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ScythicKitty — Camouflaged...Almost
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#animals #bug #butterfly #camera #camouflage #canon #caterpillar #flowers #garden #gardening #green #hawkmoth #hornworm #insect #invertebrates #leaf #leaves #moth #nature #pest #photo #photography #plants #spring #tomato #vegetable #scythickitty
Published: 2017-01-05 07:44:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 581; Favourites: 16; Downloads: 0
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Description
"Now you see me, now you...still see me!"This "little" guy was about 4 inches (~10 cm) long! Looks like he ate a little too much to really hide properly... Our garden frequently has tomato hornworms (which can get up to 5 inches long) visiting. I once kept one, and it became a beautiful five-spotted hawk moth. They are lovely creatures, but unfortunately for us, have a voracious appetite and decimate any plants they live on.
Happy National Mail Order Gardening Month!
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Comments: 28
Thanks! These caterpillars are beautiful specimens, but a shame they're so destructive haha.
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Funny story my friend brought in a caterpillar from the garden at our school and took it into the building. He showed it to his friends who are girls and they all didn't like it because it was gross. When he put it on my table and pretended he still had it, he he acted like he threw it on the girls and they all started freaking out. It was hilarious they thought it was on them XD Fortunately the caterpillar was fine. I took it out and put it in a bush so hopefully it grows into a butterfly.
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Haha I wish I was there to see that! I love pranks like that and I bet it was a sight to see! I'm glad the caterpillar is fine as well, and also hope it will successfully grow into a butterfly.
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This is so cool, great photo. We don't have these guys in Europe, so our tomatoes are always left alone, haha.
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Thank you! And nice- it's no fun seeing a plant you've been growing all year long turn into just stems in three days haha! Though at the same time, it's a treat seeing these guys since they're just so huge!
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Oh wow, I know that frustration indeed. Once we had a couple of deers paying our garden a visit, and they ate all the flower buds on our plants...
I bet, they must still be quite impressive. ^^
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Yikes! Deer making a snack out of all your hard work, and since they were buds, you didn't even get to see the flowers in full bloom yet! I know the deer don't mean anything by it, but I'd be so mad if that happened haha. Have you deer-proofed your garden since then?
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Yeah, it was pretty annoying, haha. XD
We have put up high fences around the backyard, but we also spent more time out in the garden, they haven't been coming for a couple of years now.
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That's great to hear that they've left your garden alone for the past few years! I guess the biggest deterrent for them would be having people back there, since many deer are so skittish. I wish that worked for peacocks though- a city nearby complains about the peacocks invading their yards often, as they aren't particularly wary of people and fences pose no problem.
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Yeah, deer are pretty nervous around people. We have a lot of deer in Sweden, yet you hardly ever see them. For being a large animal they're suprisingly good at staying hidden.
Oh my, peacocks aren't the quietest of animals either. XD
Our local park in Kristianstad has a pair of them, and you can hear them across the entire park. XD
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That is true, deer are pretty big but they are a rare sight! We have a lot of signs in the area that say "deer crossing," yet in the past 15 years, I don't think I've seen a single wild, live deer in the neighborhood. I have seen one as roadkill though, so they're out there...somewhere! Coyotes on the other hand, those are quite common to see!
Haha definitely! Peacocks are quite impressive with how far their voice carries! It's so distinct too, you can't miss it! Let's just hope that mocking birds and the like don't start to impersonate it. XD
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Yeah, they seem to be very good at staying hidden, haha. Sweden is famous for our large moos population, yet I've only seen a moose in the wild one time. XD
Oh yeah, I heard they even live in cities, but we don't have them over here though.
Haha, that would be crazy. XD
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If you still have chickens, tomato hornworms are one of their favorite treats. The chickens will be happy, and your tomato plants will thank you.
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Thanks for the tip! I do still have chickens (almost 8 years old now), though when I did give them the tomato hornworms, every year they always sadly ignored them haha.
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My tiny silkie hen named Sweetpea loved eating bugs, but since my family couldn't let her run around the yard unsupervised, I started carrying her around and held her out towards plants with bugs on them. It was so cute, and Sweetpea always had a full crop afterwards, and would fall asleep in my arms after it. She actually made a purring sound when she was happy.
