Halloween is a celebration of the macabre and mischevious, and I’ve got a little of both of those in my yard this weekend!
My bouquet of the creepy and unloved begins with this (hopefully useful) Eastern Brown Snake, whom I discovered a while back sunning himself on my sidewalk. He’s small, and probably not good at much other than eating the occasional worm, ant, and cricket, but today is his day to shine!
What could be more symbolic of Halloween than a black cat? I’ve got several in my yard and garden this year including this one, who belongs to me. His name is Taco, and he is both the most accident prone and unlucky pet I’ve ever owned. While I don’t subscribe to the belief that black cats are unlucky to own, I did lose my home to my neighbor’s house fire on Halloween several years back, so draw your own conclusions!
Praying Mantises and their crunchy egg cases are all over my little postage stamp sized front yard. They’ve left egg cases on my blackberry trellis, on my Mums, and another on my Forsythia bush, so when next spring comes around I should have a bumper crop of Mantids. Anyone want some?
European Starlings are not their midnight colored Raven cousins, but they are out en-force in my neighborhood right now, and eagerly consuming my hot pepper suet. There are many winter weeks when the only birds I see around my block are Starlings and House Sparrows, so today begins the advent season of my appreciation of them.
That’s what I’ve got naturally decorating my yard this fall weekend, what’s growing, creeping or decorating your yard this Halloween?
About Amy
I hope I don’t have any snakes in my yard, I hope. I’ve got some ‘Spellbinder’ Hosta, that’s festive and magical if that counts!
Adrianna,
Those sound perfectly Halloween-y to me!