These are some road signs I saw on the way to Fukui. The first one is a bear. The second is a wild boar. The third one is a たぬき. Do you know what たぬき is in English? You don`t, do you? Don`t worry - not many people do. In English, it`s called a `racoon-dog`. We don`t have them in Australia. Have you ever seen one?
Despite (つつも) all the signs, I didn`t see any of these animals last weekend. I was a bit disappointed (がっかり ).
On the weekend I went to Ibuki Mountain. I didn`t see many butterflies, which was a little disappointing, but I found this jewel beetle (jewel = ほうぎょく). There are many different kinds of jewel beetle in the world. This kind is called Chrysochroa fulgidissima or Tamamushi (玉虫) in Japanese. Have you ever seen one? This is the first one I`ve ever seen. It`s beautiful, isn`t it?
On the weekend I went camping in the mountains in Sekigahara. I made a campfire, swam in the river & relaxed. It was nice. I slept well.
In the morning, I got up early, restarted my campfire & went for a walk. When I returned, I was surprised to see two deer crossing the river near my tent. I`m surprised that they weren`t scared of the smoke from my campfire. Maybe they are kind of used to (なれている) living near people.
It was a nice experience. I was lucky.
I keep my many めだか (killi fish) in fish tanks (すいそう) outside. A cat used to come at night to try to eat them, so I made some wire covers.
Recently this frog has been visiting. It can get through the wire covers. I guess it wants to eat my fish too.
The first time, I caught it & released it, but it came back. Next time, I released it further away (もっととおい), but it came back. Finally I released it even further away. I hope it doesn`t come back.
Maybe I should make a mesh cover, but it`s a hassle (めんどくさい).
By the way (ときに) do you know how to cook frog?
I caught a big stag beetle (かぶとむし) & I kept it for about 2 weeks. But it was smelly & a hassle (めんどくさい) to take care of (せわする) so finally I decided to take a photo & release it.
However, when I opened the box, it was gone! Oh no! It escaped!
In the living room!
My wife was angry!
My son was excited!
We looked for (さがした) it but couldn`t find (みつける) it. However, last night we saw it climbing up a curtain. We caught it & released it. Phew!
Sorry - I didn`t take a photo...
I went snorkelling at Mizushima & saw some fish, but nothing special. However, I was interested to see these colourful starfish. The Japanese name for this kind of starfish is イトマキヒトデ (Thread Spool Starfish?), but I don`t know what they`re called in English.
Some animals change colour as they get older, or male (おす) & female (めす) are different colours. I wonder (かしら)if that is the case for these starfish. Or maybe it has to do with (= かんけがある) the nearby nuclear reactor (かくはんのうろ). Anyway, I think it`s interesting that there are so many colours of the one animal, all living in the same area.
One of our Teragoya students is a horse trainer. He told me that his horse would race on the weekend at Kasamatsu Racecourse, so I decided to take my son to go & watch.
Kasamatsu Racecourse is right beside the Meitetsu train line, so I can see it clearly when I catch the train to work every Saturday. I always thought "I`ve never seen a live horse race. One day I should go there & watch one..." Finally I did it!
I`m not really into gambling, but I bet 200yen on my friend`s horse to win. And it did! It won! I was really happy.
...until I put my ticket in the machine & only got 240yen back. What!? Only 40yen extra?!?! For a win?!?! I was disappointed (がっかりした).
But my son & I had a good time. It was an interesting experience (けいけん).
I found another beetle. This one is an Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis). The body is about 3cm long.
It`s native to Japan, Korea & China but it can`t be taken to countries like Australia or North America, because it damages trees, so they don`t want it. They try hard to keep it out. Bad beetle!
I kept this one in a container, but it soon died. However I don`t feel so bad. In fact (そのじつ), I`m proud that I could help to protect (かばいたて) Australia. What a great guy I am.
I have a small lime tree in my garden. Every summer it gets attacked by caterpillars (あおむし). It`s really annoying! Nowadays, every morning I check the leaves for eggs & caterpillars, & remove them. It`s a hassle (= めんどくさい).
Anyway, can you guess the type of butterfly which is responsible?
* click on the photo to enlarge
UPDATE: The answer is number 3: The Common Yellow Swallowtial.
I found this `Dorcus rectus` (コクワガタ) beetle on the floor at school. At first I thought it was a cockroach (ゴキブリ)- yuck! But then I realised [きづいた]it was a stag beetle - cool! So I caught it & now I`m keeping it in a container in my classroom. I gave it some cucumber (きゅうり) to eat. I hope it gets big. Now it`s about 3cm long.
Collecting beetles is not popular in Australia, but Japanese boys are really into it. How about you? Are you interested in collecting stag beetles? Now? Before?
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