A week ago, I was pondering the fact that it had been ages since I'd seen a stick insect: had the chooks eaten them all? Then a few days later, I spotted this handsome creature in our laundry. He was about 20cm long and 2-3mm wide. The biggest stick insect I've seen in Sydney was about twice that. Stick insects like thick, undisturbed foliage to hide in, so you tend not to find them in manicured gardens. I'm ridiculously pleased with this shot (an utter fluke, of course; I am a point-and-click girl).
Anyway, this post is part of my offering for this month's Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, on wildlife in the garden. The other post is about a dragonfly.
We are too deep in suburbia here to see mammals like wombats, possums or antechinus, but there are minibeasts in every garden. Some are extraordinarily beautiful. They don't need much looking after, but minimising pesticides and providing water can help. See how many you can find in your back yard!
6 comments:
Cool! I remembered spotting some of them a very long time ago. Seems like they are gone, nowadays.
They are very interesting aren't they?
Awesome image, Chookie! We have walkingsticks here too, though it'll be a while until they show up again for the season.
Stick insects occasionally show up here in Marrickville, and they're the star turn when they do. Great shot, too, Chookie.
We've had a few this season. Fascinating creatures
:) great pic.
I can remember them coving a casia bush in next doors garden a few years back ... and they were "double deckers" at the time too (musta been spring).
...and while you might not get wombats, surely you have a local possum family (they are fairly common, even in urban areas) or marauding flying foxes (known as "flying black night possums" by my kids).
....green frogs in your pot plants? (we have 3 living on the front verandah in the bases of the hanging pots)
...maggies and kookas?
Mum had a frogmouth on the hills hoist the other night.
..and ladybeetles in our garden always make me smile.
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