My eldest headed out to the woods to check the trail cam, which I really appreciated since I can’t safely walk the uneven ground in my boot. We had some interesting pictures this time; what appears to be a very pregnant, or very fat opossum, deer legs, and possibly the tail end of a bobcat.

Maybe we should move the camera back a bit. Ha.

We set one of the pumpkins out in the back woods, with some holes carved for wildlife access, then setup the trail cam to see if any thing came to eat the pumpkin. I sort of forgot about checking it for awhile and when I did go out, I found the camera knocked over lens down, and the pumpkin whole, but all the seeds gone.

I checked the memory card and there was only one photo of a critter. I believe this is a picture of the back of a raccoon headed toward the pumpkin. Or maybe a possum, but it would be one of the big possums. Maybe the beastie took exception to having pictures taken, or was looking for more seeds when it knocked the camera over. Bummer.

Well hello there little guy. I don’t suppose I will have occasion to get a picture from this angle very often, so I’m going to snap a shot, OK? Then I’m giving you warning that I’m opening the door to let the dogs out. Don’t run towards the door jam, it is squished death for spiders and geckos, but I promise I will check before I close the door since you were so kind as to let me capture your image this morning. Nice eyelashes, by the way. Very chic.

I was working in the garage when what I thought was a yellow jacket darted in front of me. My first move was to step calmly from the garage to let the insect get out, but it didn’t get out. It hovered midair, turning to keep its eyes locked on me. Hm. That is not yellow jacket behavior. So I circled it, and watched it pivot to continue to face me, round and round. My phone camera wouldn’t focus on the (relatively) small body, and I wasn’t moving closer without ID. It finally ran out of energy and settled down briefly. iNaturalist told me it was a Giant Flower Fly, and another user further classified it as a Virginia Giant. It uses its coloration to capitalize on the fear inspired by yellow jackets. It also does quite an effective job at intimidation with the bold stare and mid-flight menace. Eventually it left the area; I can assure you that there are no delectable flowers in the garage, so it was best that it moved on. But at least I don’t have to search the garage for a nest.

We have one delivery person who puts our packages on the ground inside our fence rather than on our front porch. My youngest picked up the package and we saw that it had a passenger; a very irate passenger that did not at all like having its picture taken. Since no one was willing to open the package with its tiny defender, I took it and offered escape. The preying mantis was very willing and eager to leave the package and walk back to the fence. Much different than the beetles and geckos we release only to find they don’t want to leave the stick or hand.