Click any photo to enlarge

Friday, September 22, 2017

No country for carelessness

Would you believe I saw a Regal Ringneck Snake and didn't have my camera on me. Grrr!

Today I was chasing a butterfly and forgot about the big ant hill of black ants in an area where I walk frequently. I must have stood on the hill because in an instant I was being stung simultaneously by the demons. They were all over my jeans and feet. I laid my camera down and came out of my jeans in record time. But the damage was done. I was on fire, beside myself in pain. Only after an hour was I able to stand the pain without four ice packs.Way worse than anything I'd been bitten by before. And that includes scorpions and a brown recluse. I had thought about putting Amdro on that ant den for some time, just never bothered. Always stepped over or around it before. Lesson learned.

Here's a pair of bugs.


And a caterpillar


And I think a different species of katydid than I've seen before, but not sure.


My plans for road work have hit a snag. I had wanted the road wider on top of the hill and the resulting dirt moved to the road at the bottom of the hill. The contractor can't move it down with a dozer and my husband said it would be too much dirt for him to carry down the hill with his bobcat. So back to the drawing board. Hugh had previously told me he'd move the dirt down, but he apparently didn't understand how much dirt would be involved. I don't dare hire the contractor to dig up the dirt if I don't have a way to put it where I want it. A huge pile of dirt left on the road, or beside the road, would be worse than what I have now. May just have Hugh clean the fallen rocks off the hill and patch the holes in the road with cement. That's not how I want it, but seems the only option at this time. If I spend big money on the road I expect to end up with more than a pile of dirt to show for it. Hugh's going to come down in the morning and look at it. (And tell me what he'll do and what he won't do and how he'll do it and how he won't do it, etc.)

2 comments:

  1. Hey, dear friend, be careful when around ants. : 0
    The red and blue "bugs" copulating are long-horned wood-boring beetles. They really are beautiful. I'm a fan of beetles. Jenni and I are spending a month in Maine on Mount Desert Island (Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park). Today, I participated in the Cadillac Mtn. hawk watch and Jenni hiked a couple of mountains. We are hear house sitting for a friend.
    Stay safe.
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. It's been 4 hrs since I was attacked by the ants and I'm still on fire. Never had anything like it before.

    ReplyDelete