OTHER ANIMALS

Summer brings a new parade of bizzing, buzzing, humming creatures.  Four legged, many legged, some peaceful, some come to disturb the peace

The cicada  or tzitziki.  We'll be hearing their shrill high pitched screeching from sun-up till sun-down soon and know that summer has truly begun.  When the heat is unbearable the saying goes

'the cicada is exploding'

Did you know, 

if a cicada was singing right beside your ear it's song is  loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss?

At the top is the discarded casing of the cicada which it leaves behind as it climbs out to adulthood.

The bottom insect is called a 'chrisomiga' or golden fly in Greek.  Their english name appears to be June Bug.  The bug is a bright shiny green and black.  In days gone by small boys would tie a string around one its legs and swing it around over their heads.  I think nowadays a game like this would be frowned on by grown-ups who are more aware of suffering and sensitive to the environment

How would you like to see this as you stepped into the shower?  I kept my cool and took a photo before quishing it.

One of the frogs which spend the summer hiding behind our pot plants in the garden

A lizard, or maybe a salamander.  In Greek it is a 'samyamithi'.

We see loads of these in the evening and the cool of the night.  They come out to hunt mosquitoes and moths and make high pitched squeaky noises

A praying mantis, or maybe a grasshopper.  One of those harmless green jumpy, flying things.  In Greek they are called 'alogakia' or 'little horses'.

An 'Alexander beetle'.  One of my favourite AA Milne poems

I found a little beetle; so that beetle was his name

And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same

I put him in a matchbox and I kept him all the day..

And Nanny let my beetle out - 

yes Nanny let my beetle out -

She went and let my beetle out -

And beetle ran away

One of the many tortoises that roam slowly over field and by-way.