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Tag Archives: nature

Popular Puddle

There’s really been a flurry of activity around my puddle lately.

First the tadpoles, then the toadies, then those mysterious tracks that I told you about yesterday. You know, the evidence of those strange creatures that took off with my puddle.

So today when we got to my puddle it had come back. Well, at least part of it was back.

I was so excited!

And you know what my person did? She tied me up again.

What now? The tadpoles are gone, and most of the toadies have hopped away.

Yeah, I know there’s still a few toadies around. I won’t step on them. I promise.

But today there was someone else near my puddle.

Butterflies!

And not just any butterflies. We had come across the Arizona state butterfly – the Two-tailed Swallowtail.

And those butterflies seemed to be getting pretty cozy.

Something strange was happening.

I wanted to go home and get my Nature Dog hat so I could investigate – but being tied up put a cramp in my style.

My person says these butterflies are supposed to lay single eggs on plants, but one of these butterflies seemed to be laying bunches of eggs in a mud hole.

I guess the other butterfly thought it strange too.

He started dancing around. Maybe he was nervous.

But I think that butterfly beat around the bush – I mean around my puddle – a little too long.

Because the competition showed up.

And now that my puddle has a butterfly party going on in it, I’m just wondering one thing.

Am I ever going to get to play in my puddle again?

31 Comments

Posted by Bongo on August 9, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Arizona, butterfly, nature, Pets, Photography, Puddle, Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly

Acorns and Insects

02 Aug

You want me to put on my Nature Dog hat again? Already?

I think I’ll just stand by this bush instead.

This looks natury enough for a nature talk. Okay, here goes.

We don’t have oak trees on my trails, but we do have acorns.

They grow on these bushes called Scrub Oaks.

I took my person for a walk in the wash today and the scrub oaks along the wash have more acorns on them than other scrub oaks on my trails. I guess because they get more water.

My person thinks those acorns are pretty. I kind of wish she didn’t because she keeps stopping to take pictures of them.

But acorns aren’t the only things these scrub oaks have.

Somebody must think they needed more decoration so they hung some ornaments on the leaves.

These things hanging on the leaves are called galls.

I think it’s kind of an ugly name for something so pretty.

I don’t know what the official name of this one is, but I’m calling it a peppermint gall.

These galls are made by insects that either hang out on the plant or lay their eggs there and cause the plant to grow over them. Then those insects hang out in their nice, cozy home until they’re ready to poke their little heads out and see what’s out there. They bore little holes in the galls to get out.

This next gall probably explains why they’ve got that name. There are more of these than any other kind on the scrub oaks on my trails.

I call these galls Ugly Galls.

I sure hope I never see one of the bugs that lives in there.

24 Comments

Posted by Bongo on August 2, 2013 in Bongo, dogs, humor

Tags: Acorn, Gall, insect gall, nature, Pets, Photography, scrub oak

Time for a New Hat

01 Aug

I’m putting on a new hat today. This is my Nature Dog Hat so I can tell you about nature on my trails. But this post comes with a warning.

Warning: This post is about spiders and insects. If you’re squeamish (what’s that word?) don’t scroll down to the picture at the end.

It’s really hard to get a picture of these bugs, but we found one walking along on the ground – right in my yard.

Normally they buzz right by us. Buzzing is right. They make a loud buzz when they fly by, and you get a glimpse of black and orange. Maybe they should be called Halloween bugs. Those are the official Halloween colors, aren’t they?

Once you hear what these bugs do, you’ll realize they fit right into that holiday. These bugs are mean.

They’re called tarantula hawks. They like tarantulas, but the feeling isn’t mutual.

You see, these hawk things – which are really wasps, look for tarantulas and when they find one they poke it with their stinger.

That tarantula plops over as if it’s dead, but it’s really only paralyzed.

Then that nasty tarantula hawk lays one single egg on the tarantula and buries the tarantula. When the egg hatches that nasty baby eats the tarantula, while keeping it alive as long as possible by saving the vital organs for dessert.

Then it flies away to do the same thing all over again with another poor, unsuspecting tarantula.

The tarantulas are starting to come out now. My person just saw the first one of the season.