True stories of a small flock of remarkable individuals -- and other critters.



Monday, August 1, 2011

Dubious Treat

I visited my little raised bed veggie garden yesterday and found that several tomato plants had been stripped of their leaves overnight.  I knew who did it -- just had to find the culprit: 

The EVIL Tomato Hornworm.   
Enormous.  
Covered in eyeballs. 
I kid you not.

I found it right away.  Took a deep breath, shook off my heebie-jeebies and plucked the pest off the vine.  What a treat for the girls! I took it straight to the coop, eager to watch my little hens chow down on this vile demon.   


The ladies were thrilled to see me.  
I bring them treats often, in order to perpetuate my delusion that they're thrilled to see me --- I usually bring something like a melon rind or a tomato, which is really what they're thrilled to see.
   
The girls charged greedily toward my offering, then screeched to a halt.  Spunky little Daisy snatched up the hornworm and ran away with it -- she took it to the far end of the yard, put it down, took a good look at it, then picked it up and brought it right back to me.  
Other than that, everybody just stood and stared.


I mean, they didn't even take a nibble.  I thought they'd be fighting over it - like they would if it were a worm or a slug or a beetle.  What was the difference here?  The size?  The row of eyeballs?


Offended by their lack of enthusiasm for this awesome gift, I left the girls staring at the hornworm and went back inside to post my photo of the ghastly creature on Facebook where I felt sure it would be appreciated for its enormity and beautiful freakiness.  Facebook Friends immediately responded, agreeing that it is a terrible menace in the garden.
Another friend, however, explained that it is the larva of a Hummingbird Moth, 
which happens to be one of my absolute favorite bugs.
   
Suddenly, I loved that caterpillar.  


I snapped my laptop shut and sprinted back out to the coop, hoping I wasn't too late for a valiant rescue.  The ladies were dust bathing in the shade at the far end of the run, and I found the caterpillar right where I'd left it, all its eyeballs still intact and glaring at me.  
I picked it up, dusted it off and returned it to the vegetable garden.
   
This morning I went out to check up on the caterpillar and found it joyfully defoliating another treasured tomato plant, none the worse for its adventure with the girls.

Then I took a melon rind treat to my adoring little hens.







35 comments:

  1. My girls love snails - after they got over the initial horror of bits food crawling/slithering away.

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  2. oh those are just the creepiest of caterpillars aren't they? I made peace with them about two years ago, and just plant a few more tomatoes now, you know - a few for them! The poor things need to eat too, and they are such a beautiful moth! My girls would never touch them either.

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  3. Beauty if often created from something quite ugly. The eyes make it look a little alien like.

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  4. I love these posts, and they are made all the more enjoyable by the lovely illustrations xx

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  5. R O F L !!!!! I laughed so hard at this post - what a lovely streak of vengefulness and such poetically just response. hehe

    But it makes a hummingbird moth? Wow!! I've only seen one of those once, and I'll never forget it. I was chit-chatting with a friend at her front porch, and I noticed the strangest thing hovering at her flowers. "Bonnie, look at this thing! It's not a hummingbird! It's a bug!" "Whoa. What do you think it is?" Silent observation for a while . . . then I jokingly said, "What else? It's a hummingbird moth!" Got home later and went straight to the Web. Sure enough, that's what it was!! lol

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  6. Wow, who knew?
    oh, that's right, the girls.
    i love those hummingbirds moths, too.
    and that last illustration. Which i want--HINT, HINT--on a t-shirt. :^)

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  7. Those eyes are there for a reason maybe they are highly toxic and the girls knew. This post was funny and fascinating, you are so at one with nature! lol

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  8. I LOVE the last drawing! Pigeon jumping up and down, and the tiny heart which is all Lil'White can muster. And here serene highness in the background. So adorable.

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  9. What a creepy looking bug, see who said chickens were not smart?! My goodness, so glad that you rescued it. Thanks for sharing those heebie-jeebies and those adorable hens with hearts above their heads. I can so appreciated their excitement.

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  10. Thank you for the giggle this post gave me this morning... I needed it :D

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  11. My girls eat them right up and turn them into eggs. They are hard on my tomatoes and peppers so I am not sad to see them go.

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  12. This was great! I really like your style!

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  13. OMG, this is just too funny! So glad I found your blog. It just makes my day. What a freaky little caterpillar! I recently picked one off one of my tomato plants and showed it to my kids. I just put it back into the grass not knowing it would eat up my tomato plants. Good thing we have plenty! Thanks for the laughs!! LOL

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  14. Absolutely loved your story! And though he wouldn't admit it, the hubby was reading over my shoulder the whole time!

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  15. LOL! Funny girls! Something new is always scary until someone gets brave and tries it then watch out - the fight is on! My son had collected a bunch of hornworms and put them on a plate for the girls last summer. The worms would move and the chickens would jump. No one actually got brave eonough to try one. LOL!

