Lunch is served

This spider managed to catch himself a meal which was bigger than himself. I wonder if it was going to eat it or store it away in its web for later?

Squirrels

We have only two types of squirrels here the Ground and the Tree Squirrel.

The Ground Squirrel, also known as the Cape Ground Squirrel, uses its tail as a sunshade, holding it in a bent position over its back while feeding. When the squirrel moves its tail up and down, this is an alarm signal to other members of the pack, and is accompanied by a long, drawn out whine, which functions as an alarm call. Colonies numbering up to 30 live in a complicated network of interconnecting burrows: they are poor climbers, and so remain mostly either on or under the ground. The warren may be shared with suricates or yellow mongooses, although the mongooses sometimes kill older ground squirrels.
They live in the drier parts of southern Africa, and are predominantly vegetarians; their diet, however, does include insects. They sunbathe with their bellies to the ground and all four legs stretched out. They dustbathe in the same way and every now and then scratch the sand all over their bodies before shaking it off. Small colonies consist of females and their offspring, with the female defending the territory against intruders. Males are accepted into this society only when a female is in heat. One or two young are born.

The Tree Squirrel is named because of its association with woodland, and its use of trees as resting places. They vary in colour throughout their distributional range, and are diurnal. A conspicuous feature of their behaviour when under threat is 'mobbing': all the members of the colony make harsh clicking sounds while they flick their tails, building up momentum and gradually getting louder. In some areas they are solitary, or are found in small family groups: a lone tree squirrel relies on its wits when in danger and always keeps a branch or the trunk of a tree between it and the enemy. This species regularly forages on the ground, looking for roots, grasses, leafbuds, berries and insects such as ants.

The Tree Squirrel is always alert, and when alarmed, it will run away with great speed, making for the nearest tree where it will lie motionless, flattened against a branch. The young (usually 1 to 3) are born in a tree hollow lined with leaves and grass. The young remain until they are strong enough to brave the outside world, which is usually about three weeks.

Tree Squirrels are diligent in their grooming and a mother tree squirrel will hold her offspring down with her forelegs while grooming the little animal with licks, nibbles and the use of her claws. Food brought back to the nest is reserved for the parents only, and the young have to learn to find solid food for themselves from the time they are weaned.

Citrus Swallowtail (Papilio Demodocus) Papilionidae

This is the pupae of the Citrus Swallwtail a large butterfly and one very common to our gardens.

This is still a young one and I managed to catch it.
The larvae can be a pest on citrus trees.
A close-up of the wing.

I wonder what was going through his head when I was holding him like this?

Mystery Monday - Part 4

This is going to be an easy one for some of you.

Barberton Daisies (Gerbera jamesonii) Asteraceae

Today I am going to share a personal experience with you which was very funny for me: A young girl moved in next door and besides a once a week "hello" when we happen to run into each other, we have not really spoken. Yesterday, she came knocking on my door and asked me if I perhaps had space in my freezer as there was something wrong with hers and she was afraid the stuff would go off. I said sure, bring it over, I would make space for her things. She went to fetch it and we got chatting about them not making things as they used to as she had only recently bought her freezer and I invited her to sit down. I told her about my blog and the nice people on it and asked her about her work etc. After about half an hours she said that I was not at all what she expected me to be. I looked at her and she added that she had seen me outside taking pictures and she expected my house to be full of bugs and things. LOL!! LOL!! I had a great big laugh at this and showed her some of my photographs. The lesson to be learnt by this is not to judge people so quickly. Get to know them first, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. LOL!!

Barberton Daisies are endemic to South Africa and wild ones were a deep orange/red colour with broad leaves. They have now been cultivated into various colours and different petals.

What will we do without our daisies in the garden to brighten up our day?

Pretoria - Part 5

No matter how much I have traveled and enjoyed it, when I come back fom the airport and see this sight, I know I am home again. The building on the right is part of our very large university and the other buildings are the centre of town.
These are the administrative building for the University and also house a wonderful hall in which they have symphony concerts.

Another view of it.....

These are some of the 4 campus buildings

On the hill where I was taking these pictures, you can see a large portion of the town and some of the small hills it is bult on. For most of the year it is lush and green with our climate being similar to that of Florida.

In the distance, on another hill is the Union Buildings I feature last week in Part 1 and Part 2.

An uninvited visitor

I woke up to the feeling that there was someone in my bedroom. I switched on the light and there he was just disappearing around the corner. I grabbed my camera to get evidence of the intruder and the flash made him stop in his tracks.

Gotcha!! That will teach you to come sneaking around my bedroom at night when you think I am sleeping!!

Those beady eyes were watching my every move ...... so I switched off the light and went back to sleep. LOL!!

This is a Grass Katydid (Tylopsis) which are large (about 20mm in body length). They feed on grass, plants, aphids and caterpillars.

Mystery Monday - Part 3

An easy one today. :)

Pretoria - Part 4

The City Hall was built to celebrate Pretoria's city status, obtained in 1931. Marthinus Pretorius established Pretoria in 1855 and named it in honour of his father.

The two statues in front of the building depict the Voortrekker (Pioneer) leaders, Marthinus Pretorius and his father Andries.

The walks are lined with various rose bushes........

and the pond in front of it is full of water lilies.

Across the road is the Transvaal Museum which I featured a while back and has a wonderful Rocks and Minerals Section. The pigeon was very interest in having his picture taken too.

Birds of Pilansberg - Part 6

Yeah, yeah, I know!! Some of these are STRANGE looking birds aren't they?? LOL!! LOL!!

I stopped for coffee at a small dam and looking over the wall saw a lot of turtles coming up for a breath of air.
Warthogs were feeding on the banks but everything was still a bit dry as no rain had fallen yet.

An immature Blackshouldered Kite was posing very nicely although a bit far away.

The Pied Kingfisher was sitting on a nearby branch and...

.....looking at the fish swimming in the water below with hunger in his eyes.