Monthly Archives: September 2015

Ruthless killer apprehended in northwest Bismarck

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mantis_35617I have never seen one of these in the wild before, and certainly not in North Dakota, yet my littlest boy brought one home from a nature walk today!  I shouldn’t be surprised, since he caught a four-inch “walking stick” bug at the sandbar a couple of weekends ago.  He catches toads and frogs, flies, and any manner of bug.  I don’t think he got that talent from me, although I did “catch” him a fuzzy caterpillar on the way home from work today.  This mantis is one majestic insect, let me tell you.  But it’s got a mean streak.

 

mantis_35622“If I could do this, I’d never leave the house…” 

In addition to being a talented climber, this bug is a diligent preener as well.  It spent plenty of time tending to its legs and feet while I snapped away in an impromptu dining room photo shoot.

 

mantis_35599“Say it isn’t so!”

I don’t have any photos to post, but once we put this critter back into its habitat with a grasshopper from the yard it showed its true colors.  I looked over to see how it was doing, and it had gnawed the head off the grasshopper and going to town on its body like it was an ice cream cone.  Before long, nothing was left except a few bits of wing and forelegs.  Yikes.

After I’d tucked the little ones to bed and was sitting in my recliner, I heard a spooky scratching.  The mantis was trying to escape its bug hut (good luck, pal).  I went to the next room and peered at it through the plastic wall.  Its antennae constantly swayed back and forth in a nearly hypnotic motion, and it stared at me with an unwavering “I’ll chew your face off, wise guy” glare.

We’re going to go the extra mile to prepare a happy habitat for this predator.  Grasshoppers and crickets abound right now, and are available year round.  I think I may lock my bedroom door at night, though…

 

 

City Magazine uses Hostile & Abusive™ language on its September cover

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citymag_sept2015I like to pick up City Magazine, usually for my friend Tom Regan’s feature articles.  The rest is thinly veiled advertising that doesn’t really interest me, but the cover story is usually pretty interesting and features a noteworthy local figure.  The new issue is no different, but it sure is insensitive (if you’re inclined toward political correctness, that is).

For years we’ve been told that the term “Sioux” is “Hostile and Abusive™” and that anyone who wants to see it continue as the nickname / mascot for the University of North Dakota’s athletic programs is deemed a Racist™ by activists tied to the race industry.  Then why is it being used to describe the Standing Rock Sioux (oops, I said it) Tribe?

Let’s not forget, that Standing Rock is the tribe that did not allow its members to vote on whether the nickname and logo should be kept or abandoned.  By doing so, deadlines passed which allowed the opponents of it to win an administrative victory toward the demise of the logo.

You’d think that the tribe responsible (to the dismay of many of its members) for putting a fork in the Fighting Sioux logo would be among the last to smear themselves with such a vile slur.  Nope.  I suppose it’s the same standard that hip hop artists hide behind with their Grammy-winning vernacular.  Lame.

Hijinks at the capitol?

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capitol_lawn_ipt6_0106I mentioned on my blog’s Facebook and Twitter feeds the other day that I’d hiked up to the 18th floor of the state capitol. It was an urge that struck me as I was about to head to the elevator on a visit to one of my favorite local buildings.  I had my helmet and my work backpack, which weighs in at a spry 21 pounds, and I have to say I was dragging by the time I got to the top.  I kept motivating myself by saying “You’re 1/6th of the way there…you’re one third of the way there…halfway there…” and so on.  After looking around for a few, I also walked back down.  Much easier.  But while looking down at the mall, I noticed something peculiar.

 

capitol_lawn_ipt6_0107From the look of things, someone drove out onto the lawn over by the State Library somewhere, then headed south before doing some sort of J-turn or other aggro maneuver.  Groundskeepers didn’t do this…the marks in the grass look pretty deep.

 

capitol_lawn_ipt6_0114I’ve watched guys meticulously mow that crosshatch pattern into the grass on the capitol lawn, and I doubt the equipment they drive would even make marks like these.  Go figure.  I don’t know who you are, but whoever ripped up the lawn at the capitol: STOP.  This is the only capitol we’ve got here in North Dakota, and I’m rather fond of it!

South Unit overlook

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wind_canyon_35576_hdrI got to cross one more location off my photography wish list, sort of, as I took my family to the Medora Musical a couple of weekends ago.  One place I wanted to scout for a future “dark-to-dark” photography day was the Wind Canyon Overlook at the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It was everything I expected, but even more challenging to photograph.

 

wind_canyon_ip_7025Click for larger image

I took a quick panorma with my mobile device and scouted out some other potential locations for the future.  I’d like to catch this location at pre-dawn, sunrise, sunset, and at night.  A friend and I are scheming to make that happen yet this fall…we’ll see how that actually works out.

I’ll never run out of things to photograph in Bismarck-Mandan, or North Dakota in general.  Time, however, is another issue.  But I had little boys who loved to grab one of my spare cameras and photograph prairie dogs and bison with a 300mm lens, so I intend to make more trips as soon as we get more settled into our new house.