Super cool! I swear I saw one on a flight of steps in Les Eyzies (yes, that Les Eyzies), France several years ago. Only time, ever. For some reason - god knows why - I didn’t take a photo.
j
mante religieuse!
I like praying mantises so much that when I saw aphids on my rosebush, my first reaction was happiness that the praying mantises and ladybugs will be more willing to hang out in my yard.
There was the biggest spiderweb I’ve ever seen between my gazebo roof and a tree about six feet away yesterday, but I didn’t get out there with the good camera until today (my phone camera just couldn’t deal with the sun/shadow conditions and the transparency), and the high winds last night had blown most of it down. It couldn’t have been up there for more than a day or two, either, since I walk through that space all the time. I’ve seen the spider that must have woven it; it’s a fairly large, reddish-brown orb weaver, but it is very alert and I haven’t been able to get a photo before it hides.
Praying mantises are very rare in these parts, but possible. It would be a special sight for sure.
My husband asked if I’d seen all the flowers by the barn; I didn’t know what he was talking about. Turns out, we have a ton of morning glories out there, but I never saw them because he does the barn chores in the morning and I go at night!
A Wildlife Rehabilitation Center uses our land for some releases. Last year they released a bunch of squirrels. Yesterday it was seven opossums. Very cute!
The releaser was present for the squirrel release, and knew the precise spot that the opossums should go. They were in three cardboard boxes. We placed the boxes and put some food there. Then we opened the little doors and left.
A few hours later we went back to check, and the boxes were empty and some food was gone. There is a creek and a big crabapple tree there. I think they’ll be very happy.
That’s the coolest thing ever.
We love it. Also, it’s cool that there are rehabbers willing to drive an hour or more for some squirrels or opossums. We always serve the rehabber some snacks and beverages.
The one squirrel guy (he’s actually a PhD candidate) has come back out twice with a blind to observe the squirrels. When we told him about the flying squirrels living in our attic he was like a kid on xmas morning.
Mantises are very cool. They look like miniature alien monsters, in a good way. I spot them in our backyard every couple of years.
A Yellow Jacket. … … Hey, I live in an urban environment, that’s the best I could do. 
That is so fantastic. Good luck in your new home, Opossums!
I should also take a pause to say, super cool @kayaker , great work!
And then for myself - hello from Crete, BTW - well, not so much to report. Watching fish in the fabulously clear Mediterranean. I was hoping for a zillion lizards but I’ve seen only the one - thrown in the air by one of the million or so feral cats that live here. I had polite but stern words with the cat in question and they left at speed. So today I saw and maybe saved a lizard. That’s ok.
Tomorrow the Myli gorge. I will report back.
j
I saw a dear and rabbit hanging out together in a heard this morning. I did not see a skunk.
Yesterday we drove to the top of Mount Umunhum, a peak on the peninsula separating San Francisco Bay from the Pacific ocean. It’s at the southern end of a coastal mountain range, and it’s a high peak which was used for radar and visual spotting purposes during World War II.
The drive up has plenty of pine trees and we saw dozens of tree squirrels, all of them black. Then, as we were driving through a thick pine grove, I saw a long, dark animal with a long tail bound across the road and disappear into the brush. It was bigger than a squirrel, but it wasn’t a feral cat. I knew it had to be something in the weasel family.
When we got home, I looked it up. It was a pine marten, and looking at its range, I see that this individual was living at the very southernmost tip of where pine martens can live. There were certainly squirrels enough to feed it, and pine groves to shelter it, on Mount Umunhum.
They’re pretty cute. I think they might even be cuter than otters, which are in the same family.
Adorable!
Guess who lives in this den!
Brand new inhabitant in our barn, near the horses in/out door to their pasture. To the left is a salt block and to the right is outside. About 14 inches wide.
Let me guess: Is it an echidna?
Heh, I wish. However, their range does not extend into western Pennsylvania.
I await further news of your new houseguest with interest. In the meantime… nature definitely has a way of playing tricks on you.
We’re in Crete right now. Been looking forward to going inland to Myli Gorge for a hike and catching up with some local critters. We didn’t score a lot but when we did it was in a big and ridiculous way.
The hike was great, with the calls of unfamiliar birds, and the local buzzards wheeling above. The strangest thing was hearing the buzzing trees: there is a climber, which seems to grow on a particular tree, and it’s in flower at the moment. Bees are absolutely crazy for it. As we walked along the trail we knew when we were approaching one of those trees because we could hear it before we could see it. Weird.
On the road by Agia Iriini monastery I saw a swallowtail butterfly, which was great.
Oh, and about a week after discussing them in this thread, we saw a praying mantis. Second time ever.
Where, Trep? Where did you see it? The gorge? The monastery?
Nope. It was sitting next to me on the bus when we got on board. Open topped bus, parked under a tree - I guess that’s how it works.
So, @kayaker , when we get home I’ll post a matching mantis picture.
j
Look forward to it! It is suddenly seasonally cold here
Betcha it’s a groundhog, like Chunk here.