Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Daily Photo Reprise: A Fuzzy Black Visitor, 2011

two black cats looking at caterpillar
Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine study our visitor.

No, not another kitty, but an all-black woolly caterpillar!

A distant relative, come to visit?

No, but it was definitely trying to communicate, rising up on its front end and waving its legs.

“Mewsette, look at this! It’s all black, just like us!”

“I know, Sunshine, I’ve been watching it. When you touch it, it rolls up in a ball and doesn’t move.”

Each of them touched it once and carefully studied it. Tired of this treatment our visitor quickly undulated its way in another direction.

Then Cookie made a discovery as well.

tortie cat looking at caterpillar
Cookie studies the caterpillar.

“Hey, it isn’t solid black! It has orange in it too, just like me! Its skin is orange between the black fur. It’s a tortie caterpillar!”

So our woolly caterpillar matches everyone in the house, except maybe Jelly Bean, who has white spots. What concerns me is that according to lore the more black this caterpillar is wearing, the harsher the winter. This one does have all black fur, even though it has some orange skin, but does that mean we’re in for another heavy-duty winter?

I picked the poor thing up and put it outside the door where it was safe from inquisitive paws and, hopefully, it could develop some orange fur in addition to skin.

So much for the all-black-caterpillar myth. We had one of the mildest winters I can remember. But our visitor provided some entertainment for the kids.


All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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