Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Small Community
One day I was crawling around Presque Isle as my devious little insect self when I stumbled across a small little community.  For the area being as small as it was, there were so many different things located there.  The first object I stumbled across was a green leaf, and good thing, too.  I hadn't eaten in a couple of hours so I was starving and in luck, I was craving greens.  I didn't eat all of it because it was larger in size, but the relationship I had with that leave could be classified as commensalism.  After I was finished with the leaf, I saw spider significantly smaller than I.  Fortunately I'd already eaten, so I decided I wouldn't prey on him, and he appeared to be crawling back towards his nest which was camouflaged by leafs.  I was fortunate to eat when that leaf when I did because the spider looked to be heading towards the leaf I ate.  The interspecific competition has been tough as of recent, so I have been trying to eat sooner to avoid traveling around the same time as other insects. The next object I approach was a stick, and it was propped up at about a 45 degree angle.  Because of this high angle, I wanted to climb to the top of it so I could survey the rest of the little community.  As I ventured over to the stick, I crawled into some damp dirt that hadn't dried from the rainfall that came earlier that day.  It was a tough stretch to pass, but with persistency  and determination it became tolerable.  The last obstacles I faced before reaching the stick were dead leafs, and quite the abundance of them.  Because I knew dead leaves decayed and helped fertilize the soil, I tried to avoid them as much as possible.  Once the dead leaf obstacle course terminated, I reached the stick and began to climb.  The texture was smooth so climbing was fairly easy.  Once I reached the top, I wanted to play mellow music to really soak in the atmosphere, and thankfully I remembered my iPod.  As I was surveying the area, listening to Seals and Crofts was the icing on the cake.  The first thing I noticed was a bug flying overheard, resembling a mosquito.  I tried to get it to stop but it was traveling like it was on a mission.  Other things I noticed once atop the stick were pine cones and pine needles, which probably explained the sap-like smell, some green grass on the far side, a lot more dirt, a small spider web, some white spots on the leaves which looked to be bird poop, and a bunch of smaller cones.  It wasn't the most picturesque view, but to get to most good views one must hike their, and that happened to be the most enjoyable part of my little journey in this unfamiliar community.  When I started crawling, I never would have expected to discover this comfortable little community and I might find myself returning in the near future.
This was the little community I explored the other day. Very comfortable area.


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