Georgia Warhorse

It seems everyone's goal is to wipe you out. In the warm south east of the United States of America from Florida to Tennessee is where you reside.  In the spring when you come out to feast and mate and enjoy the warm southern air, pages of local newspapers and garden magazines arrive with you filled with pages of info of chemicals and locations to buy them to destroy you.

Mr. Lubber does a great job of defending himself.  He possesses bright color patterns of red, black and yellow which are a direct warning to predators you contain toxic substances.  Step two is to produce a secretion as a dispersant  spray that turns into a froth of irritants and toxins combined with a loud hissing sound just to get the point across.

If and when predators ignore all of these efforts the outcome is not good. Many murder records of birds who didn't read your warning. Even mammals one hundred times your size such as the opossum have vomited violently after ingesting one of your relatives. However....the devious Shrike. He and he only will decapitate you and hang you out to dry like grannies laundry for two days on a thorn or a barbed wire fence spike then come back to feast once you've all dried up. We'll give you that one no one gets by that devil.  Aside from that guy, no matter how hard you're put under shoe you always roll out alive. Cause you were born with a smile and a heart of stone. The Georgia Warhorse he ain't easy to kill.

     Animal Paragraph


     Imagine that everyone's goal is to keep you down. Such is the life of the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper. Despite your bright color patterns of red, black, and yellow which are a direct warning to predators you contain toxic substances. For you have but one natural predator. You have created several records of murder to birds who didn't read your warning. Even mammals fifty times your size such as the opossum have vomited violently after ingesting your cousin. However, the Shrike. He will decapitate you and hang you out to dry like laundry for two days on a thorn or a barbed wire fence spike then comes to eat you when you're all dried up. We'll give you that one no one gets by that demon.  Committees are formed to beat you. Someones job is to put you under shoe but you always roll out alive. Man has racked his brain for lifetimes trying to put an end to this creature. Despite all attempts the Georgia Warhorse will endeavor to persevere!!

Literary Research Assignment

Literary work:
"My shell is hard,my hooks like steel. My wings are fire and you cannot break my will. Cause I'm a Georgia Warhorse and I ain't easy to kill."
J.J. Grey and Mofro. Georgia Warhorse. Georgia Warhorse. Alligator Records, 2010.

Print source:
"The body has a long abdomen and shield-like upper thorax."
"These large plant-eaters can occur in huge numbers and are often considered pests to farmers and gardeners."
Todd Telander. Bugs and Slugs. Morris Book Publishing LLC. Connecticut, 2014. Page 10.

Scientific resource:

Adults of eastern lubber grasshoppers possess a variety of abilities to defend themselves. Their bright color pattern is a warning to predators that the lubber contains toxic substances. Indeed, there are several records attributing the demise of individual birds failure to exercise caution when selecting prey items. Also, small mammals such as opossums have been known to vomit violently after ingesting a lubber, and to remain ill for several hours. However, shrikes are reported to catch and kill lubbers.

If the red, yellow, and black coloration fails to keep a predator at bay, when contacted the lubber may produce a phenolic secretion from a special thoracic gland, first as a dispersant spray and then as a frothy secretion. This exudate consists of a number of phenolic and quinone compounds, some of which are irritants or toxins that deter predation by vertebrates and ants (Jones et al. 1987, Whitman et al. 1991). The exact nature of the toxic properties varies, as these grasshoppers assimilate different compounds depending on the plants they ingest. This bubbly froth is accompanied by a relatively loud hissing sound. The insect contracts the abdomen to force air out of the spiracles along with the defensive secretion. The sound is produced as the spray is being forced out of these tiny holes in the thorax called spiracles. These defensive behaviors seem to be limited to the adult stage

Authors: Clay Scherer and John Capinera, University of Florida
Photographs: John Capinera and Lyle J. Buss, University of Florida
Web Design: Don Wasik, Jane Medley 
Publication Number: EENY-6
Publication Date: October 1996. Latest revision: May 2013

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I chose these writings because they talk of the strength and ability to overcome of a small creature in a big world. The theme I had in mind is resilience. These 3 items fit together because they all cover the topic. The differences I see in these 3 things is some are scientific and some are poetic.

     This theme I feel is actually pointed toward people like myself who have dealt with struggles growing up. I know we all have them this is mine. To overcome a lot of negativity from different angles. Persevere!!

“Behind the pattern the dim shapes get clearer everyday. It is always the same shape, only very  numerous. And its like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I dont like it a bit. I wonder- I begin to think- I wish John would take me away from here! (652)

In this passage from “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, I feel the reader is given a glimpse into the thought process of the main character of the story. A lady who has temporarily moved into a new home with her husband and her husbands sister. In this time the lady is describing in detail what she sees in the wallpaper. She has talked of other images but this is the most substantial.

“A woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.”  This is where i feel its been put together in her head that she is the woman trapped by her situation. She's basically being held prisoner by her husband who keeps telling her she's sick. She's being oppressed and held to her room. Not allowed to be with her child or hardly see it. This "woman stooping" is because she feels she's being held down and "creeping about" is her having to tread lightly because she's under the microscope of her husband.

“It is always the same shape, only very numerous.” This is her imagining herself only to be able to travel about the room. She is stuck in this room only.” I dont like it a bit” is another small pivot in the direction towards what i feel is the ultimate unveiling.

The next line of the quote is the most emotionally linking. The narrator says “I wonder- I begin to think-” This is where she has made the full connection to herself.  She knows she is the image behind the wallpaper. She is the one who is trapped trying to break out of the oppression. The dash after “ wonder-” indicates her pause, her thinking. I feel this was the exact moment the connection was made. Onto “I begin to think-” This is followed by another dash, a pause for recollection.

She immediately follows these two phrases up by saying “I wish John would take me away from here!” She ends this line with an exclamation point . Its a sign of desperation at this point. Therefore breaking the quote down to just “I don't like it a bit. I wonder- I begin to think- I wish John would take me away from here!” We draw all of the evidence we need to know the narrator is basically at the end of her rope.