Nature's Marital Bliss

The other day the wife and I were headed out and my wife noticed that an unusual creature was attached to the side of my SUV. After a closer inspection by the chief bug inspector and that would be me, I discovered it was a Praying Mantis with a Stick Bug attached to its back. I thought, how odd. Why would a Stick Bug mess with a fierce Praying Mantis? The Praying Mantis is a major predator of the insect world and will even try to capture Hummingbirds. I guess the Stick Bug must have told his buddy’s--“Hey y’all watch this.” 

Now what does this have to do with marital bliss? Well, I was so intrigued by this occurrence that I had to do some research and WHAT I FOUND WAS DISTURBING. Unfortunately, the Stick Bug is not a Stick Bug at all. It’s a male Praying Mantis. Now men, the next sentence is unsetting and you may prefer not to read. My research on the net indicates that the Female Praying Mantis will often eat the head off the Male Praying Mantis during or after mating. Wow, what a honeymoon. Could this be the same as the smoke after? Talk about a dead beat dad.

Scientist are not sure why this happens and what the advantages are for this insect. But dang, I’m glad that I am not a male Praying Mantis, one and done! Thoughts?


Find out what’s in your woods, river, lake, or bay. Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

A message from Mother Nature?

Driving near my home I spotted this interesting sight brought to you by Mother Nature. I just had to add the  nursery rhyme for humor, but I am no Mother Goose!  

I think I can!

I think I can!

I think I can!

I think I can!

I DID!

As you can see from these photo's the bush traveled inside the yellow pipe, all the way up to the top  and spouted. This bush was pretty dang determined. Notice that it reached an elevation much higher than it's peers. Could this be a message from Mother Nature? If so,  Mother Nature could be saying that with a little determination one can reach places that one would never expect. Just think if you were as determined as the little bush that could.


What's in your woods,river, lake or bay? Get up, get out and you may find something interesting!

Baitrageous Cartoons

Oh No, A little of my creativity had to get out known as Baitrageous. It's all about the life of bait etc... as in human humor terms. I hope you enjoy. He He! 

Hope you enjoyed the bait humor and remember: What's in your woods, river, lake or bay? Get your bait up and go find out!

What's in a hole? I Know!

This is not a fairy tale like Alice in Wonderland and I am not Johnny Depp, but I do know "What's in a hole. Have you ever been walking in the woods and see holes in the ground? You may wonder: What lives in those holes? Well, I set out on an adventure to find out. I set-up my motion detector camera near an activity hole in the woods to see if I could capture a photo of a neighbor, so to speak. Here are the photos captured by Critter Cam.  

Believe it or not it's a Raccoon. I put the pictures in sequence. In some pictures you see him or her easily, however in a few he is wondering around in the background. Now you know "What's in the hole!" 

What's in your woods, river, lake, or bay. Get up and get out!

What’s in a Hole?

Have you ever been walking around in a field or woods and KA-POW you trip in a hole? Yep, I have and it’s not fun. The first thing on your mind is—WHAT THE……. Then you realize that you’re in a deep, dark hole and there might be something in it that can bite. Hopefully it’s only your foot and not your leg or even worse, your whole body that falls in. Now this is not a fairy tale like Alice in Wonderland and I am not Johnny Depp, but your mind does go crazy for a second when you fall in. This got me to thinking “What’s in a hole?”  So, I set out on an adventure to find out “What is in a hole”. 

Obviously there are more holes in the country than the city, right? In the Ten Acre Woods where I live, there are lots of holes, but I wanted the perfect hole with a creature living in it. After a long search over the Tennessee hills and in the hollows, I found the ideal hole. You may or may not ask—what is the ideal hole? Simple, it’s big and there are signs of activity around the opening. I know, I know, you think I’m crazy but come on you’ve looked at a hole before and wondered what’s in there, right.  

How do you take a photo of the animal in a hole? It’s a job for “Critter Cam” (CC) my motion detection camera. I set up CC near the hole, turned it on, and waited. Hopefully in the next few days we will know “What’s in the Hole”. I have added a “What’s in the Hole” list of possible animals on the left side of this page.  PLEASE TAKE A GUESS and let’s see who’s a master of the domain. I told wifery that I might sell t-shirts that say “Ask me what’s in the hole” but she said NO! NO! And Oh NO! Hey, you just don’t get this stuff on Nat Geo or Animal Plant only here at OFS. Stay tuned for……………

REALLY SICK CAT UP-DATE- Our cat with Bobcat tick disease (See past post for full story) seems to be doing better? He is eating and drinking water. We have seen him cleaning himself, rolling on the ground, and chasing a butterfly, all good signs but he is not out of the woods. Unfortunately,  we think our other outdoor cat has likely succumbed to this disease because we haven’t seen her in 3 weeks. RIP Keeble! Also we have two indoor cats that are loved by our teens. Currently, they do not have the disease. I can say that if these cats got the disease, it would be a very sad place around here. Wish us luck! 

    

Who brings 100 pairs of shoes to a wilderness?

Why do you bring 100 pairs of shoes on a trip, a trip to a 13,000 acre wilderness on the Cumberland Plateau? 

Before I attempt to answer this question, let’s take a look around this wilderness. 

It has mountains that overlook the beautiful Tennessee country side.

There’s much wildlife that roams the domain.

Lakes, creeks and many miles of trails honeycomb this wilderness.


So who would bring so many shoes to the wilderness? It’s obviously a female and you know how y'all are. It’s my daughter. She is going off to college and we delivered her to Sewanee: The University of the South. The college is located in Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau in the middle of 13,000 acres of a natural paradise. Here she is headed to lunch and a few other pictures.

I have no answer to why she is bringing 100 pairs of shoes. I do remember once that my wife brought 8 pairs of shoes for a two day trip. This calculates to 4 pair of shoes per day. Callie will be there 240 days which calculates to much less than 1 pair of shoes per day. Wow, this makes me feel better. Just think it could have been worse (240 days X 4 pair per day = 960 pair). Anyway, we got to adventure a bit on the 13,000 acre domain and I must say, it is very beautiful and can’t wait until fall rolls around.


CAT UPDATE: Our cat with “Bobcat tick disease” is doing OK right now. We are giving him an herb medicine that has shown some success against this dreadful disease. Only 3% of all cats live without any medication and only 25%-30% with medication.

It's not a Coyote!

It’s been a very busy week. We moved our 18 year old into Sewanee: The University of the South this weekend where she will be freshmen. I haven’t been able to report on our cat since the Vet visit. The problem turns out to be a Bobcat so to speak. Not a direct attack by a Bobcat but a disease from a Bobcat called “Bobcat tick disease” Cytauxzoon Felis.  It is identified as a blood parasite found in Bobcats in the south but moving north and west. The Bobcat is unaffected by the disease. A tick transfers the disease to the domestic cat (This disease doesn’t affect humans, thank God).  Domestic cats infected with the disease tend to lose liver function within a few days and become jaundiced, losing color in the gums and nose. The vast majority die in one week. This is a very difficult disease to treat. The Vet indicated that there are no standard treatments and the cat is likely to die. We are not sure what our next step will be with Creamy, but we are researching treatment. 

What fly's do in their spare time!

WHITE COYOTE POST UP-DATE-- The cat has come back after missing for 7 days. Headed to the vet. Update later.