I haven’t seen one of these for a while. This European Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) was under the plastic sheet covering a pile of gravel I have in the garden. Freaky, alien creatures…. Years back, in Portugal, I kept one as a pet and the only thing it wouldn’t eat was a Cicada – butContinue reading “Praying Mantis”
Tag Archives: animal
Sabre Wasp
This Sabre wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria) was buzzing around our plot of land up in the mountains near the Polish border. It has one scarily long tail used for stinging larvae embedded in logs and trees, then laying an egg in them.
Young Red Fox
We have a new visitor to the garden – a young red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Unlike the manky, hairy old fox I chased out the other week, this one seems quite naive and obviously hasn’t been through a hunting season yet. Recently, Slovakia announced open season on all foxes and raccoon dogs in an attemptContinue reading “Young Red Fox”
Young Red deer hind
Whilst nowhere near as cute as their smaller Roe deer cousins, young Red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) still have a certain je ne sais quoi when jumping around….
Fallow deer buck
This was a particularly friendly Fallow deer (Dama dama) buck we encountered as an attraction at an unusual location. The owners of a former brothel, in quite a remote village,, obviously decided to change their ‘theme’ and keep Fallow deer in order to attract visitors. Unfortunately, their business plan doesn’t seem to be working as,Continue reading “Fallow deer buck”
Resident lizard
Here’s one of my resident lizards (Lacerta viridis) sunning himself on the Zen rock pile in the garden. He does like having his photo taken…
Goldfinch
A flock of goldfinches (Cardeulis cardeulis) were stripping the berries in my father’s garden. Ordinarily a very brightly coloured bird, a heavy overcast managed to subdue their colouring almost completely.
Feral cat and doll
Today I witnessed a bizarre scene in the proximity of some container bins. A discarded doll was apparently being guarded by a feral cat, which hissed at passersby. Whether the cat had claimed the doll as a potential food source or something more sympathetic, I couldn’t tell.
Fieldfare and winter berries
I really need to start photographing some other species but this Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) was just hanging around, stuffing itself on berries, so I thought ‘why not?’
Raccoon Dog Slaughter Season
Ever since I first saw one stuffed and mounted in a small village bar in the Pieniny National Park in Slovakia, I have had an interest in the Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) – at first I didn’t even believe such a creature existed in Europe. Having been thus far unable to locate them alone, IContinue reading “Raccoon Dog Slaughter Season”
