A good thing and a sad thing about Pickles

First off, yes.....I named the Katydid. Her name is "Pickles."

'Why Pickles?' I hear some of you asking, a-n-d how do you know it's a she?

Well, I'll tell you. She was a lovely green and quite lively, so there were many descriptive 'names' that came to mind, but none of the typical monikers you would assign to a living creature (bug) in one's home really suited her.

We came to enjoy watching her move about - she wasn't at all as mechanical as I would have thought - and she could really move with some speed when she set her mind to it (without taking flight). Whenever she realized the lid had been lifted, she was off to the races, and she seemed more than happy to simply rest on the rim of the jar. We'd have left her that way overnight, but fear of chomping kitty jaws prompted us to replace the cover - with her safely inside - although, the lid was always ajar for her to have fresh air moving around.

Spritzing the inside of the container with water always resulted in a great show. You could hoist the jar over your head and watch as she sucked up puddles from the bottom or sides. Good-sized amounts of water vanished in seconds when she was particularly thirsty, and this happened more frequently after she'd layed her eggs! Her appetite all but vanished once the eggs were left on one of the sticks in her jar - and, oh, how I wish I could have watched that miracle unfold.

And that, my dear fellows, is how I know that Pickles is a "she-did" and not a "he-did."

Sadly, we allowed Pickles outdoor time again today, and on this second sunny, warm October day, she decided to bid us adieau and not return to the door or window for the first time in 5 days. We will miss her company, but we are planning on taking care of our new charges over the coming winter months, so that in the spring we might have the pleasure of watching the new little Katybugs hatch and begin a new generation of cool bug madness in our gardens.