Death To Ye Beetle Bug Blighters!

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine told me they are catchin' Japanese Beetles in a bag.  Yesterday, I saw on the news how this Beetle was damaging trees, especially Japanese Maples which I have three of.  So I looked at my trees and sure enough they were eating the leaves.  So I bought the Bag A Beetle Bag and it works...and it works well.  The pic of the dead Beetles was just in one afternoon while I was at work.  I put the blighters in a paper bag and burned them.  Thanks Steve.

Trees and The Countryside In Ste. Genevieve

This Evenings Sunset

I took these pic from my deck.  No image has been minipulated.  No doubt the best sunset I've seen living here in Ste. Gen.

Striped Lizard

Found this Lizard today under a rock.  He was well behaved.

Cedar Tree Bloom

Cedar trees don't bloom.  That's why this white flower caught my eye this moring as I took a walk.  One wire thin vine had wrapped itself around this young Cedar tree and produced one bloom at the top. 

Baby Blue Jay

Found this baby Blue Jay walking around my backyard this afternoon.  Mom and dad followed me in the trees as a took its photo.  As you can imagine, they were not too happy.

Carlolina Wren's Nest With Unusual Nesting Material

After I took this pic I noticed this strange material wrapped around the eggs.  It is a shed snake's skin.  There is also feathers of other birds, grass and even human hair.  The first bird's to make a nest in this box this spring were Chickadee's. 

Evening Walk

PHANTOM Turtle

I found this turtle today in my backyard.  I have never seen markings on a turtle's face like this before. 

I wrote the Missouri conservation Magazine concerning this Box Turtle's species.  Here was the response:

Mr. Fels:

There are two native box turtle species in Missouri, the three-toed box turtle and the ornate box turtle. Your turtle is a three-toed. It is normal for the three-toed box turtle to have some black markings around its mouth. The markings are more pronounced in your turtle but probably within the range of variation of the species. On male turtles, the entire head and portions of the forelimbs may be yellow or orange. Females are less colorful. Males have a slight depression or concavity in their lower shells (plastrons) that are absent on the females
The species has a preference for mature, oak-hickory forests with numerous openings and edge areas along brush fields. They eat various plant matter, insects and earthworms. Ripe fruits, including strawberries, blackberries and mulberries, can attract feeding turtles. They spend their summers feeding and mating or looking for mates. Here are links to more information on box turtles:

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-recreation/nature-viewing/amphibians-and-reptiles/turtles/box-turtles

http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2006/07/box-turtles-and-people

There is more information available online by searching under “box turtles.”
Tim E. Smith
MDC Ombudsman
573/522-4115 ext. 3848

Dragonfly

I know that all of us have seen this typical pic of a Dragonfly before.  While I was taking a walk this Dragon fly flew across my path and landed nearby.  So I took his Picture.  So there you have it.

Pond Lily in Bloom

Got my first Lily bloom this summer.

Vole

This morning I saw my cat Cricket lying down casually playing with this Vole.  I immediately put on some gloves and tried to pick it up.  It took off running and it took me five minutes to catch it.  I took some pics of it and let it go.

Sunset In Bloomsdale

If you expose for the sky then the foreground will be dark and If you expose for the foreground the sky will be washed out.  I tried to find a middle ground here concerning the correct exposure for both sky and foreground.  So I used photoshop to bring out some detail in the foreground and a little color enhancing too.  Photoshop is new to me...I really don't know how to use it correctly yet.

Pics taken from Work-Truck

I took these pictures on the way home from Peoria Ill. 

Pear-Cactus

Yes, this Cactus grows wild out here.  This one I transplanted along side my bard.

Rock Circle In The Woods.

This scene is from my neighbor's property.  For those who take photos, remember to dial up your shutter speed on your camera to get a bluer sky. 

Another MOLE Mission Accomplished.

It took just over 24hrs and three attempts to scoop this mole out of the ground.  It's a waiting game.  This particular mole has a white patch on its muzzle...never seen that before.  I let him go down the road. 

Short-Tail Shrew

I found this Shrew this morning on a gravel path trough the woods near my home.  He had just died...don't know how, but I love these critters.  I wish I could capture one alive.