The Internet was on by 8.19.26. I spent the day digging up (and writing some of) the posts that should have been here on the previous three business days.
Animals
Out in the garden I was surprised, not by a caterpillar I've seen before, but by the size of what was immediately behind it. The dropping looked big enough to be a bird dropping, but a little trail of liquid was still running off the leaf below it. Caterpillars' frass is usually small and inconspicuous...
This is not the individual caterpillar that I saw, but it's a specimen of the same type.
Photo by Wendybirds, New Mexico, September 2022.
I already knew that yellow or white caterpillars with random long black hairs are the larvae of Acronicta americana, the Daggers Moth, so called because the long hairs are hollow spines containing minute amounts of venom. They're not usually counted among our stinging caterpillar species but sensitive people say the spines do "sting"--just not as badly as the venom of the Slug, Io, and Buck Moth caterpillars. What I wanted to know was whether they produce very large droppings. After some digging Google said that they do. Their frass would look like greenish or brownish pellets on the ground below the leaf. Google did not mention very wet, blackish-looking pellets, three in a cluster, with liquid below.
I still don't know whether my caterpillar happened to be resting just forward of a fresh bird dropping, or had just succumbed to some sort of violent caterpillar diarrhea. Daggers have no economic value, so who cares.
Those concerned about caterpillar venom should know the following rule; about yellow caterpillars found at this time of year: In all three species, the yellow hairs are simply coarse stiff short hairs--they'll prickle if they get down your neck, but they don't contain venom. In the species that have longer black or white hairs, the long hairs are stiff and spiky and may contain small amounts of venom. If they're covered in yellow hairs with no long black hairs sticking out, they're harmless Yellow Bears. If the long hairs stick out from apparently random points along the back, they're Daggers, more likely to be perceived as"stinging" than the Tussock Moth caterpillars.If the long hairs stick out from each corner of the caterpillar as viewed from above, they're Tussock Moths, usually perceived as harmless but with a "sting" very sensitive people notice. There are different species of Tussock Moths and, for that matter, of Daggers.
None of these caterpillars want to be picked up and cuddled. Black and brown "Bear" caterpillars are placid and don't react visibly being picked up, and some people trick the yellow ones into crawling over their hands, but no caterpillar really likes being interfered with by humans. If their willingness to crawl up on our clothes or shoes or even bare skin seems "friendly" to a child, you might want to explain that caterpillars are very nearsighted animals and probably have to get close to us to find out that we are not trees--it does not mean they want further attention.
Music
It's a memoir. It's a playlist. Some of the songs are so obnoxious YouTube won't even display the words with closed captioning turned on. If that's not a problem for you, read and listen to this:
Harry Chapin.
Adrian Ziegler.
Lovin' Spoonful.
Pulp.
Politics (People Who Should Get out of)
Kirill Basin, age 40 and already bald, is running for Congress as a D in Hawaii. The stress of campaigning must have got to him. When asked quietly to turn down the radio with which he was blasting the whole beach, he got up and began wandering about, yelling and swearing at people. Then he picked up a beach chair and swung it at a prospective voter. He didn't get the full Scott Sherwin treatment but he did get a learning experience. Video at
Writing
For those who live or winter in Florida, here's a writing contest for short stories, essays, poems, songs, or graphics about any Florida native plant that has special meaning for you. The host site mentions a photo contest, as well.
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