Putting the horses in the barn of an evening is both a luxury and a chore. They'd probably do just fine outside all night. A giant moon looms, but I hear coyotes closer every day. My miniature horse, Chyron, is a spitfire and could drop kick one coyote, but it sounds like a dozen. I imagine a pack of them attacking the minis in their paddock. My Arabian spooks as I lead her in. A deer is likely in the dark field, waiting her turn to drain my water tank for the horses. It is emptied much quicker than one horse can drink.
In the barn, near the hay pile, I see something black. Holy moly! I've never seen a wooly worm that large! It's all black. I don't know about you, but I can never remember if more brown means bad winter, or more black bands mean I'm going to be in long, cold misery. So, I did what any modern person would do: I Googled it.
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http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek020608.html
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After living here over twenty-one years, I'm still amazed to find creatures and things that I didn't even know existed and live with us on our property. Not a wooly worm at all, it is the caterpillar of a giant leopard moth, identified in part by its size and the red bands when it is curled up. I wish I had scooped it up right then, but I finished my horse chores and when I'd looked again, it was gone! Likely, it is wintering in my hay pile and we shall meet again.
Note: I read from
this website that they are good! They eat invasive honeysuckle.
Unanswered question: will it be a cold winter? We have so little rain, we have a burn ban in place. I'm thinking the rain will come in the form of snow.
Reading: Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson
1 comment:
Personally, I like snow and I always hope for it instead of rain in the winter. It's so beautiful and a rainy landscape is not. Granted, I work at home and don't commute and that might change my mind about snow. :-)
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