In our neighborhood, Trick or Treaters seldom come knocking on doors or asking for candy. We live far from town, and the people in the houses that line the river are more oldsters than youngsters. On Halloween night I miss the little ones, dressed up as ghouls or princesses, traipsing down the street amid giggles and choruses of "Trick or Treat! Close inspection of the backyard, however, reveals a host of natural tricksters.
A couple of years ago, I posted some pictures to prove that Nature itself had done a pretty good job of celebrating Halloween. Here are a few spooky characters from around the yard, an encore of Nature's trick or treaters.
Can you tell what's making this scary face?
Cactus blooms can also make faces worthy of Halloween! That blood-red mouth is downright gruesome!
A hoary Fungus Face hides on an old tree stump, waiting for the Halloween party to begin.
Talk about disguises: the Walking Sticks in the photo below came to the party dressed as, well...walking sticks!
What's a Halloween party without a few well-dressed spiders?
and night-black snakes,
and black birds with devilish eyes.
A Silver Argiope spins her web. That little guy above her is her mate, and possibly a Halloween treat.
A flash from the camera lights up this Wolf Spider's creepy eyes.
What's in the web-below--is it spider or prey?
No matter, the web is a masterpiece, a fine Halloween decoration!)
Click to enlarge the photo above: you'll see the hundreds of baby spiders creepy-crawling out of their pod, headed for the Trick or Treat party.
Other guests at the Halloween costume ball: a butterfly dressed in ghostly garb,
and an appropriately-named Funereal Duskywing, just perfect for Halloween haunting,
One little goblin (bee or butterfly?) dressed up in the Flower costume,above. (Look close! Can you see it?)
A Black Witch Moth (yes, that's really its name) flew with five-inch wingspan into our house and spent the night on the curtains.
Last, but never least, a night-time owl prowled the neighborhood on Halloween night:
Screeches, hoots, trembling trills---an Eastern Screech-owl sings to the Halloween moon!
Happy Halloween from the creatures of the Arroyo Colorado--human or non-, imaginary or not!
