A very merry festive season to all and may 2010 be all you expect of it!
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Black Velvet Spider
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
~American Quaker Saying
~American Quaker Saying
This black Velvet Spider has lived in the bark of an old log in my garden for approximately 2 years now and she lets me coax her out for a photographic session every now and then. These spiders are robust and deliberate in the way that they walk and she even allows me to gently stroke her abdomen and thorax, which is covered in thick, smooth, velvety hairs.
The velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 100 species in 10 genera) of almost totally Old World spiders (exception: a few species are known from Brazil).
Velvet spiders are found under rocks or bark resting in a sheet of dense white silk and are often confused with baboon spiders. They can live up to 5 years. Free living but rarely leave the safety of their webs.
Description:
12mm to 15mm in length. These robust spiders colouration may be from black, grey or a rich red. Body covered with hairs which give them a velvety appearance, hence their name. The abdomen is often lighter in colour than the rest of the spider. Abdomen may have 4 dimples on the top. The eyes are close together and the mouthparts are very robust looking for a spider that size. Legs are short and strong and they are widespread throughout Southern Africa.
Web:
These spiders build their webs under rocks, under loose bark. Their retreats consist of flat candy floss like dry sheets of silk. The silk is tough and has interwoven prey remains. Their nest-like webs are attached to the ground using silken anchor lines. Silken lines radiate from the entrance to their shelters. These lines are used to detect prey.
Venom:
Even though these spiders can be large in size they very rarely bite. Not much is known about the affects of their venom. It is highly unlikely that this spider’s venom is of importance to humans.
Notes:
Females seldom leave their webs in order to hunt. Instead, they prefer to wait for prey to wander into their webs and radiating silken lines. They prey upon tough skinned insects and other large prey items.
Camera : Fuji FinePix 2800Zoom
Camera : Fuji FinePix 2800Zoom
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Friday, 9 October 2009
Safe & Sound
THE HEDGEHOG'S NEST
Unlike most mammals, hedgehogs lack the insulation of a warm fur coat. And keeping the body warm requires a lot of energy, so as it goes into winter and it gets ready for hibernation, the hedgehog's temperature drops from the normal 35ºC to that of its surroundings: 10ºC or less.
The hedgehog's winter nest, known as a 'hibernaculum', is made of grass and especially of leaves, which are weatherproof and long-lasting. The hedgehog brings leaves to the nesting site in its mouth, a few at a time. It makes a pile, adding new leaves to the centre; they are held in place by the surrounding support of twigs, brambles, brushwood, etc. It then burrows inside and turns round and round, packing the leaves flat and ending up with a warm chamber with walls up to 10cm thick.
Next winter, the hedgehog will make a new nest, even if the old one is still usable.
Unlike most mammals, hedgehogs lack the insulation of a warm fur coat. And keeping the body warm requires a lot of energy, so as it goes into winter and it gets ready for hibernation, the hedgehog's temperature drops from the normal 35ºC to that of its surroundings: 10ºC or less.
The hedgehog's winter nest, known as a 'hibernaculum', is made of grass and especially of leaves, which are weatherproof and long-lasting. The hedgehog brings leaves to the nesting site in its mouth, a few at a time. It makes a pile, adding new leaves to the centre; they are held in place by the surrounding support of twigs, brambles, brushwood, etc. It then burrows inside and turns round and round, packing the leaves flat and ending up with a warm chamber with walls up to 10cm thick.
Next winter, the hedgehog will make a new nest, even if the old one is still usable.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
The Bliss of Pets and Animals
Some of my pets, current and past, as well as some garden residents ...
Jacko and I, our Fox terrier x - he's just turned 3 in September '09. Rescued him from a road-side vendor trying to sell him. Selling animals next to the road is illegal in South Africa and should also not be supported, as it creates a market for poachers to catch wild animals to sell at the road-side.
Danny and I - he's still young -about 5 - considering they live to the ripe old age of about 50 or over!
Mai, the Mynah, as a youngster - found her after she had fallen out of her nest. Spent 6 wonderful months with us before she mysteriously disappeared.
Mai, after having a bath
Mai roosting on my MAC speaker
Pippin, my Bush baby. Rescued his as a baby from people throwing stones at him and trying to kill him. Was released back into the wild after he recuperated.
Hedgie, the Hedgehog - spent 8 blissful years with us.
Flutterby, my Laughing Dove, keeping an eye on me whilst in the garden. Saved her from certain death when I rescued her from the Fiscal Shrike who had ideas of spiking her in his pantry.
Duffy, my pigeon, investigating the new nest box. Reared him from a baby straight out of the egg after being abandoned by his parents.
Pappa Goose, with his hobble foot caused by fishing gut cutting off the tendons and nerves - he was found at Florida Lake and brought to me for care and safe-keeping.
Mamma Goose taking a stroll around the garden
My pair of Carolina Ducks (American Wood Duck) investigating their new next box. They're not impressed, because it's supposed to be raised off the ground and they actually turned up their noses and wandered off to inspect one of the other boxes.
