Leapin' Lizard

Leapin' Lizard

Lizards, six or seven different charming species of them, live all over St. John. This one was crawling on the outside of my screen one day. They eat insects, but not nearly enough of them to suit me.

Frangipani Acrobat

Frangipani Acrobat

On the property where I'm fortunate enough to live in a small cottage, several frangipani bushes grow. In the middle of winter (December or January) these colorful caterpillars magically appeared on the bushes, a dozen or so on the bush near the cottage porch. In a couple months they had eaten all the leaves off and dropped to the ground, although you could not see them anywhere. Surprisingly, the frangipani caterpillar does not become a beautiful butterfly. Instead, they become dark hawk moths. I'll try to post a photograph. What happened with these bushes happened all over he island. Within weeks new leaves emerged along with flower buds. Just this month, May, beautiful white flowers bloomed amidst fresh new leaves. There isn't much in this world that smells more fragrant than frangipani blossoms.