Other Critters

Other Critters 

Animals  |   Birds   |

All photos by Susan Galleymore, unless noted otherwise.

NOTE: Comment if you notice a critter is mislabeled.

Patience required. After waiting for what felt like an hour for this crab to perform for a video clip, I gave up and shot stills. Note to wildlife photographers: I salute your patience and dedication.

Research shows the damselfly is Africallagma sapphirinum, the sapphire bluet, a species in the family Coenagrionidae. Endemic to South Africa, its natural habitat is ponds and lakes with floating aquatic plants. Guess where I saw it? Yes, posed on a floating aquatic plant.

Impatient for the day this garden reveals some long-mourned endangered species. So far, while extraordinary anyway, most of the critters I've stumbled upon have been of the "Common" variety.

Orange dragonfly

Last summer, this Raucous Frog found its way into my house each night...and proceeded to croak - all night.

Common River Frog, sheltering in the garden.

Late afternoon yesterday, I watched a svelte snake sleek from the pond. Internet search revealed it to be a nonvenomous common brown water snake (Lycodonomorphus rufulus).

Photo and text by Snakebite Institute: “gentle, harmless snake is by far the most common water snake in southern Africa…found from Cape Town in the south, along the wet east coast of South Africa and inland as far as Gauteng, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is water margins, where it shelters under leaves and logs. It emerges at night to hunt frogs and sometimes rodents... active at night and swims well… often seen hunting along shaded streams during the day…. a powerful constrictor and feeds on frogs, tadpoles, fish and occasionally nestling rodents.”
(Hmmm, does it eat goldfish, too?)

Feeling the effects of limited movement during lockdown, I wander the garden today, camera in hand. So busy looking up for birds, or into trees for monkeys, I almost missed the crab at my feet.

Then I video'd her/him...

Not sure what kind of crab this is. My guess? Common River Crab.. or Common Brown River Crab.

Ladybug (US) Ladybird (SA)
Click to enlarge

Plain Tiger Butterfly
Click to enlarge

Praying Mantis
click to enlarge

After 10 days of no goldfish sightings,
suddenly four appeared!