Strawberry's link provided this: Predators Blister beetle and ground beetle larvae attack the egg pods of grasshoppers. They are both capable of consuming between 50 to 60% of grasshopper egg pods. Snakes, toads, cats and skunks feast on hoppers. Bird predators include bluebirds, brown thrashers, crows, hawks, mockingbirds, meadowlarks and sparrows. Horse-hair worm, a large nematode up to several inches in length parasitizes and kills hoppers. Robber flies and spiders will feed on grasshoppers. Field mice and many types of rodents will dig up and eat the egg pods. They also feed on the adults. Chickens, ducks and Guinea hens are prolific consumers of hoppers. Muscovy ducks are tops! Preying mantis love to eat grasshoppers! Fish: One of our visitors reminded us how fish love to dine on hoppers! He goes on to add that live hoppers make excellent fish bait and that the bigger the hopper the bigger the fish you can catch. Bass are extremely fond of them. The only predators on that list I see here these days (and I do NOT use any kind of chemical or other pesticide, period) are hawks. The towhees, mocking birds, California Blue Jays, and the usual assortment of brown birds with the occasional canary and oriole are regulars. I, too, LOVE cutting them in half to add to the "organic fertilizer". No cats, we have coyotes, hawks and owls. We do have tons of manitds. There are plenty of rodents but the only evidence I find they've been here are droppings and munched rose shoots and hips. Usually the grasshoppers, katy dids and locusts are seasonal. Every few years, they explode, then shrink back to "normal". Good luck with them. Now you understand "Biblical plagues"! Kim

The birds in my yard have been pretty active lately too. The chickadee chicks that were nesting in a small birdhouse hanging from my crape myrtle just left the nest but before then I would hear them cheeping everytime I walked past the trees. It was funny to watch the parents follow me and fuss every time they saw me walking near their nest. My parents got to watch the chickadee chicks that were nesting in their summer kitchen take their first flight and leave the nest. One day last week I saw a medium sized woodpecker, several bluebirds, mocking birds, and cardinals all gathered on the power lines by my house. Wasn't sure why such a wide range of birds were all gathered together until I saw them taking turns beating up a couple large crows. I assume that means that all of them are nesting in the area. The mockingbirds have also been harrassing the pair of red-shouldered hawks that live in the area and like stake out my front yard. At night I get to listen to the barred owls calling back and forth. I haven't seen them yet but my parents who live next door see them in their front yard in the live oaks on a nearly nightly basis. Those owls sound like a bunch of demented monkeys when they really get going! John, that is a really neat picture of those parrots!

One dog dies last year and I believe the other did this year. Maybe she just got tired of them and gave them up. It has been quite quiet around here, neighbors have commented on it. As for moving should she replace them, I inherited the house I grew up in. My mother designed it, my father built it. There are over 400 specific plants in the gardens and there is just too much sentimentality involved, not to mention that I am a bit old to be relocating. For now, her hedges have thickened and grown tall enough that all anyone sees is a nice green backdrop for my gardens. You would not even know there was a house in there. It is very unfortunate because the house has an excellent picture window that used to overlook the valley. Last summer, in the only patch of sun filled area in her yard, she had a lawn chair out and was sunning herself. I could only see her through a bathroom window and she looked like the proverbial beached whale. I pulled the curtains to stop from laughing. The dogs are just a memory now....

Thank you mar cia. Forgive me, I remember your name, but it's been so long that I don't remember the conditions. Were you new to the area? If so, welcome! If you'd like to meet some new friends, we should exchange phone numbers and meet some time. I have a wife and twin 2 year old boys. Hope that doesn't scare you :) Glad to hear you're breaking ground. It seems to be a battle to get what you want from a builder, unless they are true customs, and then you pay for it dearly. I could put you to sleep with my story of searching for property. It was a long, frustrating experience. For 8 months, I physically drove to every listed property in our price range that was on the north side of the county. Finally, our realtor and friend said, "hey, the lady across the street from my house is selling some land, and she's not listing it. I'll call her". So after all that work, we just stumbled into it. Got our pool table installed in the basement today! So we missed our first sunset.