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Safe with Me

My rescued moth did not pass away overnight after I rescued her last month, although I knew she didn't have long to live.

Healthy Virginian tiger moths only live for a week or two.

To put that into comparitive terms, one day of a moth's life is equal to about five to ten years of life for the average human being.

She's spending the end of her life resting and sunning herself in peace, protected on the back porch.

Because it was getting cold at night I made a little habitat for her so I could bring her inside.

All this for a moth I found on the road. That's crazy, right? Only something very similar happened to me some years ago. I was rendered helpless by a vertigo attack while alone on the side of a road; I literally couldn't stand up or speak coherently. A young couple pretending to help stayed with me until I passed out, at which point they robbed me of $26.00 and left me there. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, but people always tell me "it could have been worse." I survived, so I suppose it could have been.

Anyway. I did not leave this helpless creature to die alone on the side of the road. I gave her a safe place and more time to live in peace and safety, which is all any of us can hope for at the end.

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Maria Zannini said…
There's a special place in heaven for you.

If only all of us could experience such a gift at the end of our days.
March 20, 2024 at 5:53 AM
nightsmusic said…
I remember your traumatic experience. :( What you're doing for Ms Moth is a wonderful thing. I've done this many times though. I'm a certified Monarch Waystation and I bring in injured butterflies and moths, Monarch eggs, I've overwintered Swallowtail chrysalis, brought in Monarch chrysalis so the birds don't eat them (I'm up to four enclosures now) and bring in the Monarch and Swallowtail caterpillars as well. I've even seen a Circropia moth make it from egg to adult. That was a real treat!! If you have questions, let me know, but you're going to want to get a little enclosure for the eggs on the leaf and put fresh food in every day. They have a diet of a wide range of low-growing plants, including ground cover like grass and clover so it should be easy for you to forage a bit, quickly for them. And they'll leave a lot of frass (poop) that will need cleaning out. The whole process takes five minutes, feeding and all. I just dump the frass and old 'food' and start fresh :)

Sorry, didn't mean to write a book!
March 20, 2024 at 6:49 AM
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