Look, It’s the First Moth of the Season
Posted on March 28, 2019 Posted by John Scalzi 11 Comments
Surely a harbinger of spring!
Also, roughly 30 seconds later, Smudge tried to eat it. He was not successful and it flew away. Good for you, harbinger moth!
Here’s hoping that spring actually takes. I’m very ready for it.
Now I have a particular Jethro Tull song about moths playing in my head. “…And the first moths of summer, suicidal came…”
“Previously on Smudgie the Moth Slayer…” =D
Sadly, there will still be cold snaps – haven’t had blackberry winter yet. Wait, do you get blackberry winter in Ohio?
We are more than ready for spring as well. We’ve opened a couple of windows for an hour or two on several days this week; it’s still not really warm enough for open windows, but the house smells so much better for getting rid of the stale air of winter. All three of the cats have been vying for the windowsills of the open windows, because of course those are the best locations for bird-watching. No moths here yet, but the cardinals and chickadees have been chattering up a storm in the trees just outside the windows, so the cats have plenty to keep them interested.
The magnolia buds are the size of my thumb. And green, very green.
Harbinger Moth needs to go on the band name list. I’m adding it to mine…
I read that here in the midwest (I’m next door in Hoosierland), other than the polar vortex early this year, this was one of the mildest winters on record with something like 33 record-setting warmest days. Looking back it sure doesn’t seem like it. I just remember another long slog through short, dark, cold wet days. No complaints though, we could have been in Australia where they redefned the meaning of “hot.” At least with cold you can always add a layer of clothing. With hot however, the inverse would certainly draw the ire of one’s neighbors and possibly a citation for public indecency.
30 seconds… and he missed? Hah! With my cat, anything larger than a gnat has a less-than-15-second lifespan.
We had a bad case of moths a couple years back. Some of our trees are still in the process of slowly dying. I would say get more cats and encourage them to go after moths.
Harbinger Moth, eh?
I remember “harbinger,” from the oracle’s gloomy term for the viper pilot Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica. The term relates to herald, one who goes forth to announce something or to find (on land) a harbour for an army.
No harbinger moths here, although the cats find spiders and the eating thereof relevant to their interests. Junior just emerged from behind the computer desk with his whiskers completely enmeshed with webs.