One last dog to teach box turtles are not play toys.
![[Box turtle]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-12-14--box-turtle/20211214_171707.jpg)
The turtle I transported to the far side where the dogs can’t find it. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman
Ripe bananas 2021-10-24
Tasty for breakfast.
Gretchen planted these bananas only a few years ago, when they were not even knee high. Look at the banana jungle now!
![[Ripe bananas, bees, dog, flowers]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-10-24--bananas/many.jpg)
Ripe bananas, bees, dog, flowers
Ripening
Continue readingMorning bird chorus 2021-10-09
Nothing happens out our front door on a foggy morning except birds sing, owls hoot.
![[Movie: Morning Bird Chorus (57M)]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-10-09--morning-bird-chorus/20211009_071621.jpg)
Arrow Boating 2021-09-17
![[Arrow on boat, Honeybun on land, Blondie in swamp]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-09-17--boats-dogs-cypress-swamp/20210917_074607.jpg)
Raindrops on sand 2021-09-06
![[Count the drops]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-09-06--sand-raidrops/20210906_182739.jpg)
Okra Flowers 2021-08-21
Yes, we do have okra.
![[Blooming]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-08-21--okra-flowers/20210821_130955.jpg)
The crop this year has been, ah, underwhelming. But there is some.
-jsq
Scorpion 2021-08-21
“It’s stinging me!” screeched Gretchen as she rushed into the house.
Yes, “screeched” is the word she later used to describe the loud noise she made.
![[On the sink]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-08-21--scorpion/20210821_233106.jpg)
As you can see, she then managed to fling this Striped Bark Scorpion off her, but the Centruroides vittatus landed on the sink.
Like the one I stepped on recently, this one hurt like a bee sting, but caused no noticeable damage by the next morning.
The amusing part is that Gretchen did not get this scorpion here at the farm.
She got it in downtown Valdosta.
-jsq
Praying Mantis 2021-08-07
On the truck:
![[Mantis]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-08-07--mantis/20210807_152046.jpg)
It’s some kind of Mantodea. Probably a native-to-Georgia Carolina Mantis, Stagmomantis carolina. Probably not the larger bird-eating species. These ones eat insects.
Here’s Gretchen observing it. Continue reading
Scorpion on dog food container 2021-08-01
That’ll wake you up.
![[Right where my index finger went]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-08-01--scorpion/big/20210801_074800.jpg)
Right where my index finger went
No scorpions were harmed in the making of this blog post. I ditched that striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) off the porch rail.
-jsq
Bee tree down, bees still up 2021-07-14
Fortunately, when the bee tree snapped off, it broke above the bee hive. So our pollinating native bees are still humming in and out of there. Their exit used to be on the other side of the tree, but they’re using this new entrance now.
![[Bee hive in bee tree stob]](http://www.okraparadisefarms.com/pictures/2021-07-14--trees-down-bees/20210714_122853.jpg)
I guess they will relocate, but at least they did not get suddenly evicted.
The bee tree was far from the largest of the fourteen big trees down we’ve counted so far. Two more were less than a hundred feet away towards the cypress swamp. Continue reading