Last night Ursula found this fellow (photo right) crawling along the bedroom rug- she had no idea what it was, and with a combination of snorts-n-woofs dutifully alerted me. I was expecting a mouse- we have mouse issues- but I had no idea what this thing was. Initially I thought it was just some odd fluff, then it started moving.....
It's a caterpillar. A ninja caterpillar that magically made its way into my bedroom. I carefully tucked it into a jar, looked it up and have identified it as a giant leopard moth. (photo on left) Lovely, large- has a huge wingspan like a Luna or an Io.... I would like to take care of it until it metamorphs. Maybe Melissa's friend Eric Smith can tell me how to-
When I was little, I had a decidedly passive aggressive relationship with caterpillars- I was either gleefully squishing them under the wheels of my tricycle, or imprisoning them in jars full of leaves. I don't remember being successful- either I lost interest, didn't do it correctly or someone else took pity on them and set them free. Now I love butterflies and moths, I don't kill them but if I find one that is dead and unsquished, I keep it. Not in a display case, but resting on a shelf or in an art work that I made years ago. Eventually they turn into powder, blow away, but for a little while they are tokens of things transformed.
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