January 2021

By Ranger Amy

This past month I did a lot of work in the wildflower gardens around the nature center. I wanted to move an insect house from one location to another, but I wasn’t sure who was currently using it. I had to proceed carefully.

This insect house is divided into several apartments with different natural materials. Looking at the house, I could see plugs left from solitary bees laying their eggs inside the hollow parts of river cane. What else was hiding inside the natural materials of this house?

As I delicately placing items from inside the insect house aside, I uncovered several of the residents. Inside the pine cone apartment lived several daddy long legs. Nestled in the pine needles was a slow moving, very cold stinkbug. Although I did not snap a photo of it, there was something with silk webbing inside the tree bark. I never found the resident, but it could have been a jumping spider.

Each insect found a spot or apartment that was that suited them. A house is nothing more than four walls and a roof, but a home is a refuge. A home is a place to lay one’s head, rest, and feel safe.

Now when I look at the insect house, I know it is much more than a house, it’s a home.