My eldest found a chrysalis while we were weeding the front garden. She put it in a jar with a wire mesh top (yeah, we have these just hanging around for exactly this reason) and in about a week a moth emerged! She let it go outside after its photo session. After doing a search on iNaturalist we found out the caterpillar form is called an armyworm and damages crops. Hmm.
We’ve been seeing some fox on our trail cam this spring! The pictures are blurry, but the beastie is quite clearly not a cat or coyote. Probably a gray fox, as they are common ‘round here.
A wasp nest in the coop that I sprayed a year ago finally fell down into the runs. I left it up because I read that if there is a nest, other wasps will avoid the area. Apparently people make all sorts of fake nests to psych out the wasps (yes, there are even crocheted decoys!) I just left the fumigated nest in place. We’ll see if I get new inhabitants this spring.
One of the yard squirrels came up to the window to tell me the feeder was empty. Bold. The dogs didn’t see her (him?), they were at the other window.
I think the local squirrels enjoy antagonizing the dog. Or it was trying to get attention because the feeder was empty. Still, the squirrel has some brass.
Critters and Craft 