More colour

It is football season! Joseph Brian was prepared, and wearing his colours. 

Out and about, I spotted two snakes. A ribbon snake hunting for ants on the driveway, and a dead eastern milksnake. Sadly, I found the ribbon snake dead yesterday. The driveway isn't a good place for snakes. I feel so badly. We had several deliveries. It was about 60 cm/ 24" long, and a fine specimen.

Always a sight to behold, the ivy usually shows amazing colour.

🍁Autumn Chores

I accomplished some Autumn Chores in the lovely weather. All the hops vine is cleaned up. The jute I run from the railing to soffat, I've taken down. The hops regrows each year and the leaves were done for the season. 

The moths and butterflies have all laid eggs and used the hops as habitat. One year I was removing the vine, and found an IO moth caterpillar. That was most exciting, as I'd photographed it as an adult.

I took the vinegar JB had used to clean the coffee pot, and cleaned the outside windows. I had to wait until the afternoon, when the sun streams in, to see how I did. I guess I should have cleaned the INSIDE of the windows before bringing in the plants. Sigh. 

I had an email message, and a parcel was left at the gate. I hustled down there, enjoying the leaves, and the sunshine. 

Have you ever seen an IO moth?

I'm sure you've seen photos. They have a large spot on their wings that looks like an eye.
I won't steal a photo to show you, but you can visit Wikipedia for one.
This is the larvae of this beautiful moth. I found a caterpillar in my Hops vines. Not only that, but found two. Buster was no help at all, relaxing on pillows.
I made the mistake of touching it. They have sharp, spiny little barbs that are deceiving, as moth caterpillars are soft and fuzzy.
I was shocked! I sucked on it, to remove any venom, and then washed it well with soap and water. It hurt for an hour!
My Hops vine is huge, and I wish I knew what to do with the seeds/fruit, whatever!This is so funny. I was videotaping the caterpillar, and it picked up its poo and started eating it. It dropped it overboard, from the side of a 2 x 4.
Jodie, my 4-yr.-old granddaughter will love it! I thought I would be clever and pull some nice leaves off of the Hops vine for it to eat. When I did so, I found another IO Moth larvae!

Pruning vines, discovering hidden friends!

Today I needed to trim and prune the Hops vines. 

The plants tend to keep the moisture in, and encourages mold on the wooden deck.

Looking at the deck, there is much caterpillar poo about. 

Praying Mantis

This little venture led me to a few discoveries. See her watching me? 

caterpillar poo everywhere!

Io moth caterpillar (left) - has sharp spines!
It is HUGE!

Tree frog poo, Josie!

Pretty little moths!

Who loves our deck? Tree frogs!

grasshopper

another beetle to look up!