IamOK's Blog

My Backyard, Little World.
Aug 7, 2010 | 1:39 PM PST
Tags: Potter wasps , Baby chipmunk

Some intrigue me, some give me a hint that I should prefer to work with my hands but my potter-wasps have simply baffled me. Today is the 50th day since she had sealed her pot and I just do not know what is happening there inside. I have found no internet guide that explains the gestation period inside the pot.

I have poked around and discovered a few pots out of which mature wasps have already come out. Judging by the size of the exit holes I understand the wasps do not emerge full-sized mature wasps, the juvenile ones have to be tiny in comparison.

But, what about my own wasp? When will she come out? Or, do they too have still-born wasps? Except for the spider which appeared to me waiting to pounce on the new born wasp, I've noticed nothing abnormal.

Funny though, I had shooed away the spider only to find the very next day, he was sitting there with his trap already in position. It happened for the third time when I had to physically remove the spider and relocate him in a bush fifty yards away. That stopped the spider interference.

I feel terrible for my little chipmunk; I think the hawk has got his mate, he now lives all alone on a high limb and never comes down to forage. He has not grown in these two months, is still the size of my thumb. How lonely can a baby chipmunk get, I wonder. I wish I could do something to make his life more meaningful.