REMARKS ON THE
THREE SPECIES
OF MOST INTEREST TO BOB:
The life form I consider to be the most interesting may surprise
some who consider it to be a common insect; but the fact is the PRAYING MANTIS
is the only one I have ever seen, and the sighting came quite unexpectedly. I was about to
feed my horse, and I broke open a bale of fairly recently cut hay. Out popped the mantis!
Considering the pale green color, and where I live, I am guessing that it was a California
praying mantis, although there is no way to verify that now. I picked it up and carried it
over to my garden area where I released it. I have never seen it or another like it since.
Number 2 on my list of interesting creatures is the CHIPMUNK,
strictly because of something I learned while compiling this list and looking up the
scientific names of species. Chipmunks are a dime a dozen around here, and I had always
just assumed that a chipmunk was a chipmunk. It turns out there are 13 different species
of chipmunk in California. Fortunately the different species are found mostly in their own
geographic area. Where I live, both the Allen’s chipmunk and the Siskiyou Chipmunk
are likely to be found. Differences are subtle, and it would probably take a true expert
to separate them, and would likely be impossible in the field.
For number 3 I really have to combine 2 different birds, the ACORN
WOODPECKER and the HAIRY WOODPECKER. What is interesting to me
is that these birds will eat seeds or grain, an interesting discovery that I was unaware
of. At least they will during tough times of especially hard winters. I have a small flock
of free ranging chickens, and when the snow lays deep on the ground I scatter scratch feed
under the eves of the house where the ground is bare. The chickens gobble it up, but there
is always plenty left for the wild birds that appreciate the handout, and I have a
ringside view through the sliding glass doors of my diningroom. During one hard winter,
when the snow just would not go away, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers and a pair of Acorn
Woodpeckers were daily visitors, right along with the usual assortment of birds that one
would normally associate with seed and grain. |
