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Cotton and Lacey vs. the cicada
Aug. 16th, 2007 11:51 pmWeirdness abounded tonight...
I took Lacey outside to do her business - she's getting good at telling us when she needs to go. This time, however, she was on the poky side, taking her own sweet time with it. Cotton came moseying on up to see what was what, when all of a sudden this big ol' bug started banging around our front porch.
Now, you have to understand that our front door is set back from the front of the house about 2-3 feet, creating a little vestibule of sorts where you can stand out of the rain as you get your house keys out to unlock the door. There's a hanging light over the door, up quite high, and it shed light all over the stairs and beyond.
So this BIG bug comes in, attracted by the light one would suppose, and starts literally bouncing off the walls. Bang, bang, bang, back and forth off the vinyl siding, swooping out of the light every so often and dive bombing back in. At one point it swooped out and made me duck! Thought the thing would get caught in my current mop of hair for sure! All the while it's making this weird clicking noise. It dropped onto its back on the porch at one point, and I figured out what it was: a cicada. Not a common bug by any means as they only hatch once in a very great while, but a very ugly bug. About 2 inches long from stem to stern, and looking like a particularly weird flying beetle (not at all like Thunderbird Two).
Well, all this motion attracts Cotton's attention and she's got her eye on this thing. She wants it, no doubt about it, and she tries to swat at it from the porch a few times to bring it down. But she realizes she can't catch it while it's in flight, so she jumps up on the porch railing to get a better view as it's bumbling around. It continues to richochet off the walls and door, and finally lands, belly up, on the bit of railing right in front of Cotton. Amazing that it did; the railing at that point is only about three inches across, and the part she's perched on is even narrower.
She watches it for a good long while, giving it her best "You are my prey" stare. I'm contemplating whether or not to hop inside and get a jar to catch it so Boy #1 can see it in the morning. But I decide to let the cat have her fun, and at last, she plucks it up in her mouth and sort of makes as if she's going to carry it off!
I don't remember if I called to her or the bug moved or what, but she dropped it rather quickly and it buzzed its way over to the welcome mat - the kind of ropy one that says, "Wipe Your Paws" on it. It falls down beside the edge, and gets sort of tangled up in some mat fluff that was lying there (I really need to sweep my porch!).
This is where Lacey comes in. She's been watching this thing, too, and when it falls, she's on it like butter on bread. She paws at it, forcing it further under the mat; the clicking noise it makes is beginning to sound more like a cicada's usual buzzing cry. The further under the mat she shoves it, the more she paws to pull the mat back. Finally, the thing's totally enmeshed in the fluff, stuffed a couple of inches under the mat, and looking much the worse for wear. The buzzing is dying off, and I'm sure the bug is done for.
That's when I took a hand, pulling the length of fluff out, separating about six inches of it, and dropping the part with the bug in it onto the lowest step. Cotton immediately came down to see what I'd done with it.
It didn't hold her interest long, though, as she padded off onto the grass. Lacey followed her, wanting to play, and eventually I had to haul the puppy (who had done her business) back into the house.
And that, my friends, is my current critter story.
Note: The "annual cicada" in this Wiki article is the one we met up with.
I took Lacey outside to do her business - she's getting good at telling us when she needs to go. This time, however, she was on the poky side, taking her own sweet time with it. Cotton came moseying on up to see what was what, when all of a sudden this big ol' bug started banging around our front porch.
Now, you have to understand that our front door is set back from the front of the house about 2-3 feet, creating a little vestibule of sorts where you can stand out of the rain as you get your house keys out to unlock the door. There's a hanging light over the door, up quite high, and it shed light all over the stairs and beyond.
So this BIG bug comes in, attracted by the light one would suppose, and starts literally bouncing off the walls. Bang, bang, bang, back and forth off the vinyl siding, swooping out of the light every so often and dive bombing back in. At one point it swooped out and made me duck! Thought the thing would get caught in my current mop of hair for sure! All the while it's making this weird clicking noise. It dropped onto its back on the porch at one point, and I figured out what it was: a cicada. Not a common bug by any means as they only hatch once in a very great while, but a very ugly bug. About 2 inches long from stem to stern, and looking like a particularly weird flying beetle (not at all like Thunderbird Two).
Well, all this motion attracts Cotton's attention and she's got her eye on this thing. She wants it, no doubt about it, and she tries to swat at it from the porch a few times to bring it down. But she realizes she can't catch it while it's in flight, so she jumps up on the porch railing to get a better view as it's bumbling around. It continues to richochet off the walls and door, and finally lands, belly up, on the bit of railing right in front of Cotton. Amazing that it did; the railing at that point is only about three inches across, and the part she's perched on is even narrower.
She watches it for a good long while, giving it her best "You are my prey" stare. I'm contemplating whether or not to hop inside and get a jar to catch it so Boy #1 can see it in the morning. But I decide to let the cat have her fun, and at last, she plucks it up in her mouth and sort of makes as if she's going to carry it off!
I don't remember if I called to her or the bug moved or what, but she dropped it rather quickly and it buzzed its way over to the welcome mat - the kind of ropy one that says, "Wipe Your Paws" on it. It falls down beside the edge, and gets sort of tangled up in some mat fluff that was lying there (I really need to sweep my porch!).
This is where Lacey comes in. She's been watching this thing, too, and when it falls, she's on it like butter on bread. She paws at it, forcing it further under the mat; the clicking noise it makes is beginning to sound more like a cicada's usual buzzing cry. The further under the mat she shoves it, the more she paws to pull the mat back. Finally, the thing's totally enmeshed in the fluff, stuffed a couple of inches under the mat, and looking much the worse for wear. The buzzing is dying off, and I'm sure the bug is done for.
That's when I took a hand, pulling the length of fluff out, separating about six inches of it, and dropping the part with the bug in it onto the lowest step. Cotton immediately came down to see what I'd done with it.
It didn't hold her interest long, though, as she padded off onto the grass. Lacey followed her, wanting to play, and eventually I had to haul the puppy (who had done her business) back into the house.
And that, my friends, is my current critter story.
Note: The "annual cicada" in this Wiki article is the one we met up with.
