Critters and Finds

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This handsome male wood roach I found on the scrubbing brush by the sink!

Also a quick PSA for those who believe the roach stigma: Just because it's a cockroach, it doesn't always mean it's a dirty pest that invades a filthy home!

There are thousands of species of cockroaches and there are only very few that colonize homes and spread disease!

Wood roaches, for instance, don't even want to be in your home. They just happen to wander in sometimes, but they're much happier and beneficial if you let them back outside for them to munch on decaying plant matter!

The roach in the pics was such a calm gentleman, too! All he did was sit there on my fingers while cleaning himself meticulously like the dapper fella he was.

Anyway, I let him back outside and he was just an awesome little fella.

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It's Monday, so I think this will be the day where I post pictures of Moths! Moth Monday!

Anyway, here's some pics of this gigantic silk moth I found at my grandparents' old property! It was so big, fluffy, and chill. I just adore these guys and I think you would, too!

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We have (at least) 3 little feral kittens that live in our shed! We've been feeding the mama (which I don't have any pictures of currently) and been slowly gaining her trust in us over time.

It was only fairly recently that we learned that she actually had kittens that are now about 4-5 weeks old and super rambunctious!

I make sure the mom is aware anytime I approach her or her kittens and she doesn't mind me getting close as long as I maintain a respectful distance. Letting the skittish and cautious babies approach me as close as they want without and respecting their space.

Cats are all about boundaries and respect, so I never try to sneak up or corner them and let them try to approach me. They still are cautious to approach within 5-10 feet away from me, but they have no issues playing amongst themselves when I'm around, so I think I'm making good progress!

The mama seems to have no problems either as long as she knows where I am, which I make evident by frequent talking and tongue clicks.

The little gray kitten is so spunky and adventurous, my absolute fave. One of the lil tuxedos is also pretty curious as long as the gray one is around. Then there's the second tuxedo baby that is a little more skittish than the rest, but I don't mind!

Anyway sorry for my lil rant, but when it comes to cats, who wouldn't try to ramble on about them?? Anyway, here's hoping that they'll warm up to me more and more with each time I visit. I'll try to snap a pic of the mom whenever I can and show her here as well.

Until then, enjoy the pics I managed to take of these little bouncy fuzzballs!

🐱✨

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This absolutely gorgeous American toad had a close encounter with the weed eater today. So after a quick inspection, I saw that it had absolutely zero knicks or lacerations, so I relocated it to a safer spot in my yard!

Heheh...... It looked like a lil hamburger... 🍔

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This absolutely gorgeous black swallowtail caterpillar looks just like Caterpie, doesn't it? 🤗

It was so soft and squishy I just had to pet it at least a couple of times, which made it stick out its osmeterium "horns" in a couple of shots.

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You like frogs? I like frogs. I found a bunch of them in my pool one summer. (Gray tree frogs)

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The first time I ever learned about the existence of the Rosy Maple Moth was me finding one in person at a gas station during a road trip and I couldn't be happier.

I mean look at this fluffy lil fella! How cute and pink!! 😍💖

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This little worm snake I found under a log! I even helped it shed since it was peeling off already, very satisfying.

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This chill katydid who totally katy-didn't spend all her time tasting my hand for about 10 minutes straight. 😛

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This absolute unit of a grasshopper I found last year. I LOVE the cool chevron pattern on its legs!

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A couple of birds I helped and checked out after they had a collision with a window. A song sparrow, and a red bellied woodpecker.

Both events happened at completely different times, probably a couple weeks apart, but both instances did happen in the winter.

The birds were completely fine and they survived!

They were just stunned and vulnerable for a bit, so I stayed with them until they were able to fly off on their own.

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This heckin' chonker of a toad. Look at how handsome he or she is! 🎩✨

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This flighty, but chill queen snake I found at my local creek!

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Check out this handsome male Eastern Fence Lizard. Love these little guys!

I catch them all the time, take photos, and then place them right back on their basking spots.

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A an overly dramatic Central Rat Snake I had to fish out of the cypress tree it jumped into when it saw me.

Took forever for me to have it move into a position where I could clearly grab it by the head so it couldn't get the chance to bite me (though that didn't stop it from trying)

Once caught, it thrashed and twisted around wildly and musked me a little but once it calmed down, it laid chill on my arm for a bit. Even letting me touch it's smooth scales, which it had definitely molted just recently.

Not sure if the camera caught it, but its scales were beautifully but subtly irridescent!

So after marveling this beautiful male, I took him into the woods nearby and released him with zero trouble under a fallen tree branch full of leaves.

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A new blog to log all the little critters, fungi, and other finds and phenomena I come across!

Any living things I come across are only captured by hand and taken pictures of before placing right back where they were, completely unharmed.

Just some cool nature documentation in my area and nothing else! I have a huge backlog of photos already, and I will most likely start from either oldest or most interesting in no distinct order.

Like this massive praying mantis female for instance!