Yesterday was very rainy, even torrential at times. We took the two dogs (Zeke has company while we watch our friend's dog) for a walk in the morning during the lighter part of the rain. On the way home I saw two things along the road. One was a dead frog laying on the road like a ballerina on tippy toes, legs outstretched evenly and arms almost hidden at its side. The frog didn't really look dead, but it also didn't look like an ideal place to sleep or hibernate. Not far away I found a Dragonfly also reposed on the road, seemingly smashed and held down by the rain. As it was alive, albeit sopping wet, I gently picked it up and carried it home. The Dragonfly took up a position in my basement office to escape the storm and dry off. Like the frog I couldn't really discern any outward injuries, but it had one foot kind of stuck on a front wing, which seems like something they'd be pretty good at avoiding.
It's times like these that I feel pretty helpless. What do I know about fixing broken Dragonflies? Or most other animals and insects for that matter? Is there anyone who would really even attempt a Dragonfly repair? Here's a beginner's manual along with a rather extensive collection of links for information regarding these Odonata. But no mention on what might go wrong with one or home repair tips for the layman.

I suspect my Dragonfly may have been whacked by a passing vehicle. It didn't really recover as the day progressed, flexing and walking a bit, but slowing down all the same. Finally in an act of utter futility I tried to feed it a fly. Is it a faux pas to feed bugs to other bugs? Like feeding chunks of fish to other fish? I think it's more a human trait to focus on the source of our food and classify its acceptability according to the current society norm and situational factors. In either case the fly wasn't consumed and eventually the Dragonfly died.

I was kind of hoping the Dragonfly would recover and spend an afternoon eating the flies in our house. I certainly appreciate their bug eating in our backyard, both as a method of control and as a visual treat when we sit on the porch enjoying their aerial show. They flit around our pond, alight on the ferns, and every once in a while accidentally fly into our house. Most times our littlest cat, Tink, catches it before we do and then walks around with it surreptitiously in her mouth. Sure enough, late yesterday evening, Tink comes sneaking up the steps, the dead Dragonfly clasped in her mouth like the biggest prize at the carnival.

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