairly new) freaked out & thought it was a little snake. Thank goodness for the neighbors who set Mr. OM straight on that one, while having a good laugh at us!

I've know several women who may have earned the title of "skank"! I think you meant to say skink!

 

[Smiling JOe]

If she was in the South, she probably heard the southern draw, sounding like skank. I think all of the Skinks have legs, don't they?

 

[organicmama]

If she was in the South, she probably heard the southern draw, sounding like skank. I think all of the Skinks have legs, don't they?

Yep, they said skank, which made us laugh because of the other meaning of it. Our neighbor is quite Southern. This didn't have legs but it wasn't a snake.

 

[organicmama]

OM, never saw those, but I was once walking through Virginia and came upon a stretch of a few hundred feet where they grasshoppers filled the path, and as I approached, like a wave, they hopped out of the path, like the parting of the sea. It was eerily cool, just the sound they made as they hopped out of the way, only one step away from getting squashed.

That does sound cool. These wouldn't hop away, they'd hop towards you. I was so excited about living in Normaltown and then got a yard full of freakish bugs!!!!!:rofl: Oh yeah, and the drummer for Five-Eight living next door to us.

 

[chrisv]

Nice pic. Did you get a Nikon?

 

[NotDeadYet]

SJ, do you have any carpenter bees? I am fascinated with these bees. Last spring I had one nest and this year I have several. It's amazing what they do, the holes in my fence posts are perfectly round, looks like they were professionally drilled.

 

[GoodWitch58]

SJ, that is so cool. I'm glad he was at your house, not mine, because I might have freaked. Very neat.

And don't get me started on lubber grasshoppers, aka "Georgia Thumpers." I could write a book. They will gnaw anything you have planted, especially young plants with tender shoots, right down to the roots.

One appropriate story...one of my brothers grew up to have a successful career in the USAF/NSA and has a second successful career in whatever it is he does (can't tell us or he would have to shoot us). As a young boy, he would sit cross-legged on the ground and talk to a snake. At the same time, he was absolutely terrified of the Georgia Thumpers, especially when they would hatch and totally cover tall weeds. He'd start crying "Overhoppers! Overhoppers!" and my mom would have to pick him up and carry him.

Thirty-something years later, the guys in the dark suits are interviewing all the family in preparation for my brother's security clearance, and my mother TELLS THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY that he is afraid of grasshoppers.

Thank you, Thank you, for my first full laugh of the day! I love this story.