Walking Stick Dead

I spent a full five minutes last night watching a walking stick travel one inch and capture a juicy moth for dinner.

He's (?) been living on the screen inside my window for the past 2 months or so.  This window is right beside a bright lamp I turn on at night when I watch tv.  I've come to feel the responsibility of watching enough tv to make sure my walking stick is fed.  (Sentences you never saw coming...)  Because, of course, that moth was there, along with the couple dozen others, because of the bright light.

He doesn't have a smorgasbord, though, because the moths tend to land on the window, and he's on the screen - a full 2 inches away.  So he waits for one to land on the screen near him.  Normally, he's totally   still, with his front legs straight out in front of him (unlike in the pic above).

To capture his dinner, just the top 1/8th inch of his legs were curved under.  (His whole body is only 2 inches long.)  Then, he doesn't creep, like I would expect him to do. Instead, he wobbles.  Seriously- it looked like he was totally drunk.  Wobble wobble- one leg takes a tiny stop.  Wobble wobble - another leg takes a tiny step.  He kept this up, never deviating in pace of wobbles, until his front legs were over the moth (who never seemed to notice his wobbling predator approaching).  Then he lightningly fast grabbed the moth with his already curved front legs, using almost all his legs to wrap around the moth.  It looked like he was squeezing tighter and tighter, like a python would, but I'm not sure.

I'm also just assuming he ate it after that... I didn't stay to watch.  After all, I had more tv to watch.

Smut on corn scat

In January, when I saw my first foxes (see previous post), I was leaning over this, when I heard them yipping:

My backstory:  a neighbor put corn out to feed/entice deer to their backyard.  The deer - or someone - ate the corn, and then pooped the corn out again.  Or maybe even threw it up.  Spores land and grow, then I come along and say "wow", then hear yipping and say "wow" again.

First Hummingbird Siting

First hummingbird siting in my yard this year.  Or rather, first hummingbird hearing.  I've had the feeder   up for a month because Nancy, on the other side of the preserve, saw them in her yard a month ago.  But this morning, the first one showed up in my yard.  I was working just a few feet from the feeder.  And as Mr. H swooped in, he was loud and startled me.  I let out a little woop, and startled him right off.  I hope he comes back and enjoys my pure cane sugar.