Mosquitos on the one hand are small but very annoying. Moths are very large and intricate. Butterflies are beautiful. The spiders here are worrying.
I have no pictures of Mosquitos. I should have taken photos of all the bites I got when I went to a park and sat on a bench after a bike ride. I was sweaty, it was hot and the Mosquitos seemed to like that combo. My poor legs were itchy for days. Unfortunately I was too green in Japan. I didn't yet know about Muhi, a miracle cream. It takes the itch away almost instantly. It also can be used on acne.
The next type of bug I encountered was a moth. Moths don't really scare me, except I worry that they'll eat my clothes. I've seen a giant moth and I've also seen a moth whose wings were folded in such a way that it looked like a dead leaf. Pictures are below.
These aren't bugs, but they eat them. One day at practice, I noticed I was being watched... By frogs! Tiny cute green frogs!
The next critter isn't a bug either. Here in the city we have some very noisy birds. There are small birds that migrate en masse to different trees every day around 5 pm. They make quite the noise. There are owls that always spook me while I'm riding or walking at night (bats too!). Then there are the ravens. These guys are huge! They like to make noise in the morning when you're trying to have a sleep-in... There is a picture of a raven I met in Omiya park below. This particular guy looks battle-worn. I think he's had an interesting life, or so his twisted beak would lead me to believe.
The next bug I encountered was the praying mantis! Interestingly enough, I saw two of them right after the typhoon. One was huge and dead, the other was small and alive. I've included a pictures of the dead one. At first I thought it was a stick bug. But then my neighbour told me it was a praying mantis.
The next bug I will mention is the spider. There are some nasty spiders here... Luckily most of them live elsewhere in the country. However I have come into contact with some jumping spiders (so creepy) and a spider that looked like a bee (picture below). I saw the bee spider just the other day. It's really big (small by Japanese standards) and it set up its web right next to a wasp's nest! So scary. It was behind the bench I was going to eat my lunch on... I chose another bench instead.
There have been some beautiful butterflies in Japan too. I like to encounter butterflies. The picture I've included does not give any justice to this butterfly. When it opened its wings, it had indigo patches on the back. Gorgeous.
When I volunteered at the international festival, there was a very large and scary-looking hornet type bug flying around. I'm not sure what they're called but I've heard that people have to go to the hospital if they get stung. Very scary! This particular hornet thing also seemed to like me. Luckily I fought the urge try and kill it and came through the ordeal without being stung or having to visit the hospital.
Other animals that I've seen are cats, dogs, a tanooki and a rabbit on a leash. People here love their daschunds. There are so many people with weiner dogs... I always ask why, but no one seems to know. Japanese people just prefer long dogs. There are lots of dogs and cats, the vast majority of them are not spayed or neutered. There is no stray dog problem but there certainly are a lot of stray or even feral cats around. The tanooki is a raccoon dog. I got to see one when I went to Gunma. It was very special. I have also seen a man carrying his leashed rabbit. It was a little odd and I felt sorry for the rabbit. It didn't look too healthy. I hope I don't see that again.
In Nikko park there are wild monkeys. They are dangerous because they could attack you... Scary. For this reason and for the reason that all of the worst transmissible diseases seem to start with monkeys, I don't like monkeys and I am afraid of them. Apparently black bears also live in Nikko. The day before I went to Nikko there was a bear attack and an unfortunate hiker ended up with a bear bite on his head. The hiker survived and the bear took off. I believe the Japanese police are still looking for it. Seriously. Good luck. Hahahaha.
Of course I cannot neglect to mention cockroaches. Ugh. I'm afraid of these disgusting creatures, and allergic too. Whenever I saw them running around, I would experience allergy symptoms the next morning. Ugh. Luckily I haven't seen any inside my apartment for awhile. I have seen them outside though. Yuck.
Of worthy mention is the famous mukade. I haven't seen this centipede like bug in person. I think you have to go south for that. Many people seem to be scared of this bug. I think bites from the mukade are quite severe as it is poisonous. If you are brave enough, you can look it up... It looks quite threatening.
So there you have it. Those are my experiences with bugs and animals in Japan. One of these days I will go to the zoo and I'll have a lot more animals to talk about.
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