The White Tussock Moth that was attached to the side of the garage door in the fall, was a bit of nature that I had never seen before.  It was also to become a new experience.

Taking a number of photos (macro) of this beautiful caterpillar,soft yellow in colour, with tussocks on his back, toxic, brown bristles that protect him from birds,and a little red face, I fully expected it to be gone the next morning.

WHITE TUSSOCK MOTH CATERPILLAR

Instead, it stayed in the same spot without moving for a few days. By then we realized that it just might be getting ready to coccoon.

Keeping a close eye on it, that is exactly what happened.   We began to witness nature as the caterpillar started to emit this yellow, silky texture underneath itself.

FUZZ  STARTING TO FORM UNDERNEATH

Within an hour  it had a good solid base of silk.  After  several hours the cocoon was formed.

COCOON AFTER A FEW HOURS

Nothing happened, at least visible to the human eye for about two weeks. Eventually, we could tell the white tussock had left its seed and was slowly dying.  I would gently blow on it and found that his movement was getting slower each day.

Finally, both ends flopped upside down, so we knew that it had run its course.

WHITE TUSSOCK HAD DIED

When the last of his legs were  just about detached we picked the body off the cocoon, put it  into a kleenex and  lay it in the ground.  Yes, we said a few words for it.

Call us crazy or not having enough to do with our time, but we had spent so much time watching nature doing her thing that we felt that was the least we could do.

Unfortunately, that is the end of our story. We never did see the end result of this whole experience. 

THANKS FOR LISTENING TO OUR SHORT STORY. HOPE YOU ENJOYED!   TILL NEXT TIME FRIENDS!