That's a cockroach, dreadmeat.

I'm a fucking mantis breeder, but I enjoy all sorts of bugs. I'd want to touch the top of that giant fuzzy beetle to see if it was soft fuzz and not bristly fuzz like on a wooly bear caterpillar.

The story about the "cricket slick" is true in Florida where Eastern Lubber grasshoppers are so numerous that some roads get covered with them that are squished from moving cars.

Speaking of Eastern Lubbers - I've kept those as pets before. Love them! I'm earnestly going to try to get more this year... perhaps other lubbers like Horse Lubbers or Plains Lubbers.

I was in Georgia about two weeks ago and while it was snowing back home in Pennsylvania, it was warm enough that I could go outside and catch grasshoppers. Among the ones I found include:


Beautiful hoppers, they are Schistocerca americana - in the same genus as the infamous Desert Locust (S. gregaria) that is mentioned in the Bible. I found two of them!

i'll take some mantis photos next time they are 'in season' here and post them
it did look like a cockroach, a big fucker

Its a blessing. I have never seen one of these guys go above the first floor (I sleep on the second). I live in a place with an unfinished basement so its damp, and cool, which seems to fit their needs.

It's not often, but sometimes I hear about mantis hobbyists raising one of these:



That's an Orthodera novaezealandiae - from the scientific name, you can guess where this bug is from. Somewhat a standard looking mantis, except for the very rectangular pronotum and angular eyes. Small species.

You would think in New Zealand there would be a mantis species large enough to take down a Weta. There isn't though.

However, Plistospilota guineensis is probably large enough. This is one of the largest mantises in terms of mass - there are mantises that are longer, but are skinny stick-like mantises.

Brunneria borealis is a good example - these girls can get up to 5 or 6 inches long. They are really stick-like though, their camouflage is actually to resemble blades of grass. Interesting side fact: There are no known sightings of a male Brunneria borealis, this species is entirely female and parthenogenetic.

Just outta curiosity Goatfangs..... Do you name your mantises?

Some awesome stuff here, but damn, that Whip Spider thing. Looks like a Koschey from The Witcher. Pretty badass.

Yes. Not quite as often nowadays but I'll probably look into doing so.

It's tricky since for most of my mantises at the stage they are at, I don't know their gender. When they get older it's easier to tell, there's also a solid rule about abdominal segments (Males have 8, females have 6) that one can tell the gender of even at first instar.

When I had large amounts of baby mantises, sometimes I marked the tops of their container with Greek letters. That's handy to keep track of molting schedules, though I don't rely on molting schedules as much anymore since I know what to look for in behavior and physical appearance (A mantis's abdomen will remain fat if they are approaching a molt, while if they are still in the early days of their instar that abdomen will shrink in the day or two after feeding them)

I have a Sibylla pretiosa that just molted to what I'm guessing is third instar. I correctly deduced it was going to molt by its behavior around fruit flies - it completely ignored them. Mantises don't usually do that. I put this mantis in a sort of observational spot where I can easily check on them without disturbing them - sure enough this mantis molted just a couple hours ago. A Texas Unicorn mantis molted yesterday. I'm expecting an Orchid mantis female to molt within the week.

ok dudes, today i thought i was taking a photo of one harrier hawk but in fact there were TWO!?
one is not that common but seeing two is a first for me, i used to live on a farm and we'd only ever see one at a time

here are some shitty photos, i won't subject you to the awful video
although i did get a video a few weeks ago of a different hawk, or at least in a different place

these things are about the size of a small chicken and their wingspan is about a metre
they are hard core, have no competition, will destroy any other bird anywhere near them [like wood pigeons] and will easily grab a rabbit, they are that big.
the only birds i've ever seen harass or attack them are magpies and tui, tui are very aggressive and often have spectacular dogfights
oddly enough both magpies and tui are black and white

anyway, get squinting...

I came upon a friendly Fantail today, video below
edit: video exploded

Finally a Skink came inside today [just now] I took some photos and a video, I'll upload them soon

I love skinks! We sell blue tongued skinks at the pet store where I work and I really want one. I want either a skink, a bearded dragon, or a ball python. But the skinks are just awesome.

While I was recording, a crow called in time to the long delay on my guitar. It was direct in, so the caw didn't get recorded.

Look at this cute little fella!

I've come across a fox couple of times, one time I was driving home and a fox crossed the road in front of me

Chuffed with this pic, taken in pitch dark, had to hope I was pointing the (phone) camera in the right direction and that it would refocus quickly enough when the flash went off. Newt on a canal path.



This unusual ladybird flew into my kitchen.



Trying to get a good pic of a dragonfly, when this monster landed on a plant right next to me.



Cutest froglet ever.

So my friends and I took a few shots of scotch, got some chewing tobacco and decided to mess around in the forest. It's a cool spot, there's all these antique stuff from the 70s someone dumped there. We go farther in and a huge stream of dear run past us, there must have been at least ten of them. Never been so close to that many deer before. My friend says he saw a whole bunch of wild turkey near the same spot a few days ago.

I live in Denmark, and needless to say we have next to no fancy animals at all. The only animal that even comes close to being deadly is a small viper snake that could maybe kill an infant. Maybe. It's kind of a big deal if you spot a squirrel, mouse or hawk. That said, the wolf has reintroduced itself to your country! That's pretty cool.

Recently they spotted a puma in my city. It's surprising how many wild animals, like monkeys, maned wolves, pumas and so on are still found here despite the fact that it's a very urbanized region.