Category: Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day for June 23, 2019

This large green moth is not rare, but it is rarely seen due to its short life span of about a week and nocturnal flying. And because of its short life span, the Luna moth doesn’t have a mouth or digestive system since it doesn’t eat (although it is a favorite snack for bats). To protect themselves from bats, the moth spins its tails to disorient the bats and can sometimes get away. During their short life, the female releases pheromones, which the males (like this moth) detect via their large antennae and the female can lay 200 to 400 eggs.

Luna Moth

Luna Moth

Picture of the Day for June 20, 2019

I have covered the soil in my flower pots with rocks trying to keep the chipmunks from digging my plants out. But my flower destroying chipmunks are rather determined and speedy. If they were slower like a Stegosaurus, I might have a chance to catch them when I hear the rocks hitting the porch when the chipmunks are tossing the rocks and flowers out. I wonder if this stone creature would scare the the chipmunks away.

Rock Dinosaur

Rock Dinosaur

Picture of the Day for June 18, 2019

The wild roses have started to bloom this year. And like many wildflowers, there are various legends and folklore stories for the flowers.

One story for the wild rose tells how abundant they once were and no noticed their decline until one summer there was no roses. Everyone was alarmed and at a meeting, the world was searched and a hummingbird found a solitary rose in a far off land. It was brought back and the medicine men and women tended the rose until it was healthy enough to give an account of the rose decline. The rose said the rabbits ate all the roses. The assembly was angry and the bears and wolves seized the rabbits by the ears and cuffed them, causing the rabbits ears to stretch and split their mouths open. The rose intervened so the animals didn’t kill all the rabbits as the rose stated the rest hadn’t watched out for the declining roses either. The rabbits retained their scars and roses received thorns to protect them but the rose never attain their former abundance.

The Disappearing Rose

The Disappearing Rose

 

Picture of the Day for June 17, 2019

The full moon today is called the Full Strawberry Moon, which came from the Algonquin tribes in eastern North America who knew it as a signal to gather the ripening fruit of wild strawberries. And the Strawberry Moon has the bright planet Jupiter next to it this year.

This barn doesn’t have a full moon and has stars instead of a planet but it is an interesting nighttime sky theme.

Moon Barn

Moon Barn