After a soft rain in mid summer there is frequently a chorus of tree frogs saying how great the rain was. The loudest and deepest voice is the gray tree frog; the next loudest is the barking tree frog. The green tree frog has a higher, lighter voice and makes a chirping sound.

     Stopping at Bob Evans Seafood in Shady Side, Lou Hyde reports he routinely finds blue catfish in his 240 crab pots in Herring Bay. Some of the horned invaders are so fat that he tears up his pots cutting them loose.       Mick Blackistone, fishmonger, worries that they’re eating juvenile crabs.

      Cicadas are a group of insects that spend most of their life underground but emerge in the summer to sing and breed. They have been present since the Upper Permian Period, about 250 million years ago, with some giant specimens found with conifer fossils. Now they are present all around the world with more than 3,000 species.

      You’ve decided it is time to bring a four-legged family member into your home. Congratulations! It’s a great decision.       You probably know whether you are looking for a dog, cat or other companion animal. But you don’t know where to start. Maybe you visit a shelter or a rescue. Maybe you start looking on social media.      You see lots of little faces in need. How do you know which is right for you?

      I have reached the age where people more often want to tell me what to do than not. One of those topics was about a new dog. I was instructed to get a dog on the small side to up the likelihood that folks would volunteer to watch him in the event I wanted to be away for a while. My preference has always been toward a dog hefty enough to wrestle. Now, however, we are in new territory with a seriously high-spirited Welsh terrier.

Meet Bay Weekly Delivery Dogs Amber and Mr. Kimble       Two new dogs joined the Bay Weekly family last summer, Amber and Mr. Kimble. They both came to live with drivers Jim Lyles and Peggy Traband in Deale from Collie Rescue in North Carolina. 

      When I’m asked, What is the name of the red bird I see around here? there are four birds that I consider.       They are the male northern cardinal, the male scarlet tanager, the male summer tanager and the male house finch. I assume that the pattern is obvious: Only the males of the species are red; The females are brown or yellowish.  

        The new issue of the journal Primates has a monkey tale that has experts shaking their heads.             It’s the story of a Barbary macaque named Pipo, who was hit by a car in a Moroccon national park. Given that there are only 10,000 of these creatures left, the people of Monkey Watch keep an eye on them.

     I  have been seeing comments about black rat snakes getting into bird-nesting boxes. A smooth support with a critter guard will generally keep them out.

     Before you spray your garden for those pests that seem to sample everything you like to grow, learn who the good guys are, as they will be your allies in the long run. The less insecticides you use, the more a natural balance of predators will occur. There are many good bugs out there ready to help. It may take some time, as they need to be encouraged.