Cicada Killers

Alice discovered a new kind of "bee" hanging around our back patio this week. It's enormous. Here's a teeny photo I swiped from wikipedia:

May I introduce you to the Eastern Cicada Killer? A solitary sort of bee species whose females dig 6-8 inch burrows into the soil and then ruthlessly hunt down, paralyze, and bury live cicadas (see below) to act as a special food source for their larval young.

Cicadas can be pretty big, too :)

Here's a pic of a cicada killer carrying a paralyzed cicada (courtesy of wikipedia, as well):

 

It's not an aggressive bee. Females only sting humans if they are handled roughly or stepped on. Like male carpenter bees, stingless male cicada killers approach anything that moves in hopes of finding a mate. Both males and females will fly away if you "shoo" them. So, they're pretty harmless overall but really scary-looking and kind of annoying. 

I haven't yet discovered where our particular bee is nesting (I'm pretty sure it's a female). I'd like to, though, just out of curiosity. They only bury one cicada and one egg per hole. If she sticks around, it should be quite obvious.

Gone Fishing

I recently learned about a series of FREE fishing clinics for kids in the C-U area. They're put on by the Champaign Park District. I signed up both of the kids for it (free, but must register through the CPD at least one week in advance, can even register online). The instructions were clear and all the equipment was easy to use. There was plenty of help when you needed it (i.e. to rebait the hook or take your fish off the line). It was strictly catch and release. Everything was provided for us.

In 90 minutes, with one rod, Alice caught 2 bluegills and one "pumpkin seed fish", Buddy reeled in a blue gill of his own, and I baited the hook 5-6 times. The kids would fight over who got to pick the next worm. The fish were itty bitty. I think that was best, actually, because they were less threatening that way. Both kids wanted to pet every catch and Alice threw all but the first one back in by herself.

Even with all the exciting fish action, there was a lot of hot waiting around. Buddy was too little to grasp the concept. He just liked reeling it in and letting it out over and over again until the bait finally fell off the hook. Alice could barely scrape together enough patience to make it work for her. If it had been shadier and if there had been other kids her age to fish with, then she may have complained less. She was all giggles and excitement when the fish would come out of the water, though, and she's begging to go back again.

The coolest thing about all this was that we were fishing at a common park in town. I think they called it "Urban Fishing." It was fun and relatively fast-paced. Every person in the class caught several little fish each.

Would I do it again? You bet. I think I'll sign us up again for another round in a couple weeks. And maybe I'll request a hookless rod for Buddy to play with on his own. Anyone want to join us?

She survived!

Whew. I'm not so depressed anymore.

Penny is settling into the single life, though I hope that will change in the next couple of days. I've got 3 black australorps coming, exactly her age. Each of them on the cusp of laying. May the new flock blend work well for all of us.

Put my coop door to the test

The fox took Agnes 6 days ago, then Edith 3 days ago. We're due for another fox strike tonight. Penny is locked away safely in her coop behind the new door. We'll see how this goes. Wish Penny luck.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has been a slow week.  We did not really do much of anything in the evenings.  Potty training is still going on and Buddy is getting better at it.  He had his first dry night so far.  But still has had some accidents. Oh and the weather has been insanely hot lately.