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Sweatpea sounds so cute! I'm sure she had a blast being carried around to all her favorite treats around the garden. 
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She was the top hen. Despite her small size, she was fast enough to get any treats I offered to my other chickens, and when my mom put a mirror in the pen, Sweetpea saw her reflection, then went around it to see what was behind the mirror. She was smart, too.
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Nice, go Sweetpea! A lot of people underestimate how smart chickens can be, and it's great to see someone who appreciates what they are capable of. Plus big personalities can come in small sizes!
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I've had my share of chickens, and each one is unique. Dusty was so gentle and tame that I could set him on the ground to eat grass and bugs or the birdseed my neighbors would give him, and he wouldn't wander off. He also loved being petted and being carried, he liked being scratched under his wing, and would relax on my lap while I used the computer. When I first got him along with my first hen, he instantly fell asleep in my arms when my parents and I got home. One of the most entertaining experiences with my second rooster and Sweetpea was when I found a dead cicada. It was so funny to see that rooster and Sweetpea chasing each other while one of them had the cicada, grabbing it from each other, until they figured out how to eat it. It was so hilarious. I brought home so many treats for them when I went on walks. Sweetpea really liked the sour cherries growing in my neighbor's yard, and mulberries were an instant favorite.
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Definitely! Chickens have a lot of personality to them.
It sounds like you spent a lot of time with Dusty, and he was a very sweet and loveable guy. The story you have with Sweetpea, the rooster, and the cicada reminds me of my chickens as well, the way they basically play football with with larger treats. It's a riot to see how excited they get, and trying to guess who the "winner" will be! And Sweetpea has good tastes in food! 
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I had to give away my two remaining hens, including Sweetpea, after someone decided to call the township about rats, when they weren't even in my yard, and actually came from another person's yard two streets over, but since my family had chickens, we were blamed and had to give up our chickens in a specific amount of time...
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I'm so sorry to hear that, that's awful! And it's hard to prove that the rats came from elsewhere when it's so easy to pin the blame on the chickens. 
It also makes me wonder what they'll think when the rats continue to stay, even after continued efforts to remove them and the fact that the chickens are gone already... like would they realize their mistake that they blamed the wrong house, or would they just continue to feign ignorance?
I hope that in the future, you'll have a chance to keep chickens again in an area with nicer neighbors! Sorry again this had to happen to you, and I hope that your hens are in loving hands in their new homes.
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I've seen a few dead rats around, and my yard is devoid of any grains or chicken feed at this point. I doubt they'll realize their mistake. My hens are in very good hands. They're at a farm where you can bring chickens that you can't take care of anymore. One of my showgirl roosters is there, too. One of my neighbors has chickens, but the rats aren't from there. Those hens absolutely love it when I come to visit. My neighbor can only tell them apart by their combs, yet after owning chickens for so long, I can tell them apart easily. They don't have official names, so I called one of them Longfeather since she always has a primary feather sticking out to the side slightly, despite each molting. The other one, Tall-tail, has a tail that sticks up a lot. Longfeather loves being held, while Tall-tail isn't easy to pick up. Both of them come running and occasionally partially flying when I come to visit them. I may not own chickens anymore, but I'm not chickenless.
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That's great to hear that they're in good hands! It must be a relief knowing that there was a place nearby that pet chickens could go and be safe once they couldn't be cared for any longer.
Haha cute nicknames! That's nice that even though you don't own chickens, you still have access to them and can enjoy them regularly.
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I wasn't able to bring myself to go with my mom to drop them off. It was hard enough to know that they were going away. It would have been even more painful to see them go.
The owner has long forgotten the names of the hens, so I gave them names. I also gave them names in their own language, since I learned quite a bit from my own chickens, to the point where I can tell what their expressions are from very tiny details.
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In the realm of hiders, this caterpillar is king...erpillar. Are you sure I'm not looking at a fat leaf? But this is a cute, chubby little fellow! Too bad he decimates on the plants though. For shame! That's also why it has a hard time hiding!!
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He's throned! He's spaghetti! And everything is decimated and decimated on! The kingerpillar has no shame, and fears nobody. His entire body is a marble neck, impenetrable to all but the most sparkling of miasmas.
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