Hello Glenda. Regarding the nightcrawlers, the best and tastiest ones, I find, are always on the bottom. I need to clear out the crowd to get to these more choice morsels. Having an enjoyable game of worm-toss breaks up the monotony of not having to dodge cats or be on the look-out for hawks. We do have toys, like several lattice balls with a bell inside each one. After a good feed, and poop, Bub and I will have a few rounds with the bells or some of the gifts Olive gave us. The Red Robin Cross has ensured that I am getting cherries daily. The daily rations change but cherries and blueberries are always provided. Cherries, blueberries, strawberries, cactus fruit (YUMMY treat), raspberries, pear, apples, assortment of grape varieties, apricot, banana, plum, peaches, watermelon, honeydew melon. There has also been several offerings of the fruit from the Mountain Ash tree, crabapples and when available holly berries. Bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts sometimes garnish the rations. The cooked pasta dishes are very welcome. (Did I say that?) It is a mix of pastas, cookd veggies and fruit that is also provided for Olive and the other captives. Krazy Korn I believe is the product. There is another warm cereal mix that Bub enjoys eating but I find it a pleasant foot warmer. The mealworms and wax worms seem to be of equal quality and one doesn't need to get to the ones on the bottom first. They are all delicious and placed in several ration bowls so we all get our fill without competition. Olive mentioned I was looking a little round a while ago but since I have been working out I have trimmed up a little and am looking good. She even whistled the other day when she saw me. She is quite the hen! I have told her a match between up would not work but she has her hopes. Gotta go and throw some worms out. The small human should be here soon. Thanks for your concern, Glenda. Are you with the Red Cross or the Red Robin Cross? Barry

Thanks for all of this info. I am new to the site, so I just now got these replies. I know now to check the box to have the replies e-mailed to me. Well, there was only one egg (that I found) and my yard man or I managed to knock off the leaf today!!!!! (I'M PRETTY SURE IT WAS HIM AND NOT ME!!!!! LOL) So I guess I won't be watching this one grow. Maybe it will come back and do it again. No, I didn't watch it slide down, but you're right--the egg was just on the tip of the leaf. I will know to look for that if I'm lucky enough to witness this again. Good luck with your RSP cats! So...if I'm understanding you correctly....if I try to raise these cats (if I get the chance) I could feed them willow leaves instead of the quince leaves? I have a willow tree. In fact, I have been looking at it, and I see that up in the very top, there seem to be some leaves that have been chewed on. Do they usually lay eggs on the top of the tree? Thanks...Beth

No, this doesn't have to do with safety. The trees that they're cutting down are FAR from the road --so there's no chance of them falling down on passing cars. Also, there aren't any power lines on the sides of highways. And no, there're not specifically cutting down invasives, although a few also get "trimmed". What I'm talking about is cutting the lower branches of pines, oaks, etc., that are WAY away from the road. Sometimes they cut ALL of the branches on the side that faces the road. (A good example is Route 140, from New Bedford to Taunton.) It's a money-maker for whoever got the contract, that's for sure. Money waster is more like it. If they were to spend the money we're spending on this abomination, we'd have put a serious dent in the bittersweet that's strangling so many trees around here, and the miles of multiflora rose, autumn olive, and Japanese knotweed that's everywhere. If you're from MA, just take a moment to look to the side of the highway this summer. You'll see this monstrosity of a machine, just tearing up the trees. Makes no sense. We need all the trees we can get: They sequester CO2 from the air, (reducing greenhouse gases), produce the oxygen we breathe, keep water in our area, make and preserve the topsoil, keep our houses cooler in the summer, increase the value of our homes, are beautiful to look at, bring in the tourists in the fall... These were just off the top of my head. I could probably go on if I took some time to think about it. I wish we could be more like the Lake Tahoe area. In an effort to keep the lake clean, (If you don't have grass lawns, you won't have run-off of pesticides and synthetic fertilizer) and keep the tourists coming (Many come from the city, and would like to get away from the concrete jungle they live in) they have a law that you can only cut down enough trees to build your home. Or North Carolina. My daughter lived there, and she said you had to have a permit to cut down a tree in your yard if it was of a certain size. (She also said it was one of the most beautiful states she's ever lived in, and she's lived in many states.) Again, I digress. But, that's pleasant wishful thinking, Terrene.

Hummers here are bulking up. Lots of long drinks and lots of chasing quite often. I think there are a steady 5 at the feeder. 2 males, 3 females. All started with Buddy. Speaking of perpetuating the species, this guy must be in pain. Heavy, painful molting all over and the kid still wants to be fed. May want to rethink that 'go forth and multiply' thing a bit more in the future, lol. I think this monarch's wings look like they are aged and thinning. The topside could look like pollen or dust, but then I cropped another shot and you can see there are 'cracks' or wear in her wings visible from the underside. The next group born is the one that goes to Mexico - so I think. same shot closely cropped below https://www.monarch-butterfly.com/life-span.html Jane