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A moth like an owl

Wonderful is not the adjective I would normally choose to describe the word moth. Put me in a room with an agitated, light-obsessed, dusty, fluttering creature of the night and I will be ducking and diving and covering my head and making distressed noises like 'EeeK!' and 'Ooh!'

I do not like them.

I dislike the way they bounce around at face height. I dislike their lack of sonar guided obstruction avoidance. I dislike their dust in my hair and on my fingers. I hate their larval holes in my jumpers.

I could come over all Dr Seuss-like at this point and say "I do not like them late at night, I do not like them round my light, I do not like them on a wall, I do not like them - not at all. I do not like them with my lunch, I do not like their bitter crunch, I do not like their hairy nose, But I like their squish 'neath stamping toes!"

But this one ...



I have to admit - helped by being outside (light-bulb-less and ceiling-less) - that it is rather wonderful. Look at what evolution did to its wings. Imagine you are a hungry garden bird and you just saw some suspiciously moth-like fluttering in a neighbouring tree. You fly over to take a closer look and ... Woah! Sheltered by some twiggy branches and some leaves, there's an owl and its staring straight at you. Time to escape, fast!

See what I mean by wonderful. An Emperor moth (and its eggs), in the garden, on Bank Holiday Monday.



Okay ... that was a week ago. Procrastinating as per.

The 'eggs' are still in situ. Littlest is waiting for the caterpillars to hatch. I'm wondering which of the nearby plants will be their dinner - the appetite to create a moth that large must be voracious. Should I be concerned? While I'm not about to destroy the eggs, I anticipate an 'I told you so' moment with myself, when confronted by the sorry sight of a shrub devoid of its leaves. And another 'I told you so moment' when the first emperor moth baby gets stuck inside the house. Hmmm ... a quick spray with something toxic? No! Absolutely not. Littlest is fascinated to see what happens and if I am honest I confess to some interest in it too. Where do you find out about moth egg gestation times? Will the caterpillars appear at night? What will they look like?

Time for Littlest to do some research.


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