Sunday, September 4, 2022

Danger in the strawberry bed

This is one of my strawberry beds. Notice anything unusual?

Here, let me zoom in a bit:

This lady seems to have made the strawberry bed her territory. I see her almost every day. I don't see her when I'm brushing through the plants looking for ripe berries; but boy howdy, whenever I water the plants, she comes racing to the top of the leaves, boiling mad at getting wet.

I can almost hear the stream of four-letter words issuing from her mouth at the indignity of getting soaked.

Praying mantises are vicious hunters, so I like having her in my strawberry bed. What better way to keep unwanted insects at bay?

I really should think of a name for her. Gertrude, perhaps? That seems too tame somehow....

16 comments:

  1. Name suggestions: how about these? Maude means battle mighty, or Sandra means defending warrior, or Camilla means legendary warrior maiden. FYI - Gertrude means strong spear, so it would fit. But "Gertie" just doesn't have the right ring to it. 😉

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  2. saint gertrude is the patron saint of gardeners..found out tru dream

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Did I post these?
    Artemis, Olympias, or Eurydice.

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  5. Trudie might be good... It's an extra bit of punk spunk from good old fashioned Gertrude.

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  6. A few years ago we were feeding humming birds. I saw a praying mantis near one of the feeders but did not think much about it. Later I saw that mantis eating a humming bird on the ground under the feeder. I relocated any that I saw near a feeder later.

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    1. I found one ON the bottom of one of my hummingbbird feeders last week. I relocated it to the garden post haste.

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  7. We used to have one on a hibiscus tree named Julian. I miss that little fella...

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  8. Victoria - ruler of her domain!

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  9. Cool photos. I haven't seen a green mantid in years. We seem to have only the ones with brownish wings. I prefer yours for purely aesthetic reasons.

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  10. Here’s a question for you. Have you seen Bill Nyes latest series called “The End is Nye”? It’s streaming on Peacock. It’s a fascinating look at various end of the world scenarios. I’d love to know what your readers think!

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  11. Call her Brunhilde after the Valkeries - or just Valkerie. Oh - and get her a tiny horned helmet.

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  12. Freya, the Norse goddess of war.

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  13. Bertha, after the old battle axe that kept the kids in line at the skating rink when I was small…

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