On Thursday evening we decided to go for a walk to our local park. Matt needed to go out for a walk and the park is close enough for him to get there and back to before his back gets too painful.
It is the park I used to go to as a child and although it has changed quite a bit it still seems to have stayed the same, which doesn't really make sense but that's how I feel. The woods are not as dense as they used to be but they are still very much the same woods as they used to be when I was little.
It is the park I used to go to as a child and although it has changed quite a bit it still seems to have stayed the same, which doesn't really make sense but that's how I feel. The woods are not as dense as they used to be but they are still very much the same woods as they used to be when I was little.
I used to feel like I could easily get lost in the woods when I was little but now I am older they seem really quite open but they still feel closed in enough for you to feel hidden. I think a lot of the trees were lost in the hurricane we had in 1987. We sometimes feed the squirrels in the woods. They are probably the children's children of the squirrels I used to feed as a child.
I had forgotten how nice it is to go for a walk in the park in the evening. The light is lovely and it is quiet enough to enjoy a peaceful walk but not so quiet you would want to dash through with one eye over your shoulder! Everything is so lovely and green at this time of year. It's all shiny and new like it's just been unwrapped.
On our way out I happened to look to one side at a tree that we were passing and I gasped so loadly Matt thought something was seriously wrong! But I was fine, I was just excited at what I had spied! Resting there, almost camouflaged by the tree's bark, was the biggest, most beautiful Stag Beetle I have ever seen in my life.
Really the pictures do him no justice. He was at least three inches long. He moved like he was a wind up toy and he shone like he had been polished that morning with Brasso!
I used to collect Stag Beetles when I was little, I would always put them back where I found them, but I used to like looking at them. The ones I remember were much smaller than this one. I didn't want to leave him where he was in case he fell in to the wrong hands, but I didn't like to disturb him so we left the park for home.
I was on a high all the way home and I think I probably got on Matt's nerves slightly with continuous questions about what he thought of the beetle and had he ever seen one as big and so on and so on. But I was in love and I didn't care!
I said I would post again before the month was out. Thank you Mr Stag Beetle!
I was on a high all the way home and I think I probably got on Matt's nerves slightly with continuous questions about what he thought of the beetle and had he ever seen one as big and so on and so on. But I was in love and I didn't care!
I said I would post again before the month was out. Thank you Mr Stag Beetle!
