It has begun. It is officially Suicidal Bird Season - aka - Moth Season. I kind of forgot about this lovely time of year considering I had just made it to Wyoming at the start of it last year.
Basically, the moths are out in hoards. It is insane. I am old fashioned, and cheap... okay, mostly I'm just cheap, and I like to hang my clothes out to dry on a drying horse/rack. It saves money/electricity. I still throw them in the dryer for a few minutes at the end just to soften them up. Since it has warmed up a lot, I have taken to putting the drying horse out on the back porch. There is a ton a radiant heat bouncing back from the house and it dries the clothes really fast. The other day, however, I left them out until dark and when I went to retrieve them, I started shaking them out as a matter of habit, and I shook out no less that a dozen moths that had taken to resting in the clothes. Yuck! Lesson learned. Get the clothes in before dark. Or... just don't put them outside until moth season is over.
The reason I refer to it as Suicidal Bird Season is because the birds are willing to risk life and "wing" to eat these moths. The intersections are particularly dangerous. Yesterday while I was out running errands, I nearly hit several birds as they darted in front of the car in pursuit of their meals. I don't want to cause an accident by swerving to avoid them, but I'd rather not pulverize a little hungry bird either. Thankfully I didn't hit any yesterday, but in the next little while, it will be difficult to avoid them.
I was talking to Nicia the other day about this and she groaned in rememberance. She said there was one time she sucked up 17 moths in one vacuuming session from them just flying in while people went in and out of their Cheyenne house. Just yesterday I put my hand in the mailbox and came out with a fluttering bug in my hand instead of the card I was reaching for. Creepy.
I know moths exist everywhere, but I don't recall being anywhere where they were this prevalent. I am cheering the little birds on. Eat 'em up! And don't die while trying! (I did watch a bird expertly chase one down in the street while I was walking the dog yesterday. Their agility is pretty impressive.)
Anyway, not that anyone is planning a trip out here any time soon, but just be wary of the wing-ed things - both big and small.
Oh those moths. Since Alyssa was beginning to mimic my fear of the stupid moths, I had to put on my big girl pants and Joe had me touch one. Still makes me squirm to think about it, but it definitely helped. That, and, Alyssa naming the moths "Marvin the moth" helped her and I talk more positively about them. Glad we took care of that one quickly before she developed a fear. Now she loves moths. (Go figure!)
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