Love the Morels! We also found some enormous ones this year....
As for the insects, the caterpillar is an Eastern tent caterpillar. I hate those darn things and kill every one I find. They are voracious feeders and reproduce by the thousands. Chickens and birds won't eat them.
The other is a March Fly. They are very good for breaking down compost and decomposing organic matter...
Thank you for the help identifying them!! The first caterpillar I found was when the chicks were in their outdoor pen, and they all freaked out about it. I scooped it out before they could get too curious. Then, 2 more appeared around the house.
And those flies are freaking everywhere this year! And they look ridiculous when flying!
We got BATTERED by a storm tonight.
No confirmed tornado.
Our power went out while we were watching a movie. We came upstairs to see what was going on. It was greenish yellow outside, and a low yellow cloud at the front of the storm was racing in. I said, we need to bring the tomato and pepper plants in the garage NOW! And we raced to get the tables of plants in. The wind started as we were moving the first table, trees started cracking, and we got soaked before we got the second table in the garage. All of the trees were sideways, essentially. Constant thunder and lightning and wind and heavy rain. I came in to close the front door (which I had opened to check the weather) and my phone started yelling at me that there was a tornado warning. Based on that and the tornado-y conditions, we went into the basement for a few minutes. Then, came back up to continue watching after radar said the worst had passed.
We got 1" of rain in the rain gauge, and in such a short amount of time!
My garden was about half flooded, which has never even been a risk before! Water was pouring down a mole tunnel in one of the beds.
Literally water circling down a drain. Thankfully, there isn't really anything planted, and most of what is planted was not under water.
Our woods are unrecognizable and impassable with downed trees!
No power means that the chicks get to spend their first night without the brooder plate. I checked on them a few minutes ago, and they are not snuggled close together. So, I might set an alarm to check on them again, but really, what could I even do for them without power? They are 5 weeks old, and don't need the plate during the day, so I think they will be fine.
I checked on the coop, and it is drenched inside... which has my brain running itself a little ragged. It's been fine in all the other storms since the walls and roof went up. It isn't quite finished, yet, and obviously tornado-y conditions aren't normal. So, I'm trying to settle my brain down. What do you all think, should I be concerned?