Dragonfliy hunter

I got a bit of a chuckle, last night.

I was working at my computer, usually the only light in the room when doing
so is my desk lamp and a little light spilling in from the hall, when my two
cats come charging into the room with Peepers leading and Smudge trailing.

I am a little puzzled momentarily as I assume they are playing chase but
when they come to a dead halt and stare at something moving on the ceiling I
know it is not chase. I look around a bit but see nothing.

Then I hear a loud buzzing that I think is a large moth, which is a common
occurrence but not a sign of one. I am about to give up when a really large
dragonfly suddenly appears between me and the computer and Peepers is in
full action. But this dragonfly is having nothing of this large dark shadow
with evil eyes coming at him and turns up hits the ceiling and reels toward
a high set of drawers and alights momentarily with Peepers trying to get up
to the top and Smudge looking on (Peepers is the big game specialist here -
Smudge does better on the smaller objects like flies and the occasional
wasp - she is real careful with them).

The dragonfly recovers and heads back out into the hall and I think no more
of it.

When I come out later to give the cats some treats, the dragonfly is still
quivering next to the dry food bowl. Everytime it moves, Peepers leaps into
the air, mouths it and lets it go while Smudge sits back and enjoys his
prowess and wishes she could handle something this big because Peepers isn't
going to let her. Peepers now realizes that I am present and he moves the
dragonfly into the hall out of my sight as he probably remembers what
happened to some of the other big game that I've taken away and disposed of.

He stops briefly to have his treats.

Then goes on with the game and Smudge realizing that she is getting no part
of this goes into the bedroom to sleep. During the rest of the evening
while watching TV, I am getting an acrobatic display from Peepers as he
leaves the dragonfly goes a distance away and then flips, jumps and races
back to the long dead dragonfly (now in two parts - heavy body and a
separate tail. He would do this for ten minutes or so every half hour for
hours.

It was amusing watching him making sure that it was dead.

I couldn't find it this morning to dispose of so I assume he ate it, I
certainly do not want to find dried dragonfly parts over the next little
while.

I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I live near
the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there is no swamp or pond
anywhere in the area. The Don River is not that far off - 1/2 kilometer but
that river valley is park, mowed grassland and certainly no swamp or ponds.
Anybody any idea what other habitats they live in. Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th floor.
Mind you the cats are not complaining they are waiting and hoping for the
next one

Larry Osborne

Larry Osborne wrote:


I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I live near
the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there is no swamp or pond
anywhere in the area. The Don River is not that far off - 1/2 kilometer but
that river valley is park, mowed grassland and certainly no swamp or ponds.
Anybody any idea what other habitats they live in.

Practically anywhere, I should think - we frequently saw them in our
yard in Minnesota, and "ten thousand lakes" or not, we were certainly
nowhere near a body of water. I should think "mowed grassland" would
provide them with an ideal habitat - IIRC, they eat smaller insects
(like mosquitos, midges, etc.) so anywhere the latter exist, you'll most
likely encounter the occasional dragonfly.

Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th floor.

Now that's more of a puzzler - theoretically flying insects aren't a
problem on higher floors (the excuse landlords give for not providing
screened windows) but I don't know how true the "theory" is.


Mind you the cats are not complaining they are waiting and hoping for the
next one

Ah yes, I remember the time I heard Judy making crunching sounds, and
discovered her devouring a VERY large grasshopper in the middle of my
living room. It's true the door to my balcony was open, but we were on
the third floor, and she was an indoor-only cat!

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On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 13:59:18 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



Larry Osborne wrote:


I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I
live near the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there
is no swamp or pond anywhere in the area. The Don River is not
that far off - 1/2 kilometer but that river valley is park, mowed
grassland and certainly no swamp or ponds. Anybody any idea what
other habitats they live in.

Practically anywhere, I should think - we frequently saw them in our
yard in Minnesota, and "ten thousand lakes" or not, we were
certainly nowhere near a body of water. I should think "mowed
grassland" would provide them with an ideal habitat - IIRC, they eat
smaller insects
(like mosquitos, midges, etc.) so anywhere the latter exist, you'll
most likely encounter the occasional dragonfly.

As I recall, the larval stage has to live in water, but the adults
can roam away from water. The larvae can probably live in the river
as long as the current isn't so fast that they would be swept away
downstream.


Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th
floor.

Now that's more of a puzzler - theoretically flying insects aren't a
problem on higher floors (the excuse landlords give for not
providing screened windows) but I don't know how true the "theory"
is.

The dragonfly could have taken an unintended elevator ride, or it
could have been swept upwards by the wind.

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--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...


Larry Osborne wrote:


I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I live
near
the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there is no swamp or
pond
anywhere in the area. The Don River is not that far off - 1/2 kilometer
but
that river valley is park, mowed grassland and certainly no swamp or
ponds.
Anybody any idea what other habitats they live in.

Practically anywhere, I should think - we frequently saw them in our
yard in Minnesota, and "ten thousand lakes" or not, we were certainly
nowhere near a body of water. I should think "mowed grassland" would
provide them with an ideal habitat - IIRC, they eat smaller insects
(like mosquitos, midges, etc.) so anywhere the latter exist, you'll most
likely encounter the occasional dragonfly.

Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th floor.

Now that's more of a puzzler - theoretically flying insects aren't a
problem on higher floors (the excuse landlords give for not providing
screened windows) but I don't know how true the "theory" is.


I don't know about the theory but I see many insects at this height ( I
guess close to 150 feet above the street). I would love to know what they
are doing at this height. certainly any insects food is going to be within
ten feet of the ground.

