This morning, I stepped out of the house to get the lawnmower ready. What should I see before me but what I've called an ugly cricket. Of course, my first thought was that the frogs might like a meal if any were still about. Lately, there's been only one hanging around. The others seem to have left for the woods or to find burrows. I suspect they agree with me that it's going to turn cold rather quickly.

However, there was still one frog at the pond. I tossed the cricket to him only to see him leap into the water. Evidently, he isn't one of the frogs who cares to eat ugly crickets. I decided to return to my preparations for the mower only to reach the doorway once more and see a grasshopper there. However, the frog hadn't returned to the ground beside the pond so the grasshopper lucked out and didn't get eaten.

As I mowed the yard, I spotted a five-lined skink watching me from the foundation of the house. He attempted to change his position several times after each pass. I suspect he did so because he was watching me closely and figured out I had spotted and was watching him. By the time I made the last pass on that side of the house, he had taken cover where he couldn't be seen.

Then I visited the ponds and there were two frogs in the left hand pond. I spotted a grasshopper and tossed it in. It hit the water and swam for the edge just where the frog had been sitting, but the frog had dove into the water. Probably it was concerned that I'd toss another ugly cricket at it. However, it surfaced at just the right moment and facing just the right direction to see the grasshopper climb out of the pond. Just when it seemed that the grasshopper would escape, the frog put on a burst of speed and hit the grasshopper before it even knew it was dinner time. Considering the distance it had to cover in the water and then leap out, I was impressed by that frog. Then again, if you don't eat, you become extinct, so I figured that frog was working his side of the extinction equation as well as he could.

The second frog was already in the water, but he was much too distant to reach the grasshopper. Besides, I've observed what appears to be either a pecking order or territorial limit. A frog has to really screw up trying to catch a meal before another will intrude. It's kind of like you get so many chances to make your kill or it becomes a free-for-all among those who are nearest. So, it may not always be who's the best sumo frog wrestler that determines territory.

In the meantime, the black-cap chickadees have figured out the feeding routine and will start following and scolding me to hurry up and fill the feeders when it's anywhere near their feeding time. Some have even approached as close as three feet away from me and just out of reach. Then they'll fly over the feeder and back to the tree to make sure I understand them. Once the seeds enter the feeder, their scolding and the following ends.