Deadly on a Mission: Ferreiros (2/2)

My name's Erin Beresford, and this is my search for the Deadly 60; that's not just animals that are deadly to me, but that are deadly in their own world! My crew and I are travelling the planet to find the weirdest and the wildest, and find out what challenges they face; and you're coming with me EVEERY STEP OF THE WAYYYYY!

Ferreiros is in the middle of 

absolutely

NOWHERE!

Surrounded on all sides by mountains with a small population, Ferreiros is a town which feels completely untouched by the outside world, making it a safe haven in which wildlife can thrive.

Its scorching hot climate and lack of consistent water makes for an environment in which species have to fight and adapt to survive. This is something which we had to keep into account too, taking frequent breaks for water on the rocks, which is where we found our first contender!

The Lagartija Iberica, or Wall Lizard is a cunning omnivore that is native to central Europe. In the wild, these critters are ambush hunters, meaning they pounce out from the shadows at their prey. They have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to track down any friends or foes nearby. Unlike similar reptiles like geckos, who use millions of tiny fibers on their feet to create Van der Waals forces to 'stick' to walls, these little guys just use their claws to climb around!

Although they can be very good friends and listeners, don't be surprised if they don't lend you an ear, because they lack external ear structures! Instead, they sense sounds through vibrations through their chest and lungs.

Get ready to find something to hide behind, because the next creature on our list is quite the creepy crawly! Racing through the mountains, me and my crew found one of the oldest churches in the area to see this ancient Palo Verde Tree growing right outside, and you can hear it from here they're making a massive racket in there!

Palo Verde Beetles are large long antenied beetles in the Cerambycidae family. They live a majority of their lives in a fossorial state, meaning that for the first 3-4 years they're wiggling about as grubs! They are unusually large for invertebrates when they get beetle-y, reaching from between 3/3.5 inches in length and sometimes reaching up to 5! Although their madibles seem formidable these critters are not a serious danger for anyone, as once they molt into their final form Palo Verde beetles don't eat. They instead opt to burn through the reserves they had built up in their previous stage, and because of this they only last for one month in this stage. They use their newfound wings (Literally they can fly!) to find mates and start a new generation and lay new eggs at the base of the tree.

See ya next time, for more deadly 60!                                    deadlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Friends in wolf town! (1/2)

I went to Spain with Ben, Melissa, Emma and Erin (Me)! The place we went to is known for its wolves which is quite fun! we didn't end up seeing any but their presence in the area gave the air quite the tang. It was super duper lovely and about a million things happened over the week we where away, so I'm splitting it into two posts :), I'll go into more of the bugs and beasts in part two so stay tuned for that, but for now let me show you some cute holiday pics my friends took that I doodled all over!

✩

Melissa rode a dragon which was pretty awesome, apparently they're old friends :)

We got to Ferreiros in the middle of a heatwave, so we spent a lot of time slinking about in the water near the house. Because it was so nestled in the mountains there was plenty of different places we could dunk into, all of which flowed with cool fresh water that was crystal clear. The hot sun made the surface of all the lakes and streams look like quicksilver, and the damselflies, which fluttered above them, danced about the light and glittered softly. 

✩

Ben, Melissa and Emma hitched onto a ledge on a waterfall!

One of the places we visited was called el Pozo Caido, which was a huge waterfall that tumbled down a sheet of rock into a lovely circular pond that we could swim in. We where the only ones there for quite a while and it was breathtaking. Once we sat on the rock for a moment we realized we where sharing our spot with a happy handful of butterflies, which where using the warm surface to bask in the warmth of the sun and the rock like us. Some where a bright stained glass blue, others yellow and others brownish. They where lovely company, it felt a little bit like being in a butterfly greenhouse mixed with the rainforest cafe, or at least how I remember them being when I was a littler lad.

✩

Big Little Guys!

We also tottered down to the river (This isn't a picture of it but I wanted to make me and Emma look like faeries soz). We ended up following the river up by clambering through wet river rocks and moss and plenty of mini waterfalls. This was another haven for little guys, including frogs, fish and even brighter damselflies!

✩

Poking a huge terrifying demon skulking in a water cave with a stick

One of the things that caught our attention where this system of man made tunnels whose entrances ran along side a path that we where walking down. Some of these tunnels where flooded with water, and where home to a bunch of newt-y looking guys! At first we thought they where just blobs in the water, but we poked around the water with a big stick and which gave up their true identities as little nymphs.

✩

A lovely view in Porto at the end of the trip!

All in all the trip was an absolute success! It was my first trip with friends and my first time in all the places we went. I feel so incredibly privileged to have such lovely people to drag along mountain tops and through riverbeds, it feels surreal to be surrounded by so much love and friendship :)

Hopefully next year I can expand operations and bring along a few more tender friends! 

✩

The jammiest case of them all.

A new case recently came across my desk. I get these all the time, but this one, was different. This one, was jammy. So let me tell you a story of teapots, croquet and crime.

🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃋🂣🂡🂡🂤🂧🂧🃑🂹🂻🂳🂵🃎🃃🃃🃍🃇🃉🃌🃒🃎🃃🃃🃍🃇🃉🃌🃋🂣🃓🃔🃕🃖🂹🂻🂳🂵🂡🂡🂤🂧🂧

Not more than two days ago today, June's sun peeked out through the trees to dapple upon the most extraordinary thing. A tea party hosted in honor of The Queen of Hearts had been laid on the greenest pasture in all of Wonderland, with a place saved for the highest of noblemen.

Attendants included;

The Cheshire Cat, The Caterpillar, The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter, The March Hair, The Fish and Frog Letter deliverer's and of course The Queen of Hearts!

Festivities where abound, and it was all going swimmingly! The Queen was way a'head' of everyone in croquet, and The Cheshire cat was bringing with it an air of whimsical menace which was met with a winging choir against the little beastie by the others. Everyone was actually getting along! (ish)

Or at least, they where, until-

!FWTH-WHACK!

'!WHO STOLE THE JAM TARTS!'

Screeched The Queen of Hearts! having lifted up the cloister which was marked 'Jam Tarts', and revealed nothing but a sad little puddle at the bottom of the tray.

Everyone immediately scampered, clambering into the bushes and hiding their necks in fright. This didn't last long though, and soon increasingly jammy fingers pointed to and from increasingly crumby mouths, each faster than the next to throw the other to the axe. It was chaos. Looking around the wild-eyed crew, the case feels near impossible to crack. With this rag-tag group it almost feels like the question isn't 'Who stole the Jam tarts?', but 'Who didn't?'!

But of course, dear readers, that was just it. For the red hand which points oft bears its own harshly wielded admonishments, and there was not a soul that day who was not guilty of that crime.

And with that our jammy case, is closed.

Thanks for reading :)

🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃋🂣🂡🂡🂤🂧🂧🃑🂹🂻🂳🂵🃎🃃🃃🃍🃇🃉🃌🃒🃎🃃🃃🃍🃇🃉🃌🃋🂣🃓🃔🃕🃖🂹🂻🂳🂵🂡🂡🂤🂧🂧

(p.s. love having lovely jubbly friends!)