We lived in Illinois during my grade school years. The house in the woods we remember as Briarwood. That is where little brother caught the snake, we met a three-legged raccoon, Mom caught and preserved a giant Luna moth, and I got a cigar box full of bees that I learned to preserve for myself.
Lizard Lore
I suppose the bee sting at the yellow house (former post) started it. Then there was the pet lizard my brother kept hid outside all summer at Lake Geneva. We would watch it, learning how it manages to live, but never let Mom know because she would make us get rid of it. At the end of summer when the weather started getting cool, my brother explained that lizards hibernate all winter and come back out the next summer. So, we buried it underneath our trailer, hoping that would protect it some from the cold and snow. We moved at the end of school that year and never got to see if he survived. I did look to see if I could find were we buried him one last time before we left. I thought about that a lot the following year.
Fishing- first and Last Time
I also went fishing the first and last time of my childhood. I was three, I think. Dad and older brother took me with them after I begged to go. I knew if I stayed home, I had to do girly stuff and I was not interested in that on warm summer days. I do not know where we went or how we got there and back. All I remember is sitting on the bank of a stream, waiting for the fish to bite. They final caught one and I was so distraught seeing the hook poking inside and back out of that poor fish’s mouth. They were trying to get the hook out and it looked like they were hurting it more, so I was crying and begging them to hurry and get the hook out. I would not stop crying until they through it back in the water and I could see it was going to live. So, you see why I never got to go again.
Flowers and tORNADOES
When we first moved to Illinois, our house was in a new addition called Coventry, so that is how I remember that house. It’s where we lived when the Palm Sunday Tornadoes hit, but that’s a story for another time. There were not many critters there, so I learned more about plants. The tornado did blow a plant into the yard that I have never seen before or since. I liked it, so Mom helped me plant it at the corner of our house, in back where we played in summer. Mom planted Zinnias from seeds all down the side of the house. They always grew so thick we could cut a fresh bouquet whenever we wanted. Mom was not much on vegetable gardening, but she could grow flowers and houseplants. Especially vines.
Three Legged Raccoon
A year later we moved to Briarwood. The house was set back in a woods. I loved it. We took walks along the paths in the wood ands saw all kinds of wildflowers birds and insects. One day a raccoon came hobbling out of the woods. It only had three legs. It looked like one of the front legs was cut off. We ran in to tell Mom and she came out and looked. Either Mom or Georgie told us its leg was caught in a trap and that is how he lost it. Mom said they like peanut butter, so we put some in an old jar lid and took it outside a little bit away from the house, but where we could watch from a window. Mom told us not to touch it because you can get bit and sick from the bite or other germs and bugs on it.
Much like my oldest son did to me, I had to test this theory to see if it was true. We took peanut butter out to that raccoon every day. Sometimes if we had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, I would save the last bite for him. He got so used to us that he would come right up for his peanut butter and not even pay attention to us, so we no longer went inside to watch. Pretty sure it was Tim, my youngest brother, that began petting him. We considered him our pet at that point. One day one of my brothers was in the woods and the neighbor boy on the other side of the woods, shot that raccoon out of a tree. We were all pretty upset with him. He was older than me and mean so there was nothing I could do, but I think my dad talked to his about staying out of our woods after that.
Luna moths and stinging insects
The Luna moth was on the outside of the dining room picture window. It was dark out and having the light on while we were sitting at the table attracted it. It was a rare thing for us to be at the table after dark, so it must have been a summer night and Dad was probably out of town on a business trip. It was huge and Mom decided to go outside and catch it. I do not remember how she did it, but she managed to preserve it and had it hanging up until we moved again.
What I do remember is that I learned to put a cotton ball soaked in alcohol in the bottom of a jar, place something on top of that so the alcohol would not touch the insect or it would discolor it. Then place whatever insect I had caught in the jar and pup the lid on tight. The fumes would kill the insect and then you could use it in a display. I got on old cigar box from somewhere and began collecting one of each insect that uses a stinger. Wasp, Hornet, Sweat Bee, etc. I took a straight pin and push through the insect’s body into the bottom inside of the cigar box. A few years later this came in handy. Eighth grade Biology we were asked to catch at least 100 different types of insect and pin to a board for display.
I began to learn more about the insects that year, and what were good helpful insects verses what were harmful insects. An important thing to learn, especially if you plan to garden. I have since learned to try to identify insects and research whether they are helpful or harmful. Identifying insects that will kill your trees, shrubs or gardens is the first step to preventing this destruction. At the same time identify insects that pollinate or are natural predators to the harmful insects helps you to understand why it is important to encourage them rather than killing them just because it is a bug.
The Praying Mantis is one of the most helpful insects for your gardens. They eat many pests including mosquitoes which I am grateful for. They also eat many of the pests that are trying to eat you garden plants. I see them often and am very careful not to disturb them.
Past years. Can you identify the spider?