Life in Florida

[P4GTR]

I live in new development. They are tearing down land that has been previously uninhabited to build homes. I also mountain bike. I've seen some interesting creatures along the way. So inspired by Nanuq, I present Life in Florida.

Part I.

Pics can be clicked on for full size (huge).

Yesterday, before going out to grill on my porch, I did a spot check for poisonous snakes, spiders, you name it. Two uninvited, albeit interesting ladies were planning to join me for dinner.

As I went to close the back door I just stepped out of, I almost shook hands with this female Praying Mantid/Mantis.

They are known to eat prey up to its own body size or more, including hummingbirds, or mice. A mantis strike takes only 30-50 thousandths of a second. They can rotate their head about 180 degrees, like us. Almost all other insects have no mobility of their head. This one was about 4.5 inches

As I photographed her, she would watch me, moving her head following the camera. Sometimes, she would [censored] her head to the side, almost curiously.

(not my photo)

The next thing I noticed, and the reason for the thorough checking. A nice full grown female Black Widow. I've been noticing a lot of these brown and black widows around the outside of the house. After seeing her last night, I was extra careful doing yard work today.

She was about the size of a half dollar before her demise.

Forgive me for not taking any close-up live pictures of this one..

Don't let the size compared to the knife fool you. That Spyderco Military is almost 9.5 inches long.

I prefer seeing my two other uninvited guests here much more-

[Nanuq]

How cool is that!! Bugs that eat birds. Who woulda thought.

Great thread!

[chronoluvvv]

yuck !

where's that can of Raid ?