Finding (a) Habitat

I’ve long been fascinated by how quickly insects and animals find new habitat. I’m sure entomologists and wildlife biologists know all about this sort of thing, but it’s a mystery to me how, for instance, wasps knew to show up at the newly built patio in our last house a mere day after rain had turned a small pile of gray stone dust to clay-like mud. Or how our dog decided one day, six months after we had bought our son a beanbag chair, that it was just her size, and then climbed into it and henceforth claimed it as her own.

I drew these mud wasp tubes from a photo. Looking at this drawing, I’m remembering having read about a trend in architecture and engineering, or perhaps design generally, of looking to nature for design solutions. Because nature is an amazing problem solver, and why reinvent the wheel? I’m not sure what conundrum mud tubes attached to a brick wall might be the answer to, but I’m going to keep thinking about that. In the meantime, I can’t help but think they look like mid-rise apartment buildings with cave-like entrances.