I was giving a friend a lift the other day and as we followed the twists and turns in the road I avoided the caterpillars along with other wildlife. The caterpillars, though, were the topic of conversation.
I thought everyone avoided them in August, soon I learned I was in the minority. But surely I said, you avoid the frogs in the autumn and spring. No, I just avoid cars she replied.
I love caterpillars, I love the way these slow cumbersome hungry crawlers transform into delicately beautiful fliers. I love them as caterpillars too, the way they know to eat particular plants, even when it is my cabbages.
There is a symbiotic relationship developing in my garden. The rosemary bushes are covered in the pods left by ladybirds, the ladybirds, in turn, are eating the greenfly. And as I watch the caterpillars eat the leaves of the buddleia I know that in time the shrub will earn its name, butterfly bush.
I can’t explain the dog eating strawberries, a mystery for another day.
I will however continue to swerve to avoid the hairy black caterpillars or maybe start a road safety class for them, along with badgers, rabbits and hedgehogs!
Rebuilding Community 