A Plague of Lubbers

Newly hatched lubber grasshoppers (Romalea guttatus) in the Dirt Patch. Despite attaining a rather large size for a grasshopper (roughly 2.5 inches just in body length), they do little damage to garden foliage and so this invasion of hungry babies isn't quite so alarming to me. Also, they will disperse. The black and yellow/orange coloration of youth and later bright adult coloration serves as a warning of their toxicity; however if you're a loggerhead shrike you ignore this, impale your tasty grasshopper on a spike, and simply wait for the toxicity to degrade in a day or so.

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How I Make Tiny Art Books

Moon Phase & Black Cat Version II Tiny concertina softcover art book, 1-1/8" square I have loved tiny books since I was a kid, and I used to both collect them and make them. I usually made them with staples, because as a kid, that seemed like the most logical binding, but I also experimented with string, tape, and brads. I would draw comics in them, usually cats, after they were bound, which was rather ass-backwards of me. So now I'm a wee bit older and I still love making books (and I still have 4 tiny books from my original collection). I wanted to show how I made this one, which is composed of thick black paper, parchment style paper, hand-carved stamps, and a ribbon closure. All materials are archival safe. How it's Made: It always begins with a pencil drawing. After sketching out the moon phase cats, I transferred the drawings to pink stamping material and carved each one by hand. I love the primitive look of hand stamping and I wanted this book to be reprodu

Day 16 - A Word for That

"Invent a new word and illustrate or demonstrate its meaning" " PETASUSAURUS " Noun . A lizard, preferably a chameleon, that is placed on the head to control bothersome mosquitoes. From the Latin, petasus , meaning "hat" and the Greek, sauros . meaning "lizard;" or literally, a "lizard hat." Modern usage : " Hey man, nice petasusaurus! " (I haven't drawn in anime style for ages!) (October 17, 2016) Update: I've been corrected, "Hey (wo)man, nice petasusaurus!" Thanks, AS

Peninsula Cooter lays her eggs

Pseudemys floridana peninsularis , through binoculars Maceo spotted her first through the window, I was too busy making paper flowers. I think this was his first turtle. His posture was hyper-alert, a cross between sitting and crouching on his haunches, with his ears pointed forward and his eyes wide. At first I wondered why the turtle was wandering back and forth around the yard - seemed like odd behavior. Then I saw her attempt a few scrapes...she's going to lay eggs! Lucky for me, she settled on a spot right outside my rear window. I took a few photos of her through my binoculars from the window, and also through the cattle gate at the rear of the Dirt Patch. I know some people have walked right up to turtles laying eggs before and didn't seem to bother them, but how do we know it doesn't stress them out? I decided to stay about 20 feet back while outside. I was a lot closer through the window, but the screen at least formed a bit of a visual barrier since it was

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