Larry Osborne



Mind you the cats are not complaining they are waiting and hoping for
the
next one

Ah yes, I remember the time I heard Judy making crunching sounds, and
discovered her devouring a VERY large grasshopper in the middle of my
living room. It's true the door to my balcony was open, but we were on
the third floor, and she was an indoor-only cat!

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
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Hash: SHA1

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 13:59:18 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



Larry Osborne wrote:


I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I
live near the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there
is no swamp or pond anywhere in the area. The Don River is not
that far off - 1/2 kilometer but that river valley is park, mowed
grassland and certainly no swamp or ponds. Anybody any idea what
other habitats they live in.

Practically anywhere, I should think - we frequently saw them in our
yard in Minnesota, and "ten thousand lakes" or not, we were
certainly nowhere near a body of water. I should think "mowed
grassland" would provide them with an ideal habitat - IIRC, they eat
smaller insects
(like mosquitos, midges, etc.) so anywhere the latter exist, you'll
most likely encounter the occasional dragonfly.

As I recall, the larval stage has to live in water, but the adults
can roam away from water. The larvae can probably live in the river
as long as the current isn't so fast that they would be swept away
downstream.


The water in the Don River might be slow enough in dry weather but there is
usually a fair flow. The Don River and Valley is the remnant of the old
river that drained from what is now Georgian Bay into now Lake Ontario
during the recession of the glaciers. The flow was very high, so the
waterway was fairly deep although it has gotten much shallower and smaller
it is still considered a navigable waterway (if you count canoes an rowboats
as they used to). I seem to remember that dragonflies have a multiyear
larval period and I really don't think that they would be able to survive
the melt in spring.

Larry Osborne


Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th
floor.

Now that's more of a puzzler - theoretically flying insects aren't a
problem on higher floors (the excuse landlords give for not
providing screened windows) but I don't know how true the "theory"
is.

The dragonfly could have taken an unintended elevator ride, or it
could have been swept upwards by the wind.

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--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

"Larry Osborne" wrote

Then I hear a loud buzzing that I think is a large moth, which is a common
occurrence but not a sign of one. I am about to give up when a really
large
dragonfly suddenly appears between me and the computer and Peepers is in
full action.

We had an insect incident here, too, last night. I let Nikki out on the
balcony when it was already dark outside, she climbed up on the cat tree,
and spotted a big moth on one of the panes. The chase was on, and they
careened around the balcony. Finally the moth hid behind the cubby hole at
the base of the cat tree, and Nikki crouched on top of it with her head down
behind it. Suddenly she got a terrible bout of coughing, I don't know if it
was from sitting in that position, with her head down, or if she caught the
moth and choked on it, but I brought her inside and tried to calm her. She
just wanted to get back outside.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 13:42:54 -0400, "Larry Osborne"
wrote:

I got a bit of a chuckle, last night.

I was working at my computer, usually the only light in the room when doing
so is my desk lamp and a little light spilling in from the hall, when my two
cats come charging into the room with Peepers leading and Smudge trailing.

I am a little puzzled momentarily as I assume they are playing chase but
when they come to a dead halt and stare at something moving on the ceiling I
know it is not chase. I look around a bit but see nothing.

Then I hear a loud buzzing that I think is a large moth, which is a common
occurrence but not a sign of one. I am about to give up when a really large
dragonfly suddenly appears between me and the computer and Peepers is in
full action. But this dragonfly is having nothing of this large dark shadow
with evil eyes coming at him and turns up hits the ceiling and reels toward
a high set of drawers and alights momentarily with Peepers trying to get up
to the top and Smudge looking on (Peepers is the big game specialist here -
Smudge does better on the smaller objects like flies and the occasional
wasp - she is real careful with them).

The dragonfly recovers and heads back out into the hall and I think no more
of it.

When I come out later to give the cats some treats, the dragonfly is still
quivering next to the dry food bowl. Everytime it moves, Peepers leaps into
the air, mouths it and lets it go while Smudge sits back and enjoys his
prowess and wishes she could handle something this big because Peepers isn't
going to let her. Peepers now realizes that I am present and he moves the
dragonfly into the hall out of my sight as he probably remembers what
happened to some of the other big game that I've taken away and disposed of.

He stops briefly to have his treats.

Then goes on with the game and Smudge realizing that she is getting no part
of this goes into the bedroom to sleep. During the rest of the evening
while watching TV, I am getting an acrobatic display from Peepers as he
leaves the dragonfly goes a distance away and then flips, jumps and races
back to the long dead dragonfly (now in two parts - heavy body and a
separate tail. He would do this for ten minutes or so every half hour for
hours.

It was amusing watching him making sure that it was dead.

I couldn't find it this morning to dispose of so I assume he ate it, I
certainly do not want to find dried dragonfly parts over the next little
while.

I never did figure out where the dragonfly came from though. I live near
the centre of Toronto, near a large cemetary and there is no swamp or pond
anywhere in the area. The Don River is not that far off - 1/2 kilometer but
that river valley is park, mowed grassland and certainly no swamp or ponds.
Anybody any idea what other habitats they live in. Then there is my usual
complaint about why they are coming into my apartment on the 16th floor.
Mind you the cats are not complaining they are waiting and hoping for the
next one

Larry Osborne

When I was a child there were lots of vacant fields around with lots
of dragonflies. Now it is wall to wall cities and I havent seen a
dragonfly in many years. Thanks for the memory. MLB