A garter, some spiders and more

I am always finding things in the gardens. And then there are the times when others are here and finding things in the gardens. These are a few of the things found in the gardens recently. Garter snakes have been hiding on us this summer. My grandkids usually find many all over throughout any given summer. Not this year. I think the snakes are on to Ryan and Katelyn. They are very gently with them, but I think that had their fill of being caught and handled last year! There was the day I had the seven kids here for their sewing class and they found three adults hiding under the wooden bridge out back. But did they stay there when Ryan and Katelyn came the next day? Of course not, why would they cooperate and be where I might expect them to be?! LOL



I was very busy in the garden with Sheila and Jimmy recently when they spotted this Common Garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, basking in the sun on a Hosta leaf. On closer inspection you can see how he is curled around the leaves on three levels! He just hung out there all afternoon while we worked all around him!. This is the most common snake in New England.




Caught a movement out of the corner of my eye as I breezed past the Cleome. Look what I found! A spider with a moth many times its size.



Looks like it could be a male Red-spotted Crab Spider.




Found another larger spider when moving some plants. This one is carrying all her babies on her back.



We all had fun watching her move around, not dropping a one, while maneuvering through the garden.


Here's an interesting tunnel found throughout the season all over the gardens.




It is made by a spider in order to trap its prey. Very clever engineering!




I thought this leaf was covered in mold, and it turned out to be a spider's nest covering the leaf with babies inside.




Discovered a green grasshopper on this Rugosa Rose bloom. In looking up the identification of it in my guidebook, I found out that there are a lot of different kinds of grasshoppers, and this looks like it could be a variety of Katydid!




Inspecting it more closely, I found that his little bug had a friend in their with him, sharing the bounty of this beautiful flower!




Ryan found this Southern Green Stink Bug that he wanted me to photograph and include with my other bugs in this post.





It's wonderful to have the opportunity to introduce these kids to all things in nature. They can learn at such an early age how to handle all kinds of creatures in nature, with a gentleness and appreciation for all that surrounds us.