Nature & Wildlife Thread

[Lisak1]

I saw this caterpillar yesterday. It’s the American dagger moth

I just saw a FACEBOOK WARNING not to touch these as they can leave spines in your hands that will CAUSE A RASH! WARN YOUR KIDS! haha! We caught these as kids all the time... don't remember ever getting an ITCHY RASH that would cause me to use UPPER CASE LETTERS to warn everyone! Of course these are probably the same parents who think a mosquito bite is a death sentence, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Burd]

I saw 2 of the brown/black bristle type and I had to move one to safety, , he was in my hand.
Also, I have a squirrel rehabber friend, she just got theses 2 in.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I just saw a FACEBOOK WARNING not to touch these as they can leave spines in your hands that will CAUSE A RASH! WARN YOUR KIDS! haha! We caught these as kids all the time... don't remember ever getting an ITCHY RASH that would cause me to use UPPER CASE LETTERS to warn everyone! Of course these are probably the same parents who think a mosquito bite is a death sentence, so take it with a grain of salt.

For what it's worth, most "hairy" caterpillars can cause rashes on people with sensitive skin, even Woolly bears.
The dagger moth caterpillar has toxins in the hairs that probably hurt a little more, especially with people who are more sensitive to it. Probably more of a minor annoyance in comparison to saddleback caterpillars, which are known for awful stings.

 

[j.w]

@Burd so cute. Hope all off them stay safe and the two in rehab make it back to the wild someday soon.

 

[Lisak1]

Probably more of a minor annoyance

Minor annoyances have to come with warning labels today, unfortunately. You want to know a minor annoyance? Try baking up into a wall of prickly pear cactuses!

 

[Lisak1]

Do you see them there on the right, just above the water celery? Get that in your booty and you'll wish you had a warning! haha!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Minor annoyances have to come with warning labels today, unfortunately.

It's the social media "sharing" craze. One person had a bad reaction to the caterpillar's natural defenses. That information hits social media, and suddenly its shared by thousands who probably think it's some new deadly thing to fear.

People constantly find and share things on social media without knowing whether it's misleading, an overreaction, or just completely wrong. I constantly see my relatives sharing things that aren't correct, or a just a complete overreaction and not anything to really worry about.

That leads to things like "momo challenge", which didn't exist, but people thought it did.

 

[addy1]

Do you see them there on the right, just above the water celery? Get that in your booty and you'll wish you had a warning! haha!

I left all the cactus back in AZ, no desire to have any here. Had more than enough encounters with prickly things there.

 

[Lisak1]

We grow them here in Northern IL just because it's cool to show people that yes, we do have native cactus! And they grow really well in the rock wall. Added bonus - it's the only plant we can grow between those rocks that the chipmunks won't bother with. I was trying to get some creeping phlox growing but they kept shoving it out of the wall, the little devils! They finally met their match with my cactus!

 

[Burd]

A chipmunk took a bite from my peyote cactus a couple years ago, wonder how he liked the trip. Lol
We have Opuntia Compressa native to Michigan.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

We grow them here in Northern IL just because it's cool to show people that yes, we do have native cactus!

I almost bought one a couple years ago. Ultimately decided there was no area in my gardens that would make sense for it. Would love to see them in the wild one day. I know a few areas within Wisconsin where they can be found, but I'm never near those areas.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I checked out the Root River on Thursday. We've had a lot of rain, so I knew it would be high. It was. Parts of the trail were under water.

Later that night, I got to see this Great-horned owl silhouette, with a sunset backdrop (and canada geese)

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Hiked a trail in UW Parkside's woodland yesterday for the first time. It mainly follows the Pike River, which was cool. Saw some salmon heading upstream, as well as a Kingfisher flying down the river. It's a really nice area that I'm surprised I haven't explored before. I'm fairly sure there's another trail on the other side of the river that I'll have to explore someday.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Spent the last 6 days camping in two of Wisconsin's State Forests. My annual autumn camping trip. I arrived Sunday at Point Beach State Forest. Some of you may remember that name from my previous visits. I share photos from it whenever I go. On Wednesday I left PBSF and set up in the Kettle Moraine State Forest for a couple nights, then headed home earlier today. Here's a photo from Molash Creek, where it flows into Lake Michigan at Point Beach. I'll make separate posts in coming days to share more photos from my trip.

 

[j.w]

Looks like a beautiful, nice easy flowing river, great for a tube float on a warm sunny day!