Dolittle's Domain

Archive for September, 2009

Molting Spider

I was checking out my morning glories when I happened to spot a green lynx spider. At first I thought I was seeing the result of a nasty spider fight, but I was so very wrong. The whole scene is difficult to spot because almost everything in the photo is some shade of green, but the newly emerged spider is hanging from her shed.

Momma and Fawns

Every year we watch until the local momma deer expose their newborn fawns to the outside world. There are several doe mothering fawns not too far from the back of the house. We believe they give birth inside the pasture among the trees where dogs and coyotes can’t enter. Normally in the evening hours, when momma needs a drink, is when we first see the fawns. They will pass through a grassy lane to reach a fresh water spring. Of course the tall grass may tempt them to stop and dine. There are two fawns in the photo hidden in the grass. The trio is approximately 50 feet from where I stood taking photos.

Modern Fossil

In our modern “concrete all” world, sometimes something odd is left in the wake. I found this modern fossil in a parking lot. It must have been a rather large bug. The antennae and legs are clearly visible, as are veins in its wings and the abdomen segments. I find things like this fascinating.

Invisible fence

Chickens can be such a hoot. We incubated several eggs this last spring and the developing chicks have been a constant source of entertainment. Once outside, we had a fence between them and the older chickens to protect the chicks. The term “pecking order” didn’t just fall out of the sky; it is used to describe how chickens interact with each other. There are the bosses; there are meek hiders, and there is every personality between. Until the chicks grew large enough to fend for themselves they would have automatically been pushed around by the older chickens, so we couldn’t let the two groups mix. The day when the chicks were big enough finally came.

We removed the fence that separated the youngsters from the general flock and the fun started. The older group marched right in to the newly opened area, checked it out and finding nothing of interest, left. The youngsters on the other hand, walked up to where the fence had been, and stopped. They refused to go any farther. Gee, did we inadvertently leave an invisible fence there? For days the youngsters approached the nonexistent barrier, craning their necks to look over something that was no longer there. One gutsy little pullet finally hopped what really wasn’t there, made a lap around the big pen, and shot right back to her safety zone. Everybody came running over to check her out. Seeing that she survived, some others made the same lap and the invisible fence disappeared.