caterpillar thriller

The weather is delightful this week and I've been outside quite a bit.  Lots of activity that I would've missed if we would have had "normal" (miserably hot) late August weather!

Check out this pine tree spur-throated grasshopper.

Isn't he a beauty?

More butternut woolly sawfly caterpillars!  I love them so much. 

 This tussock moth caterpillar was suspended from a branch and just spinning in the air.

Eastern tent caterpillars were busy in this tree, protected by webbing.

Look at this beautiful guy!  It's a redbud leaffolder caterpillar, and those lines of webbing are protection against predators.

I've seen A LOT of caterpillar frass (feces) around.  It's everywhere, if you know what to look for!

We're getting a late harvest for our tomatoes this year...

...and it might have something to do with this guy.

It's a tomato hornworm caterpillar...

...and they are major munchers.

tomato hornworm damage

I found several which were parasitized.

A small wasp lays eggs within the caterpillar.  The larvae hatch, chew an entrance hole, and spin those little cocoons that you see.  These caterpillars are already dead...they just don't know it yet.  They'll die around the time that the new wasps emerge from the cocoons and seek new victims.  I left these parasitized caterpillars alone.  More wasps = fewer tomato-killing hornworms! 

My pumpkins, however, are a wash.  I thought they'd be relatively safe from squash bug, because I planted this group in a totally different location from last year.  I noticed a lot of the vines dying, but I figured it was from lack of water (I'm a "sink or swim"- type gardener lately).  

Nope.

They are everywhere.  I guess I'll be visiting a pumpkin patch this year!  

Pepita has started puppy school!  She is, by far, the tiniest pup there.  Other classmates include a 150 lb mastiff and a great dane mix!  She is learning there, but learning a lot at home too.  

She has learned to climb up on the couch cushions to peer over the half wall between the kitchen and the living room.   Important investigative skills!  

She's learned to dig holes.

"Digging?  What digging?"

Despite having the world's stubbiest legs, she's a good runner.

Meanwhile, our anti-runner has learned that he has to go to extreme measures to distract us from Pepita.  He spends a good deal of time in the kitchen, on his back, begging for belly rubs.

He's becoming a champion napper, too.

If you haven't seen Barnabas as much, well, he's staying out of the way a little bit more now.  Still getting used to Pepita.  And Claudia is nearly back to normal, although when we tried to put her outside today for a little while, she begged to go back into the barn.  I'm going to keep putting her out for a few hours a day, though.  It's perfect weather for lazing!

Have a great week!

heat defeat

It's hot...really hot.  Normally, when temperatures are in the 90s, I stay inside.  But because of this girl, we are outside...so...much.

Many socialization excursions that will have to take the place of puppy training until she gets a clean bill of health from the vet.  So it's walks on campus, with so many other pups...

(adults pups are okay!)

...and lots of local hikes, where she meets lots of new people.

She loves the car!  

She's a pretty chill pup...most of the time.

Okay, so I *have* to be outside...at least I can try to enjoy some nature.

green heron eating a frog

groundhog invading our neighbors' container gardens

black tiger swallowtail caterpillar

But honestly, I have the worst attitude ever.  For some reason, summer is killing me this year.  I never like summer with the heat/humidity, the mosquitoes, the ticks...but this year it's just the worst.  I'm apathetic and lethargic.  I'm not motivated to get things done and feel almost desperate for fall.  Every time I see a sign, I celebrate. 

Changing leaves...coincidence?!?

This is a FALL webworm caterpillar!

These winter shoes really needed cleaning because it's ALMOST time to wear them again, right?  Right?!?!?

We had to have some trees trimmed because they were crowding power lines recently...

They only cut a few down.  Most of them were just trimmed closely on one side.  Bare, they look like winter trees.  

Sometimes I look at them and pretend that the leaves are falling and that soon it will be cold again.  I've got another two months to go, easy, so I'm trying to work through this summer ennui with lots of pep talks.

Summer flowers from the garden!!

Fresh fruit!!

Lazy cats in the grass!

(Claudia is doing well and will get to go outside again soon!)

Lakes, rivers, wildlife!

geese at Lake Griffy

It's helping...a little bit.  But sometimes staying positive is a full-time job.  September will be here soon! Stiff upper lip!  

And...have a great week!  

Signed, someone who is ready to live in a more moderate climate.  ;)  

No nature photos this week, because we've been entirely occupied inside with...a new puppy!  

