Your opinion please

I really made a mess of these two but when I looked at them they seem to have a kind of "feel" about them. What do you think? Are they a mess? Could they be paintings?

Interesting facts about Ladybugs - Part 1

Although they are all yellow, each has a different color and pattern. Sorry for the poor quality of the second photogrpah but it was the only one I managed to get before he flew away.
There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide and 400 which live in North America.

A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.

Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.

A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

A gallon jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000 ladybugs.

Aphids are a ladybug's favorite food.

What a pleasure!!

Two weeks ago it was my privilege to meet the first of my fellow bloggers, Dale from Discovering Alpine Birds and his fantastic wife B. Although he is also a South African he is now living overseas and was here on holiday. We had a wonderful dinner together and spent a lot of time chatting about blogs and the lovely people on them.

Then last week it was a great honor to be able to take Andrea from Sidecar and his wonderful wife R to Pilansberg for the day. Another great couple. They are from Italy and have been to SA before. I was given the most precious gift of these two snails. I will treasure them always.
La ringrazio tanto per questo dono straordinario e tenere premuto il ricordo del giorno in cui abbiamo condiviso nel mio cuore per sempre.

Next I am looking forward to meeting Gaelyn from Geogypsy when she comes to visit in March next year. We are going to be spending two wonderful weeks together while I show her parts of this lovely country of mine. After that Jose from Jose E Harnandez World will be bringing some friends for a two week visit as well and we will also be going to Namibia. It is going to be a pleasure meeting them too.

Now come on the rest of you, I want to meet everyone in person please. :)

An ant by any other name...

...or is it? The varity amongst the ant species is amazing. Have you ever really looked at them and seen the differences? Here are a few....

A visit to the zoo - Part 4

Next to the aquarium is the reptile park This crocodile was basking in the sun trying to warm himself. For more information on crocodiles click here.
We have two types of large monitor lizards here and they are called the Water and Rock Leguan respectively. They vary very little from each other besides their preference of habitat and can grow up to 2 metres (6 foot) in ength. They eat eggs, chicks and almost anything which comes in their path. They are preyed upon by our Martial Eagle.

A painted turtle.

A boomslang, Dispholidus typus is a large, venomous colubrid snake native to sub-Saharan Africa. Its name means "tree snake" in Afrikaans and Dutch.It's long and slender build makes it well adapted for an arboreal life stile where it spends most of it's time among the bushes and trees as the name so clearly indicates. A length of 1.5 metres is about the average for a male but 2 metres has been recorded. The female lays between 8 to 23 eggs and the young measure about 330 mm. Unlike with other snakes that mate on the ground the boomslang mates in trees. A different anti-venom is required than for other snake bites. The venom creates blood clotting in the patient and a blood transfusion might be needed. Symptoms can take up to 24-28 hours to develop but seeing that the boomslang is not a aggressive snake but rather flees when approached.

Arizona Mountain Kingsnake.

A beautiful Rock Python.

Prehensile-tailed skink. Large, about 2'6"

Carpet Pythons come from Australia and is one of the smaller python species.

Despite their name, Green iguanas can come in different colors. In southern countries of their range, such as Peru, green iguanas appear bluish in color with bold black markings. Iguanas have well developed dewlaps which helps regulate their body temperature. It is also used in courtships and displays.

Cars in the Park - Part 1

Once a year they have a show called "Cars in the Park" where they display new and old cars plus motorcycles. It is good to go nad catch up with all the old favorites sometimes.

Pilansberg Game Reserve - Part 3

Even a weed can be beautiful.
When it was time to leave and come back home, I found this bug in my car...maybe he wanted to go home with me, but I wasn't having no hitch hikers in my car. LOL!!

The elephants were have a dust bath in a dry dam. This helps them get rid of ticks and fleas.

There are many kinds of dung beetles and they come in various colors. Their eggs are in the centre of this ball and they roll it to a place and bury it using their hind legs. When the eggs hatch, they have food available to them.

I came across this female rhino with her young calf. I have never seen such a long horn before.

Springbuck are our national animal. They were first seen by the earlier settlers in this country and are plentiful in certain areas.

This little foal stuck close to his mothers side. When young, the stripes are more brown than black.

The wings on this beautiful butterfly are transparent.

The hippo were catching some sun on the banks of the dam. A few weeks later when I went back, the water was overflowing the wall at the back of the picture.

In the summer, butterflies come in all shades and patterns.

Poor Paper wasp

I found this poor Paper Wasp dragging its tail over the concrete and stopped to pick him up. He seemed exhausted for some reason.
Paper wasps are 3/4 to 1 inch long, slender, narrow-waisted wasps with smoky black wings that are folded lengthwise when at rest. Body coloration varies with species: Polistes exclamans is brown with yellow markings on the head, thorax and bands on the abdomen; Polistes carolina is overall reddish-brown.

Paper wasps are semi-social insects and colonies contain three castes: workers, queens and males. Fertilized queens, which appear similar to workers, overwinter in protected habitats such as cracks and crevices in structures or under tree bark. In the spring they select a nesting site and begin to build a nest. Eggs are laid singly in cells and hatch into legless grub-like larvae that develop through several stages (instars) before pupating. Cells remain open until developing larvae pupate. Sterile worker wasps assist in building the nest, feeding young and defending the nest. A mature paper wasp nest may have 20 to 30 adults. In late summer, queens stop laying eggs and the colony soon begins to decline. In the fall, mated female offspring of the queen seek overwintering sites. The remainder of the colony does not survive the winter.

Unusual moths

This belongs to the family Ctnuchinae (Handmaidens) and the first one I have seen.

A Wisp Wing (Coenina poecilaria)
Golden Plusia (Trichoplusia orichalcea)