The Mother of all Caterpillars

Life cycle of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly

A few weeks ago I noticed a caterpillar munching on my potted parsley. After identifying her as Black Swallowtail (how did I survive before Google?) I left her to her alone to graze in the sunshine. Evidently she chose to morph into a chrysalis nearby because only a week later I was privileged to watch as she warmed in the morning sun on bedding I was airing on the deck.

First Swallowtail

 

Days later I snipped some parsley as I prepared for Betsy’s visit, and I noticed little yellow dots on the leaves. I googled again, then tucked the leaves back in the parsley plant among the other Swallowtail eggs.  

Young Swallowtail caterpillars

When they hatched there were dozens of little black & white worms and they grew to fat caterpillars as they devoured the parsley. One evening I counted over 85 growing Swallowtails

 

After a few days I had to drive to town to search out organic parsley for my growing brood.

When I tried to gently transfer them they threatened me with orange forked antennae called osmeterium. (Apparently they smell awful to birds, but it’s not much of a deterrent to a determined ‘grandmother’.)

 

 

 

Swallowtails on parsley

One by one they dropped off the parsley and crawled away.

I was able to find about twenty and monitored them as each transformed into a chrysalis and braved the thunderstorms.

Swallowtail Chrysalis

And then last week they began to emerge – from everywhere!

I had Swallowtails sunning on the deck, on the steps, on the tomato plants, and on the chairs.

 

 So the cycle begins again (and the parsley is recovering nicely).

 

 

 But yesterday I saw little yellow eggs on one of the Passion Flower vines transplanted from Kentucky, and today I identified the hairy little caterpillars of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly…

Oh, rats!

literally…

The peninsula has been invaded by rats.  Not the evil, furtive Norwegian or sewer rats we’re familiar with in the city, but a silly furry country cousin.

Photo from wikipedia of a 'domesticated' cotton rat!

I was told they probably arrived with the drought-breaking rain this spring, but I didn’t notice them until the bumper crop of blackberries began to disappear as they ripened.  One day Sophie and I startled one in the median and, having no easy way to escape, he simply scrunched down and closed his eyes…. like a 2-year-old! The “I can’t see you, so you can’t see me” defense?? 

Sophie lost interest quickly, but I got a good enough look at the critter to identify him from the Bon Secour list of mammals. He is, I believe, a Sigmodon hispidus or Hispid Cotton Rat.  Here’s what America Zoo has to say about him…

http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/171.htm 

The rats moved into my garden at the end of blackberry season so I have yet to taste a single yellow squash or cherry tomato.   I threw shoes, Sophie’s toys, and my watering can at them when I caught them foraging at sunrise. But they were only mildly annoyed so I gave up.

That's NOT cotton!

Hungry bunny

And it’s hard to tell who is doing the most damage to the garden… the rabbits munching the hyacinth vines and clematis, the cotton rats gnawing on the squash and kiwi flowers, the caterpillars sucking the ripening peppers,

Habanero hornworm

the mockingbirds drilling into the tomatoes,

Successful mockingbird lure

or me throwing the shoes.

Maybe I should just  give up…

Important Update On The Rat Situation on the peninsula!

An excerpt from the Fort Morgan Civic Association newsletter 

Bon Secour Refuge ~ Mouse or Rat?

Several residents have reported rodents in the area and wondered if this was the Alabama Beach Mouse. The following article was submitted by the Refuge’s Wildlife Biologist, Jackie Isaacs, to help us with identifying the three types of rodents we encounter on Fort Morgan Peninsula: the larger cotton beach rat (spotted during the day), the small cotton beach mouse and the tiny endangered Alabama Beach Mouse.

 

Which One is an Alabama Beach Mouse?

 It can be confusing to the untrained eye to distinguish the endangered Alabama beach mouse from the cotton mouse and the cotton rat. However, if one takes a closer look it can be fairly easy to pick out behaviors, characteristics, and habitat preferences that distinguish these three species from one another.

Cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) are the largest of all three rodents and, at 100-225 grams as an adult, weigh two times more than the cotton mouse and over nine times more than the Alabama beach mouse. Furthermore, the cotton rat displays tame or “friendly” behavior, can often be seen during the day, and tends to be found in open to semi-open habitats with a thick brush component. Visually, cotton rats have a long black tail and a coat of coarse brown, black and tan hairs. If you have walked the trails at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge or have spent time outdoors this season you have probably noticed large numbers of cotton rats. With a three- to five-year boom or bust population cycle, our population now appears to be near the boom period—potentially reaching 10-28 individuals per acre..

The cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus) weighs approximately 40 grams as an adult and is a nocturnal (active at night) rodent. The cotton mouse can be found in many different habitats from the swamplands of the coastal plains all the way up into the open mountain hardwoods. Visually, the cotton mouse has a shorter lighter colored tail than the cotton rat with a coat chestnut brown or grayish brown on the back side to white on the belly.

Conversely, the endangered Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) weighs about 12.5 grams as an adult and is by far the smallest of all three rodents. Also nocturnal and very secretive, these are small light-colored mice with much shorter lighter-colored tails than the cotton rat. They prefer sandy dune slopes with patches of sea oats, beach grass, other grasses and herbs, as well as interior sand dune ridges. Alabama beach mice usually avoid buildings (houses), cars, garages and garbage dumps.