She's a 13 week old Australian shepherd/dachshund mix...we think!  I had no illusions about puppyhood and was fully prepared to hate this phase, ready to get through to the more relaxed, self-sufficient phase of doghood as quickly as possible.  I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed some parts of it, though! 

She's not really like a typical puppy in all the ways that count.  She doesn't bite.  She sleeps all night in her crate with NO accidents.  She likes to play a little...

...but she really likes to crawl into our laps for a snuggle.  She doesn't bark at the cats and has shown us that she's likely going to be a gentle, sweet dog.

Still, she has to go outside every 30 minutes...has to be fed, exercised, trained, entertained, and watched very closely.  We're in the middle of an insane heat wave, with 95 degree daily temps, and the pup does NOT like to be outside for very long.  Exercising her with long romps has to be put on hold, and we're trying to do more in the house.  In the midst of all of this newness and chaos, Claudia had a medical emergency.

We've noticed her seeming stiff and withdrawn all week.  We checked her for wounds but didn't see anything until Saturday, when Todd discovered a massive weeping sore on her side.  He rushed her to the emergency vet.  They found an infected cat bite.  The infection was initially subcutaneous, which is why we didn't see anything at first.

They had to excise a big pocket of necrotic flesh and she had a 3 1/2" line of stitches.  It was pretty serious.  By Monday, the stitches were infected and weeping blood and pus, so she had to be rushed back to the vet.  She was on IV fluids and antibiotics overnight...but she's better today.

Still, Todd says that she looks like Frankenstein.  She has a drainage tube in her stitches, a cone, and she can't go outside for maybe six weeks.  It's going to be a long recovery, but the vet seems confident that she'll pull through and have a good quality of life moving forward.  Todd is babying her in the barn, administering medicine and treats and cleaning her drainage tube and stitches, while I work with the new pup in the house.  It's a stressful time, but we love Claudia and are willing to do what it takes to get her back to normal again!  Like Todd says:  "I'm not ready to give up on her yet."

Hopefully we'll have a more positive update soon!  

our sweet Claudia

It's been a tearful week here on the homestead.  Claudia, our beloved barn cat, is not doing well.  It's hard to qualify the exact issue, other than she seems to have aged rapidly.  She's not eating much.  Her fur is extremely dry and matted and she does not like to be brushed like she used to.  She has a stiff, arthritic walk and spends most of her time asleep, but not in her usual spots on the porch chairs.  I suspect that she's unable to jump up like she used to, so we've made a soft place for her on the ground.  She stays there, but spends more time in secret cubbies under bushes and locations unknown.  I've heard about animals going off to die somewhere and have been really fearful.  This week, Claudia is getting tons of wet food treats and head rubs.  

I caught my first glimpse of Claudia in July 2019.  She was feral...

fleeing our first encounter

...but quickly got used to her new family.

We both love her so much and are trying to sneak outside as often as possible to give her the love and attention that she deserves!

I'm glad that she's finally getting some warmer weather.  It's been so chilly and rainy this spring.  Some flowers have loved it...

my 'Roguchi' clematis

late-blooming poppies

lambs ear

...but most flowers have been unhappy, including my poor annual cutting garden.  My last-minute planting of the easiest flowers - zinnias, cosmos, marigolds - have produced a handful of seedlings, a few desultory sunflowers (how?!?), and weeds.  It's too late to plant more seeds.  The garden is toast this year.  At least I can take a break from the seeding, potting up, and planting out of grumpy seedlings that don't tend to make it past the first few days.  Next year I'll start over with new seed and hopefully will have better luck.  

Tons of critters around, at least!  In the frequently foggy mornings...

...I see lots of deer.

eyeballing my sunflowers...

Some cool caterpillars...

grub worm

bronze cutworm moth caterpillar 

...and other insects.

syrphid fly

eriophyes tiliae, the red nail gall mite

another gall wasp, the wool sower

I've found some really exciting spiders, too (skip the next few pictures if you're spider-averse)!

This is a northern male black widow spider, only slightly venomous and less aggressive than the female.

Ditto this red ant-mimic spider.

Check out this wolf spider and her egg sac!

Todd has informed me that we have "record humidity" settling in for the next few weeks, so I'll be spending less time outside...and more time inside with these guys...

Frances and Calliope, an uneasy truce

Frances nap

...and just outside, with this gal.

Have a great week!