It's that annual invasion of youngsters looking for fun in the Florida sunshine. Most of them have a good time and go home refreshed, but there is a down side to spring break ...
Some kids drink way too much.
After drinking to excess, a few will lose all restraint and engage in silly, sometimes risky behaviors.
Parents may not be watching, but all this partying takes place under the watchful eyes of outnumbered, and overworked cops ... aka "The Buzz".
(okay, you may not get that one if you are too young)
Of course, during spring break, all the restaurants are crowded and you may find yourself waiting in long lines only to find the food is gone by the time you get seated.
So, what is going on here?
Last summer, the huge lubber grasshoppers laid their eggs in the soil here at PFHQ.
Apparently, conditions for egg development were perfect this winter, because what you see in that last picture is only the tip of the iceberg.
Every clump of spiderwort, every bush, every little weed in my unmown "lawn" was covered with grasshopper nymphs after Sunday night's rain.
28 comments:
Gives new meaning to the concept of excess.
That's quite a sight. Sure hope they don't party-hearty over in the lettuce. Will the chickens eat some of these ravenous lubbers?
Hey
That last image reminds me of a time long, long ago. My sweetie and I were sitting in a park just after the sun started to set. Sounded like it was starting to rain. Go figure. It was summer. We sat for awhile enjoying the little miracle. After awhile, we flicked on the lights to the nearby tennis courts. As you can imagine, we looked like the flowers in your last pic.
Good times.
isn't this one of the biblical plauges?
the photos are awfully cute, but i'm not sure i'd be very patient with a few berzillion "kids" on spring break.
Our human spring break was last week.
Love the first pic with the water droplets! Great shot!
and I love the bee and grasshopper photo, too. Looks like the bee had to go elsewhere. He'll have to come back after break is over with. LOL
Now,young man, get yourself back in the house and get to work!
The Buzz... *snerk*
Gotta love anybody with a mind as warped as my own. *heheh*
You must be careful, as well, that you don't wake up covered in cow slobber.
We had a lubber-load a few years ago, but I haven't seen so many this year... yet. Now that the sun is finally peeking out a bit, I need to get down to the refuge and see what all the rain hath wrought.
all i can say is yeck
nice pictures but yeck.
maybe you should teach sex ed. to those on spring brake and maybe that won't happen again.
hehe
Great post!
FC,
As always you have the great talent of excelently composed photos. With that rhetorical I can see why you and TD hit it off so well. I could tell it was time for a break. My Comp II instructor added a qoute to an e-mail to me yesterday to help for my job interview today. (By the way I think I nailed it) any way I thought it might help.
"Only those that risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot
Bro J
EEEWWWWWWW! EEWWW! that last ones just gives me the all overs.. eeeewww.
OK i want you to try the following:
Take about 4 of those Bamboo scewers, some triyaki marinade, hot peanut oil,..... I think you get the picture! ;-)
If one didn't know better, a random reader could correctly guess that the writer of this post is a father.
Ick. Those creeps give me the crawlers.
Born to eat! They don't seem to be bad over here, got our fingers crossed.
AAAUUGHHHH!!!! LUBBERS! No, NOT LUBBERS!!!
They make my skin crawl.
I must run away now!
Sorry, but that just makes me skin crawl. I think Edifice Rex said it best: EEWWWWWWWEEEE.
Excellent. We have a whole cage full of lubbers on display at the moment. I'll try to get a picture posted. About your spiderwort, I don't think I've ever seen bicolored flowers before. Is that Tradescantia virginiensis or a different species?
FC-
As always you know I just LOVE the creepy-crawly post!
Lightnin
Ick Ick ICK!!! Looks like an Old Testament Plague!! Beautiful detail in those photos, though. I really love the close up on those water drops :)
I see that we abstained from "falling off the 6th floor hotel balcony" humor. A missed opportunity, sez I - but I was never one for good taste.
To answer Robin's ?? - I don't think much of anything eats lubbers. Correct me if I'm wrong, Doug, Fc, Wayne, etc - but lubbers are equipped with an effective little chemical defense system which makes them yukky to predators. Hence the LACK of camouflage in both nymphs and (beautifully colored) adults.
/end lecture
Forgive me a "blankey thanky" instead of individual comments. I'm finishing and mailing my big project today, so I need to stay on task.
The running them seems to be that hoppers creep people out. I never would have guessed that.
... and Thing, from fish to chickens, nothing seems to eat them.
one is cute. an army of them, not cute.
WOW!!
Like to see them but not around my house!!
The colours in your pictures are amazing!
They're everywhere in the sandhill around here! Little colonies of them by the hundred!
Well that would thoroughly freak out my wife, haha.
Wow amazing. Never seen so many grasshopper nymphs. Wish they were in my garden! I bet the birds love to eat them? Jane
fantastic shots. What camera and lens do you use? Small critters are difficult to shoot!
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