Exploring South Miami-Dade (Part three)

Awhile back, while we were bumming around the Redlands/Homestead area, we passed a place called Cauley Square. Now, from US1, it doesn't look like much, but El Hombre remembered the area from his childhood, so we stopped by. Once you drive into the square, you are in this wooded area, with a smattering of shops.


The shopping isn't much, to be honest with you, other than the aquarium store, which was super awesome. But it's really pretty to wander around.





That is, until you stumble across the below-seen scariness:


Not even in North Carolina did I see people put gnomes in their yards, and NC is viewed as total redneckville by many here.
But wait! It gets even more creepy!


But Cauley Square redeemed itself for the creepy gnomes by giving us the opportunity to take REALLY cheesy photos:

The Click Beetle

This creature fascinates me. I made my acquaitance with the Click Beetle, also known as elaters, skipjacks, snapping beetles, or spring beetles of the Elateridae family - thank you wikipedia, you're the best - a few weeks ago on my balcony. And HOLY JESUS it was frightening! The elusive Click Beetle as I am now calling it (this is an assumption that it is indeed elusive) was hanging out on the wall and after I finished up a phone call and watered the flowers I looked up and saw its green glowing giant eyes staring back at me. He was about an inch and a half to two inches long and his eyes were freakin' glowing. At least that is what I thought. It stayed on the wall for a bit, and then I heard a loud snap and the beetle was gone, into the night.


After reading up on this neat creature, I've found out that they don't have radioactive green glowing eyes, but that these diamond-shaped "eyes" are actually spots on the beetle's shoulders. I had to say, I was disappointed when I found this out, but it's still cool anyway. We don't have anything on us that glows green in the dark. The shade of green was really pretty and bright like a lightning bug but with a shade more like emerald.



Some time had passed since I first met the Click Beetle, until the other night. I was walking along the Bay and rounded some fountains when I heard a snap and on the sidewalk in front of me landed a Click Beetle. I'm really happy to have met these little guys and hope to see more of them. I don't have a farm or any crops to tend to so in my book these prehistoric beetles are ok. The people down in Homestead may say otherwise - which reminds me, I will be traveling down that way soon and I have a friend who drives tractors on one of the farms in the Redlands. I'll ask him what he thinks of the elusive Click Beetle.

disclaimer - i like to take all my own photos but unfortunately i was without a camera the nights i saw the beetles. so thank you to the people who took these. you can find them if you google search click beetle photos.