Chucky's Nature Notes

Well there are lots of them about at the moment - mummy has some more caterpillars on her plants! We think that these are sawfly larva: Sorry about the excess of photos of the same thing, but some are clearer than others. They are eating Willowsherb, which mummy was about to pull up (she doesn't like it at all), however she has now opted to leave it so that these little guys can keep their food source. They do occasionally go onto the Nasturtium, but they don't really seem to like those eaves very much (unlike the previously discussed Large White caterpillar). We have been unable to get a definitive ID on these guys though - maybe we should try the butterflies and their caterpillars group on facebook?? Gavgavs parents came down to visit last week - and brought a pooch with them - big yellow, bit dippy, with a very waggy tail (that mummy would NOT let me grab hold of, coz she is a meanie!!!). Apparently she is called Nell, and we did get a photo, but at the moment it...

Ooh it is a wet day here in South Wales today, even Doris is spending most of her time inside her hutch! However, the crows were still here this morning nibbling on the fat ball mummy put out for them last night (only two now, I think the babies are starting to find their own territories now). In the last post we were talking about colours of animals, and specifically the Large White caterpillar. So, to follow on from that I wanted to share another caterpillar with you: This is almost certanly a moth caterpillar and it was just crawling brazenly across the pavement - yup in the wet too. I guess it was going to try and find somewhere a little drier to go and pupate, but I have no idea what type of moth it will become! It was very fluffy indeed. In fact it was so fluffy and creepy that poor Piper had to hide in a coconut! :D She is such a little cutie pie, but I will still bite her feet if she lands on my cage. We still have hedgehogs visiting the garden - or at least we thik ...

So they say that animals have bright colours (or maybe just insects?) to warn others of their danger, or pretend that they are dangerous anyway. Everybody knows that the black and yellow of the wasp and bumblebee works to warn people of their sing, and hoverflies use these colours to confuse would-be predators. A predator is not going to et something that could potentially give it a nasty sting. However, mummy thought it would be good to show people that wasps do not usually sting uneccesarily, and as long as you don't flap at them they can be quite intreguing to watch going about their business. Now this video isn't liked by everybody, but it is interesting (although GavGav got bored lol), especially with Gav's dads commentary hehe. If only I could have been there, but they had the new puppy with them instead :( So here is the little video: Something else that shows you not to eat it through its colours is the large white caterpillar. These are black and yellow also, ...

Well mummy was off work today and we were hoping to spend some quality time relaxing together. However, the local waterfowl had a different idea - the geese up at the top pond had got themselves covered in oil and so the morning was spent trying to catch them up so that they can be cleaned up and re-released. These poor guys looked so sorry for themselves. It is a real shame and we don't knnow where the oil has come from. Four of the six were caught and taken away, but three are no-where to be seen. Mummy watched these guys grow up - they walked all over her for food, so it is really upsetting. Then there was the duck on the old fishing lake (which incidentally is currently drying up and St. Modwens are not going to do anything about it, even though there are plenty of fish in there!). She cannot walk properly - taking a few steps and then sitting down. Unfortunately she would not come out of the water after she got run over by a coot defending its chicks. So all in all ...

So mummy had an exam yesterday and so she has been using her laptop for revising - hence why I have not been able to leave you all any love! I do have some amazing news - the grass is actually green again!! Although the sun seems to be making a come-back lol. Doris and the Guinea Pigs are very happy they can have fresh grass once again (but then if they didn't eat it so quick it would probably have fared better in the sun anayway!) Doris also has a sandbox to keep her cool and she loves it - mummy tried to take a video of her rolling in it, but as soon as the camera was on her she stopped lol: Hehe - she doesn't look impressed in the second picture does she - I haven't told her yet they are going on here :O. Something that is actually interesting and nature related is that out the front of the house mummy planted some small allium-type flowers (she says they are alliums, but I'm not too sure!), and inside several of them are chrysalises - they are empty, but di...