T.J. seems to always find herself in the midst of rescuing one little creature or another. She says she can't help herself. T.J. believes that there is so much innocense and vulnerabiliy to be found and shared among the "rescued" and the "rescuer" alike, that she thought she would take the opportunity so share some video of some of those rescues with you.
Not all rescues are long lasting. There may be moments in which T.J. has an opportunity to provide comfort and shelter to a creature in it's last days, hours and/or moments or life, hopfully allowing it to pass peacefully.
T.J. asks that you please keep the sensitive nature of these experiences in mind as you choose whether or not to view the following videos.
Rescued on: 6/26/2026 and 6/27/2026
On 6/26/2026 while taking the dogs out to their run, one of the dogs quickly spotted and attempted to "retrieve" a cicada. I managed to secure the cicada, now named "Cid", and remove it from the run and away from the reach of the dogs. While spending a few moments with Cid, identified as a male Dog Day Cicada, he managed to find a burst of energy, took flight, and flew away. On 6/27/2026, I once again came across what I believe to have been Cid. He was laying on his back on the ground and initially did not appear to be alive. Upon closer inspection, I noticed him moving one of his legs. I picked him up and spent some time interacting with him before releasing him to a tree in my back yard. Once in the tree, Cid began his treck upward, ostensibly in search of a suitable location to acquire sap from the tree to nurish himself. Hopefully, Cid still has a bit of life left in him and perhaps our paths will cross again. The lifespan of a mature Dog Day Cicada is less than two months.
8/31/2025
On 8/31/2025 at 8:47 a.m., I was standing in my dining room when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that something had landed on the railing of the deck in my backyard. When I went outside to see what it was, I found a geometrid moth who appeared to have made a crash landing. I went back inside and got a syringe and filled it with some orange juice to see if the moth would drink it. I picked up the moth, now named Geo, and...
(See Blog Post p. 6)
This cicada was found lying on the ground at work. It wasn't moving and appeared to be deceased. When I picked it up to relocate it, it began moving it's legs. I relocated it to a tree on another part of the property where it seemed to be a bit relieved and somewhat "happier"...for a cicada! :)
YEA!!
There's no soul too small to lend a helping hand to!
I was recently working in Highlife's Small Creature Cemetery when a very unexpected event occurred that both surprised and uplifted me. I had been down on my knees and elbows, etching the death dates into the grave markers of some of the more recent occupants of the cemetery. At this particular moment, I was etching the death date into Sutherland the cat's grave marker. My hair is getting long and it was a bit windy out, so I was having a difficult time keeping it out of my face. All that to say, at first glance, I wasn't sure if what I was initially catching with my peripheral vision was just my hair moving in the wind, or something else as yet unidentified, as each time I turned the etcher on, I would see something move. Finally, I turned the etcher off and went a little closer to investigate. The short video tells the rest of the story. My apologies for not keeping the camera more steady. Oh! And it turns out that there was at least one more frog that would appear a few moments later, however, I had already stopped recording.
I hope you enjoy!