Malistic, my Mongolian Ringnek Pheasant saved from certain death when I confiscated him from someone hawking him in the shopping mall as Christmas lunch.
Wynona, Malistic's wife
Black Shouldered kite juvenile with 2 broken wings and a broken coccyx being nursed back to health. Unfortunately he would never fly again.
Kiki and Tweeti, the two Cockatiels, each one with a very different character. Kiki, the grey one, is gentle and soft-hearted, Tweeti very cocky and sure of himself.
Mr. Silky Rooster and his wife - the most gentle chickens ever with the softest, silkiest feathers and unable to fly.
A Mountain tortoise rescued from the pot and released in the Game Reserve.
Chester, our Rottweiler, whose looks belied a totally gentle nature, but who was a fully trained guard dog and followed every command. Unfortunately Chester succumbed after a Puff Adder bit him.
A resident striped field mouse in my garden, recovering from an accidental dosing with the hosepipe!
Two striped field mice snacking on some bird seed in my garden.
The Finches enjoying the bird table.
Mai again, eyeing out the bird bath...
and then deciding to take the plunge.
Jacko and I, our Fox terrier x - he's just turned 3 in September '09. Rescued him from a road-side vendor trying to sell him. Selling animals next to the road is illegal in South Africa and should also not be supported, as it creates a market for poachers to catch wild animals to sell at the road-side.
Danny and I - he's still young -about 5 - considering they live to the ripe old age of about 50 or over!
Mai, the Mynah, as a youngster - found her after she had fallen out of her nest. Spent 6 wonderful months with us before she mysteriously disappeared.
Mai, after having a bath
Mai roosting on my MAC speaker
Pippin, my Bush baby. Rescued his as a baby from people throwing stones at him and trying to kill him. Was released back into the wild after he recuperated.
Hedgie, the Hedgehog - spent 8 blissful years with us.
Flutterby, my Laughing Dove, keeping an eye on me whilst in the garden. Saved her from certain death when I rescued her from the Fiscal Shrike who had ideas of spiking her in his pantry.
Duffy, my pigeon, investigating the new nest box. Reared him from a baby straight out of the egg after being abandoned by his parents.
Pappa Goose, with his hobble foot caused by fishing gut cutting off the tendons and nerves - he was found at Florida Lake and brought to me for care and safe-keeping.
Mamma Goose taking a stroll around the garden
My pair of Carolina Ducks (American Wood Duck) investigating their new next box. They're not impressed, because it's supposed to be raised off the ground and they actually turned up their noses and wandered off to inspect one of the other boxes.
Malistic, my Mongolian Ringnek Pheasant saved from certain death when I confiscated him from someone hawking him in the shopping mall as Christmas lunch.
Wynona, Malistic's wife
Black Shouldered kite juvenile with 2 broken wings and a broken coccyx being nursed back to health. Unfortunately he would never fly again.
Kiki and Tweeti, the two Cockatiels, each one with a very different character. Kiki, the grey one, is gentle and soft-hearted, Tweeti very cocky and sure of himself.
Mr. Silky Rooster and his wife - the most gentle chickens ever with the softest, silkiest feathers and unable to fly.
A Mountain tortoise rescued from the pot and released in the Game Reserve.
Chester, our Rottweiler, whose looks belied a totally gentle nature, but who was a fully trained guard dog and followed every command. Unfortunately Chester succumbed after a Puff Adder bit him.
A resident striped field mouse in my garden, recovering from an accidental dosing with the hosepipe!
Two striped field mice snacking on some bird seed in my garden.
The Finches enjoying the bird table.
Mai again, eyeing out the bird bath...
and then deciding to take the plunge.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Cosmos in South Africa
Cosmos in Mpumalanga, South Africa
Every March and November respectively our countryside explodes with colour when pretty pink and white cosmos flowers bloom in late summer. They grow easily in the soil at the side of the roads disturbed by the road scrapers widening the verges.
Cosmos is a genus of about 20-26 species of annual and perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico (where the bulk of the species occur), the southern United States (Arizona, Florida), Central America, South America south to Paraguay and South Africa
They are herbaceous perennial plants growing 0.3-2 m tall. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are produced in a capitulum with a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets; flower color is very variable between the different species.
Cosmos next to a stream
Cosmos, along with many of our succulent and aloe species, have become regarded as indigenous in South Africa and bloom in various colours - white, pink, cerise and red - no yellow in South Africa.
It's against the law to pick the flowers next to the side of the road, but Cosmos seeds are now packaged and available at most nurseries. Growing them in the garden is easy and they make a wonderful country-style cut-flower arrangement.
"Cosmos" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree
Cosmos flowers is a favourite subject of, and has inspired, artists throughout the years and have been depicted on many a canvass.
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| Cosmos growing wild in the country-side (photo by Jo-Ann Kruger) |
White Cosmos
Cosmos growing wild next to a stream
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