One of the (many) ways I reveal myself to be a Proper Pom is the way I squeal at native wildlife - though I have improved slightly since last year when I got very excited about possums (the equivalent of tourists in the UK taking squillions of photos of grey squirrels), mainly because the buggers have eaten the strawberry plant and keep pooing on the garden furniture. I'm all outta love for them but when The Australian's dad (aka The Really Really Australian Australian) rescued a cicada from the jaws of my cat the other day, I went into full Squealing Pom mode. "Look at it!" I breathed. "It's...amazing." It was a green grocer cicada. The reason I was so impressed is because all last summer I heard these big boys making their incredibly loud "song" underground (their noisemakers are called "timbals" and it's like their ribs contracting...I think...I'm not very good at science.) I'd get down on the grass and put my ear low and my word it was loud - but I never caught a single glimpse of one...until dear old Shadow brought one home to play with. 'Course we let Bert the Green Grocer go and kept the cat in to give the little guy a chance...whereupon it was seized by a bird. Oops. Sorry, Bert, but it's the Circle of Life n' all...
I realise I can't compete with Mufasa, but if you're stuck for something to do you could do worse than watch me do a Virtual Reading over here.
2 comments:
I've just finished editing a book that had something about the life cycle of cicadas in it... something about only appearing every seven years? Hmm... I've read this text about seventeen times, yet it's all slightly vague. Great pic!
Here's Sir David to help us out with the science :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLiWy2nT7U
Poor Bert...to think he'd been underground all that time, only to be chucked around by a cat and then gobbled by a bird as soon as he poked his little head up. Still, at least he's been immortalised on my blog...not quite as good as being on a Sir David film, of course, but close.
Post a Comment