Lovely Luna Moth

Lovely Luna Moth at Tobin Lake - Grace Garrison photo

Happy New Year, everyone!

We have just returned from our annual end of the year bridge-and-booze holiday up north with our friends Bob and Clistine. This marked the 12th year we have seen the new year come in with them since we moved back from BC. About six years ago, they moved from Emma Lake to their farm in "Hungry Hollow" off the beaten path north of Weirdale (south of Candle Lake) and their neighbors, Buzzy and Grace, became part of the New Year's Eve frivolity.

Buzzy is one of the world's greatest story tellers. He sees humor in everything and with his soft voice and dry wit, he can keep you laughing for hours. He is also a great tease. And once he gets a reaction out of you, watch out.

A few summers ago when we were on our way to visit them, Clistine told me to watch for an American Bittern that resided in the slough on the south side of the road near their driveway. I was really looking forward to seeing it. It wasn't there when we arrived so early the next morning, I took our schnauzer on the leash and walked down the road hoping to glimpse it. When I got near the slough, to my horror, I found a dead bittern on the side of the road. I couldn't see obvious signs of trauma but with a bouncing schnauzer, it was hard to check and impossible to carry the dead bird back with me. I could only guess that it must  have been hit by a car. When I took the dog back to the house and returned to the slough, the carcass was gone - maybe a coyote?

Well, when Buzzy heard the story, it morphed into a new version - I was the one who had run down the poor Bittern with my vehicle. I had murdered the magnificent Bittern with its sword-like beak that stood sentinel there at the slough, delighting the poor souls of Hungry Hollow.

So now we get to the reason for the photo of the Luna moth. The six of us were at Tobin Lake, sitting on the cabin deck sipping something cool when Buzzy said, "Hey, Birdwatcher, what's that funny looking green bird under the tree there?"

I looked where he pointed and there, rolling and scrambling, was something bird-like but not bird colored. The green was a cross between lime and celery. Quickly I focussed my binoculars.

"It's not a bird. It's a Luna moth," I said with absolute certainty. I didn't explain that for the month, the wildlife calendar had featured the spectacular moth in full color.

My theory is that the moth had just come out of its cocoon/chrysalis and was trying to get its wings in working order. It was truly a fantastic sight - a moth with a wingspan of three to four inches wearing a chiffon negligee. Did you know the adult moth doesn't eat because it has no mouth and only lives about  a week? The female secretes a powerful scent that a male can detect through its feathery antennae from far away. In that short week, the female hopes to mate and lay eggs. The eggs hatch to green caterpillars that munch away on leaves until its time to put themselves to bed in their own cocoons attached to a tree branch where they hang out over winter until early summer.

Got it now, Buzzy? A moth is not a bird!