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  16. I like Lil'White's lil' heart.❤

    I also still think you're funny sacrificing your yummy tomato plants. ✿◠‿◠

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  17. I love these guys. Creep factor is a 10, but I still find them fascinating! The "eyes" are called spiracles and they use them to breathe. There are two per segment, one each side. Want to know more about this lovely moth family? Look here: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05517.html

    Hope you don't mind me sharing,
    Lynda

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  18. I thought you Photoshopped those eyes on that caterpillar so I went to Google to see if they really, really looked like that.....and they DO. How freaky!!!! It looks like someone handpainted those eyes on them. Those chickens are smart girls. You are what you eat and I think we all agree that two eyes are better than a hundred.

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  19. i adore you and your girls ! xxxxx

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  20. I love that your girls wouldn't eat it! I hope you get to see the butterfly moth because you probably won't be seeing any more tomatoes. I think I would choose the tomatoes.

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  21. *Squeeal* Such a cute story! My girls are usually excited to see me too, except for the time I brought them leftover blueberry muffins... apparently the blueberry after-taste was not very palatable because the next day the muffins were still there.
    (Covered in ants. NIIICE.)

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  22. Goodness. This turns the world upside down. I have done in a lot of pretty moths, apparently. Now I am compelled to make a new plan.

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  23. I am waiting excitedly for my Pigeon T shirt to arrive, I would love a 'Lucy' T shirt, do you have any plans for one? I will definitely be building a 'Scratch and Peck' Wardrobe. :)

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  24. My friend, Jen, had one of those horny worms on her sweatshirt, forgot about it, and ended up giving it to me when she drove me to my car last night. I drove home with that worm in my hand, knowing that I would have a whole bunch of little girls waiting to check it out.

    I have 7 meat birds growing and running around the yard. They hate to go in at night so, at 9:00 last night, they were all out and about. I brought the little worm over to them and put him down. Of course, my girls did the same as your girls, stared and stared. Finally, a brave one picked it up and started running around with it. Sheh played with it for a while and then finally put it out of its misery.

    Oh, and my sister has those hummingbird moths at HER house.

    Have a great day! Love love love this blog!

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  25. Tee-shirts?!?! Where?? How can I get one?
    I would have to vote for tomatoes over hornworms. Every one of my tomatoes will have a bite or 100 taken out of it if I do not hand pick or soap spray the worms off.

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  26. Lauren, you've doomed your tomato plants for the sake of the Carolina Sphinx moth or one of it's relatives (Manduca rustica or M. sexta, probably) also known as Hawk Moths. These feed almost exclusively on nightshades (Solanaceae). The hornworms are pretty big (up to 9 cm).

    The caterpillar of the Hummingbird Clearwing is smaller (to 5 cm) and also has "eyes" (as do lots of other caterpillars). According to my caterpillar book ("Caterpillars of Eastern North America" by David Wagner), it feeds almost exclusively on Viburnams + honeysuckle and snowberry, all Caprifoliaceae and, perhaps on a few Rosaceae.

    I think the rule is "By their foodplants ye shall know them". Wagner indexes under foodplants so you can scan likely suspects if you find strange caterpillars on your oak (turned out to be Orange-striped Oakworm). It is a very handy book.

    Hummingbird Moths are really cool. I've seen at least a couple on the somewhat sparse Buddlia. And I saw one at a "feral" phlox--next to the Buddlia. My rule about Hornworms is squash UNLESS the critter has wasp eggs, then leave him to die and propagate the wasps.

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  27. I've never seen a hummingbird moth or at least I don't think I have. Maybe all of those eyes protect the caterpillars. If you see it tomorrow put it on the honeysuckle instead of the tomatoes. Tomatoes are one of the best things about summer.
    xo, Rosemary

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  28. Thanks for stopping by my blog! Great story and a cool picture.

    Your moth adult looks like Hemaris thisbe, the hummingbird clearwing moth. The hornworm is in the same family (Sphinx moths, Sphingidae) but - I guess they all fly similarly. By far the two I see at garden flowers the most are Hemaris thisbe (hummingbird clearwing) and Hemaris diffis (Snowberry clearwing)

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  29. Such an interesting looking Caterpillar! I wouldn't eat it either. My old flock wouldn't touch snails but loved a wriggly green caterpillar...those eyes are freaky though!

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  30. I am completely amused! Who knew this website existed. I have a chicken pact going with a novelist friend, and chickens loom large in our firmament. Shall have to share...

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  31. I live in a cement jungle in China - and one of my ways out is gardening blogs and chickens (I used to have a flock...) and bugs online. This is such a lift. Thanks for your wonderful blog! I love it.

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  32. Oh the illustrations on this post are just freakin' ADORABLE! I agree with someone above who said the one with the hearts would make a GREAT T-Shirt! I would buy one!

    I second Betsy F's praise for David Wagner's book. I use it all the time to ID caterpillars and the various winged things they turn into. I have Snowberry Clearwings in my yard and they are the big thrill of the summer, well, they AND the actual hummingbirds that visit my feeders.

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  33. and PS my girls wont touch Tomato Horn Worms either, but give them a grub the same size and even higher on "ick" scale, and there's a feeding FRENZY!

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