Looking outside with my hands in dishwater, something didn’t look quite right. Looking straight at a gigantic caterpillar, my eyes had not focused. Outside with my phone in hand, the handsome bright green beauty stood out.
What a camera the iPhone 6+ is! It captured a photo for you! You probably have some friends with very nice cameras who leave the cameras behind when traveling.
On Facebook, Penny Moulder quickly responded to my query about the caterpillar’s identity. “Looks like the jerks who ate my tomato plants!” Yes, indeed. A little research tells me it’s known as “tomato hornworm.”
Penny went on to say that she raised a few in a bucket one year, sacrificing pieces of her tomato plants to see what they grew up to be. “They can strip a tomato plant in just a couple days. They grow fast.”
I looked later for a cocoon hanging on my stripped poke plant’s stalk. When I found nothing, I wondered if I had alerted a predator to its presence. The plant was the wrong place to look. They pupate in the ground.
Penny observed such when she watched hers grow. “They buried themselves in the dirt. The cocoon was a brownish maroon color. When it’s born? The wings are tiny and wet. It only takes a few hours for the wings to unfold and dry out.”
Her “sphynx moth” flew away the day after. The sphynx moth gets called “hummingbird moth” because it’s seen hovering at flowers in early evenings. Untrained eyes think they’re seeing a hummingbird.
There’s a surefire way to distinguish a moth from a hummingbird – a bill.
Our City Hall will no longer be misidentified as residential housing. With the flagpole and monument “Mountain City” signage, it looks amazing and official. That heavy signage did not cost a ton. The sign was created just before the present “Mountain City” sign at the entrance. It was rejected because the text did not include “established 1850”. Now, a few years later, the reject came out of mothballs.
Ordinance revisions are underway. Draft ordinances will be reviewed and discussed at a City Workshop on November 23rd at 6 p.m. This is an open meeting - no action will be taken. The council will review and discuss the potential ordinances and then post drafts for action at a later date.
The was no way to get an amazing display of Christmas lights up at City Hall this year, like we enjoyed in 2014. Personally, I hoped the City would take the project this year. But, the City did not budget for such. Last year, private donations paid for the installation. In 2016, it’s probable that the lights will return, funded by individuals.
Individuals can help with Montage each week. Send tidbits to [email protected] (subject: TIDBIT) or 512.268.5678 Thanks! Love, Pauline
