I just had to share these pics!

[tigerlily]

Wow, I've never heard of that before.... and now I know. Thanks!

[jknudson]

Woah! That bug is freaky!

[Ginevive]

Cool hawks! That insect is interesting too; I would have no idea what it was, either.
Wild mice are fair game in my neck of the woods though. Once you find their poop in your kitchen cabinets, in your dishes.. once you find they've chewed holes in your garbage bags full of used rat bedding and spread it all over the mudroom; they lose their cuteness factor!

[tigerlily]

I agree with ya Jen. Fortunately, I haven't had any problems with them in my house! If I did, I'd probably make someone else come out and kill them for me.

[Alice]

I love the pic of the hawk! Thanks Christie.

[frankykeno]

Lord that's a huge fly! Do they need landing permits? Geeze!

Nothing better than a hunting housecat around Christie. Our old female cat used to deal with any mice problems we ever had. A week of her on patrol and the mice (the surviving ones that is) generally moved on to safer places.

[Ginevive]

Yeah; a good cat definately keeps the mice out! We had a ton of them during all seasons before we got Inky. Now we see neither hide nor hair of them indoors. And now that Inky's presence scares them off, he can spend time doing imprtant things like taking 6-hour catnaps and begging for food.

[tigerlily]

I have two cats that should take car of any mice that get the wrong idea to hang out at our house. I've been giving multiple presents, and was able to rescue a poor little chipmunk that was inattentive.

In fact, my husband is no help in squishing bugs so I had to turn to my cat. I can hold her up above my head while she catches flies and moths. It's kind of funny to watch.

[Evan Jamison]

I love the shot of the hawk Christie! Isn't it great having raptors so close to home?

Ever since I read this thread last week, I've wanted to know what kind of insect that was. Well I think it's a giant robber fly AKA bee killer, not sure what species though - http://bugguide.net/node/view/3026. Bugs are cool .

-Evan

[tigerlily]

Yes it is! I love seeing them. Right now, I'm enjoying the hummingbirds every morning. They're so cute!

KeithTn said that it was likely a robberfly as well. It was a crazy looking bug. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was a bit loopy staring at the ceiling on my porch taking pics.