And then there were six...

We were out playing with friends and doing errands until after 5pm today. It was the longest we've ever been away from the turkey poults. Apparently their loud chirping was just too much temptation for the free roamin' beagle down the street, who is appropriately named "Chopper". As we drove up, Chopper was running off with three poults in his mouth and had left one bleeding (we think it will recover) in the enclosure. I don't know how he got in. I felt responsible, as did Gillen. The truth is that Chopper was just doing what hunting dogs who are still (ahem) intact in their lower regions are naturally prone to do - hunt and kill.

Gillen and Nicolas are, right now, moving the turkeys and their enclosure to the farm where it will stand within the bigger enclosure that Gillen had built for them for next week.

I am glad for the sounds of frogs and cicadas to buffer the sudden, poultless silence. I'll miss the little guys.

On the other side of our home, the writing spiders (argiopes) are thriving. We found a fourth one that has taken up residence on the grape arbor. While I was looking up more info. about them on various sites on the web, Nicolas and GIllen came home. I went out to see them on the porch, where the argiope live, and there, crawling over the large body of the original female while she sucked her cicada dinner, was the tiny male! If you click on the photo you can see it enlarged.
Can you see him, right above the female? I had just read about how small they are compared to the female (only 1/4 inch) or I would have thought he was her dessert. Of course, he may BE dessert, after he takes care of furthering the species. Or is that just Black Widows (and is it only in that Bette Midler song from the movie "The Rose")?