CRITTERS: Andy Heffner of Ormsby called with questions about critters he’s seeing — or not seeing — in his yard this year.
First, he wondered what the little white caterpillars he sees everywhere are.
He saw several hanging from trees in his yard, he said, noting, “They looked like paratroopers.”
——caterpillar photo——
Well, it’s the hickory tussock caterpillar.
A reader warned us about the critter last year, and it’s worth repeating: Don’t touch them. The hickory tussock caterpillar excretes a chemical that causes a rash.
Andy wondered why we’re seeing them here now. We don’t recall seeing them until a year or two ago. Anyone know?
Andy also wondered, “Where are all the blue jays and robins?”
Normally, he’d be fighting to keep them off his berries, but not this year.
One year, he even purchased a plastic owl to spook the birds. He hung his owl on fishing line on the blueberry bush, and he kept its eyes shined up — it is the eyes that really spooks the birds, he said.
He’s not fighting the birds this year.
He’s not seeing goldfinches now, and the hummingbirds left his property three weeks ago, too.
Normally, “It’s always about the last week of August that we notice (the hummingbirds) disappear,” he said.
Is anyone else seeing changes in the bird population this year? Andy watches local animals to see if their behavior might foretell of bad weather.
“They tell you what’s going to happen,” he said.
Without the birds his berries are doing quite well.
His bushes are “so heavy with blueberries” the branches are down to the ground.
His raspberries, elderberries and garlic are doing just as well.
“We got seven pickings off of those raspberries. Usually we get three.” The elderberry plants are “loaded,” too.
He got his first crop of garlic years ago from Carl Ohman, and it’s taken off since then. “We usually have about three hundred pounds of garlic we sell,” he said.
Several people have commented on how big his garlic is this year.
Andy hopes his plentiful crops and abnormal bird behavior aren’t a sign of a hard winter.
He explained, “Old-timers used to say, if crops are like this, winter’s going to be tough.”
