Little Gold Sculptures Show Up in Australian Backyards. Here’s Why
Six Word Photo Story: Freestyle
Nature’s art forever stuns and startles.
“Mum, there’s a tiny Christmas decoration on the bonsai.”
“Pardon, sweetheart?” I heard the words but didn’t process them.
“It’s a gold Christmas decoration.”
My daughter was very matter-of-fact about it. Of course, there’s a fairy-sized ornament made of gold on our tiny tree, even though it’s not Christmas, and we don’t know any fairy artisans specializing in metalwork.
I felt suspicious of our golden visitor.
When you arrive back in the subtropics from a temperate climate, the first thing you notice is the hum. A soundtrack played by billions of micro residents. The air is thick with it.
As well as playing music day and night some of our insect neighbors get up to mischief like injecting venom or spraying you with acid; little jerks.
Some Australians worry about spiders, but wasps are the worst. They fling out of the bushes at you. A wasp sting is like getting smacked hard with a stick, followed by pulsing pain.
This wasn’t wasp handiwork.
Perhaps the golden container was stuffed with an army of carnivorous mini-beasts?
Praying mantis egg sacs, called an ootheca, look like a beehive shrunk down. Inside the inch-wide home are the two hundred bulbous-eyed nymphs. They’re almost cute, except for their repulsive outstretched forelegs bearing rows of serrated teeth.
I don’t trust anyone who pretends to be a swaying leaf.
But this golden container looked too beautiful to be sinister. Seeing it made you part your lips slightly and inhale. My daughter nailed it. There was a tiny Christmas decoration on the bonsai.
It turns out the artisan is the Common Crow Butterfly. It’s black and white and hangs about in the garden all the time.
Nature is a remarkable artist whose works inspire intrigue, horror, and awe.
I just need to see as a child and remember to notice.
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