Beetle-Bugs of Summer

Heyall,

Hope things are going smoovely for you!

This post is being written on a beautiful, hot Monday that finds me paralyzed with indecision about how to spend such a day. Buy new running shoes? No. Exercise? Not right now. Clean? Maybe. AND the library is closed and I'm out of books!

Yesterday GH and I went to Izzy's Ice Cream to get some cones. I tried the Mexican Chocolate as my Izzy scoop and the Salted Caramel as my main ice cream. It was AMAZING and probably I should not go back there today for more.

While summer is prime ice cream time, it is also the height of bug activity. Along with pretty butterflies, busy bees, crawling ants and biting mosquitoes, beetles gather under logs and fly around porch lights at night. Let us learn about some of these flying, crawling and plant-eatin' dudes!


The June Beetle.

These black, brown and yellow beetles are around an inch long. They are members of the New World Scarab beetle family, or Phyllophagia (leaf-eater in Greek), which is part of the beetle order Coleoptera.

Side Note: Coleoptera contains the most species of any animal order in the world!



June beetles are "chafers", or leaf eaters, who enjoy eating corn leaves and other crops. While the beetles can be destructive, beetle grubs are especially evil. Living for three to four years underground, beetle larvae eat the roots of grass and cereal crops. They can be especially pesky underground at golf courses.


Ew.

My cousin Miss Lippy has a very disturbing story about such a grub attacking her as a child.

More intimidating than a June Beetle is the Stag Beetle!

Ay!

These oversized mandibles were thought to resemble deer antlers, hence the name "stag". While scary-looking to humans, the mandibles assist male beetles in wrestling matches to find mates!

The British stag beetle is the largest insect in England. Their grubs live in rotting wood instead of underground.

Perhaps the most annoying of these insects is an import: The Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica.


These green and copper beauties like to eat the leaves in your garden! In the US there are few natural insect or bird predators that will eat Japanese Beetles.

Thankfully the adults are only alive for about a month, and can be easily collected in a bucket of soapy water and discarded. If you have leaves which are eaten between the veins, or "skeletonized", Japanese Beetles might be the culprit.



Scientists think these beetles were accidentally imported in a shipment of iris bulbs before 1912. The first Japanese Beetles were found in New Jersey in 1916.

Please keep me posted on any beetle sightings!

xoxoxoxo
Wendell!

Sommer

Heyo,

I'm realizing the focus of this blog has changed, mostly focusing on my dog and my yard! This might restrict its universal, even world-wide appeal! Also I haven't posted in a while.

But I have seen critters! First, a pair of wild turkeys right before taking the Ford Parkway bridge into St. Paul!



We went camping last weekend at Afton State Park. It was our first time there and our inaugural camping trip with Stella. The hike-in status of the campground made it a little burly, however. Especially as the fresh drinking water was 1.5 miles away in the parking lot. Poor R had to carry a giant water bladder up the hill!



Our campsite (22) was the perfect combination of forest and prairie, sun and shade. Right away a deer came to visit!



Stella also scared up...a wild turkey! It fluttered away, making an angry noise!

Can you see the Bobo-Dog?








It's hard to get Stella to pose in a photo!


The St. Croix River:


Hardcore camping requires a nap:


Apparently this is the smile we have when attempting a self portrait:


Hope you're all enjoying every moment of summer!
xoxoxo
Wendell!

June Adventures

Greetings, all!

Man, for being recently unemployed for over a month, I sure have not posted a whole lot! Probably because I've been eating every meal outdoors and trying to relax, read, exercise and have fun with my Bobo-Dog. A summation of these activities is represented by this photograph:


Check out this adirondack chair and table set our across the alley neighbor GAVE US!

(I baked the neighbor a strawberry rhubarb pie to thank her.)

We finally went inside the Prospect Park Water Tower, after living in that neighborhood for over four years. The tower is open once yearly.