Armed with these identifying behaviors, characteristics, and habitat preferences, one should be able to identify the Alabama beach mouse, cotton mouse or cotton rat while walking a trail on Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge or gardening in your own back yard.

 

Happy Easter!

Gardening on the Gulf Coast is challenging. The forecasters are always wrong about the rain (we’re still suffering from a 4-year drought), the soil is sand, the bugs are bad, the wind is fierce, and the rabbits are fearless.

I have two confused Roma tomato plants swinging from the railing in my new Topsy Turvy planters, a slew of herbs on the deck, a few plants in an old wheelbarrow, and a small raised garden at the foot of the steps.

Yesterday, as I walked with Sophie back from the beach, I saw a large bunny eyeing the wheelbarrow and I started shouting threats from the driveway.

She watched us for a moment as we approached, then made two short hops over to the steps and nipped off the top 8 inches of the clematis.

ACK!

(I have nursed that little plant since I bought it on sale in December, covering it for every freeze advisory.  I wanted a flowering vine across from the jasmine Melinda brought from New Orleans. )

She hopped calmly into the scrub oak with my flower hanging from her mouth like a trophy cigar.

I immediately sprinkled more cayenne pepper on the poor stump and on every other plant that looked to be in harm’s way.

But when I went out to inspect my garden this morning, I decided it was probably wasted energy.  These are LA bunnies and they probably like their salad spicy, so the pepper just will be appreciated.

But who knows….. maybe it was the Easter Bunny! 

Thank you Frank Meyer!

For my smart-aleck friends who voted, “leave it on the tree longer, you dummy, and it will turn orange,” when I posted my confusion over my little lemon/lime citrus tree in October….. you were right!   

Golden Meyer limon compared to yellow legal pad!

The fruit was so smooth and lime-like we were happily picking and slicing it for Margaritas in September, but by October the fruit was turning yellow and it was much sweeter. And the last fruit I picked before the big freeze last week was golden. 

But, thanks to my generous children, I have now identified this remarkable tree. They gave me a gift certificate for a wonderful catalog called ‘Logee’s Tropical Plants’ and, my little tree is right on page 24!

It is described as “Citrus limon ‘Meyer’
An heirloom dwarf lemon with delicious golden yellow fruit. It is the hardiest lemon for cool temperatures and makes a fine potted plant. The fruit is more flavorful than store bought lemons and it bears heavily at a young age.”

Wikipedia says: “The Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri) is a citrus fruit, native to China, thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange or sweet orange. The Meyer lemon was introduced to the United States in 1908 as S.P.I. #23028, by the agricultural explorer Frank Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. It is commonly grown in China potted as an ornamental plant. It became popular as a food item in the United States after being rediscovered by chefs, such as Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, during the California Cuisine revolution. The Meyer lemon is also known as the Valley lemon in southern Texas due to its popularity in the Rio Grande Valley region.^“

^{My fabulous tree is thriving in spite of Ivan, Katrina, and my ignorance and I will slice one this afternoon for tea when my dinner guests arrive. The Logee Catalog is wonderful and I thumb through the pages almost daily trying to decide how to spend the Christmas Gift Certifcate from my boys. The Arabica Coffee Tree is tempting, as is the idea of growing my own peppercorns from a Piper Nigrum. Sam actually ordered the gift certificate after seeing a hardy kiwi (Anna) that can be eaten like a grape, skin and all, on Martha Stewart (he swears he is not a fan of Martha Stewart, he was only channel surfing)}

^{But as I look at all the buds on my little Meyer limon today, I’m looking around the yard for the perfect place to plant a companion for Mr. Meyer!}

^{Happy browsing!  http://logees.com/}

 

Snuggled under a down comforter last week

Lemon Lime?

Well…  Three weeks ago we were happily picking these ‘limes’ off my little tree and slicing them for margaritas and Allison’s refreshing Lime Vodka.

Homegrown Lemons or Limes?

Today I’m wondering if they were really limes or just unripe lemons?

The taste is actually sweeter than a lemon…

 And I was intrigued by the pricey “Prickly Pear Margarita” listed on the menu last weekend.   The cacti are common here, and something has been eating them, so I ‘googled’  the fruit and discovered they are a well-known cure for a hangover. What a perfect drink! 

Picked Prickly Pears

I picked some this morning and learned the spikes will go through leather work gloves, and the seeds are like pomegranate, but milder and slimier. I think we’re headed to the SongWriter’s Festival tonite, so I’ll let you know how this works.

Update

Prickly Pear Infused Vodka

Peeled Prickly Pears

Peeling prickly pears probably takes longer than distilling the vodka… but thanks to Betsy’s assortment of pliers I managed to peel enough to (hopefully) infuse several bottles. In spite of the leather gloves, however, I still got enough prickly hairs in my fingers yesterday to make life miserable.

But the vodka is already turning a lively shade of pink and smells a little like melon.

This could be a successful experiment and interesting Christmas present!