The resident pair of Cardinals have nested near by and have started bringing their babies to our feeder.
The new salt water tank is settling down nicely. We had a bit of drama at first because of an unwelcome hitchhiker that arrived with some of the live rock or coral that we bought. Within a couple of weeks of setting up the tank, I began noticing the tell-tale clicking sound in the tank, and my hermit crabs started disappearing. We had a mantis shrimp. It is neither mantis, nor shrimp- but it looks like a shrimp and is armed with praying mantis type claws that it uses to stun its prey. They also have excellent eyesight, which makes them difficult to capture. They are actually pretty fascinating creatures, but I didn't want it in my tank because I was afraid for the safety of my small fish and hermit crabs. To make a long story short, we captured the mantis and took him to the local fish store to see if anyone wanted to adopt it as a pet.
Mr. Mantis. He is about the size of my pinky finger.
