Visitors

Sometimes we get special visitors. They are not always welcome, but while they are there I identify them.

This is a walking stick. Interesting looking, but not my friend. It likes my roses.

This funny looking caterpillar is not funny at all. It is mean. Touching the hair can cause severe skin irritation and nausea. It's parents are called Flannel Moth.

I found it on my patio. Usually I let them crawl on my fingers, but this time I used a spoon to pick "Hairy" up (it looked so strange). A very good decision, I would say.

A sparrow. In Germany I saw them all the time, in Gainesville only in front of supermarkets and fastfood restaurants. Now we have them in our yard :)

This little guy or girl is the weaker sibling of number 2I guess you all know those ugly ducklings?
If not, they are baby white-winged doves. Not quite ready to fly yet but they are trying really hard. Mom and dad are calling them with a hoo hoo hoo, who-cooks-for-you? Seriously!

This is a black-bellied whistling duck. They are very pretty with pink legs and a pink beak. Volker would like to have a pair in our yard ...

and on Saturday this Texas Rat Snake came to visit us. It is non-venomous but pretty feisty. "Sneaky" was hunting for lunch while still digesting breakfast.

Let's hope we find more interesting visitors.