GH came to visit:


On the same night that R and I went to Fogo de Chao we saw our first baby bunnies of the year. Yes, two babies! They were right outside my teaching office, where we'd parked.


I'm glad to have tried Fogo de Chao, but honestly, only one of the meats was really delicious to me. It's an expensive place and I'm happy R's colleague was nice enough to treat us.

In non-meat news, R and his Dad destroyed our upstairs bathroom because water was leaking into the basement:

Goodbye, horrifying bathroom carpet!

The poop pipe to nowhere, which overflowed from the sink drain at this point behind the toilet:

Cooties.

Last week Stella and I went on a solo mission to the Minnesota River Valley Wildlife Preserve:


In the summer, Bobo toys with vegetarianism, sampling grass several times a day:


Deer tracks:





It is hard to take good pictures when your dog is really excited and you're holding the leash!

The first goose babies I've seen:


There were many great egrets at the preserve:


Stella and what I believe is a loon in the background:


Now I've returned to the working world, as a waitress! After an eight year hiatus, I think I'm getting the hang of modern serving, that is, with computerized ordering and credit card machines. Come visit me at the new Brasa on Grand Avenue in St. Paul!

Critterlove,
Wendell!

Non-Blogging

Hello!

I decided to chronicle the advance of spring, taking roughly one picture a week from March 15th to May 8th. This view of the Mississippi River is taken from the Marshall Avenue/Lake Street bridge.


Make your own animation

Finding summer employment has been a challenge! Although I had a lead, I applied for many other positions; medical records, nannying. One cashier job that paid $8 hourly had over 100 applicants. I was one of the fifteen chosen for an interview (without knowing the pay!) Anyway, the lead paid off and I'll be starting job training later this week. I'm quite thankful! More on that later.

To pass the time and alleviate the stress I've been budget gardening. My definition of this is to use supplies we already have and to move existing perennials into different locations. Also I love fixing up my yard!

My shade garden, with a border made of glazed bricks I found buried and stacked around the yard! The bricks are crooked because it appears we don't have a true poured cement sidewalk; rather it consists of cement pavers which are not set in a straight line.

The herb garden:


The window boxes.

The tall scraggly plants are vincas which were rescued from the front yard last fall and wintered indoors. We'll see if they survive and flower after I trim them down.

The front garden.
I'm excited that the white anemones and lily of the valley came up of their own accord!

Obviously I purchased some annuals to fill the flower boxes and garden bed. I love the perennial creeping phlox and divided a big box. Hopefully they'll flourish!

My neighbor's school had a flower sale and I purchased this lovely fuchsia for only $17!


I have a new rain awareness now because I have to water everything! May has been dry as a mofo; we're two inches behind here in Minnesota. R and I are thinking about getting soaker hoses.

The dryness has had a serious effect on that most important spring crop, morels!

I found a few dessicated specimens at our old apartment. (Shhhh!) No one seemed to catch me walking hunched-over around the property....

Even my expert 'shroomer Dad has had trouble finding morels in Wisconsin, although he did spare a meal for us when we visited last weekend.

As R and I drove to the Motherland we spotted:

A turkey vulture in a tree!


Wild turkeys!


A porcupine (deceased.)


A sandhill crane!

Hope you're all having a fantastic May!
Wendell!

Happy May!

Greetings, all!

The last two weeks have been very busy! School ended for me, including three student recitals in two weeks. This Thursday, our new niece, Baby M, was born! And Friday, my Mom and Sister AG came to visit, along with AG's dog, Ninja!

A photo documentary:

Our first tulip!


Our lil' niece, Baby M!


My lovely Mom and sister, plus Stella and Ninja, who were BFFs all weekend!


AG, Mom and I went shopping at their favorite local high end consignment shop, where I found awesome jeans in a size 10! For $42! This never happens.

We also conquered the wilderness:


Finally, today R and I witnessed our first Powderhorn Mayday Parade!