[tn-moths] Re: Moth saves the night!

  • From: klight10@xxxxxxxxxxx
  • To: tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:12:37 +0000 (UTC)

That one is going to be hard to beat, Dean! :) I'm glad it didn't break the 
skin when it nibbled, those rabies shots are pretty painful! I've been wanting 
to photograph a skunk to add to my Mammals gallery on my website. But, so far, 
no luck. Maybe I need to come to your porch! 
A few years ago I was talking to a "nature-challenged" woman and I said 
something about seeing a skink on the porch of the Freels Cabin at science 
camp. She said to me in a very condescending tone, "Don't you mean 'skunk'?!" 

Kris 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
To: tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 11:07:19 PM 
Subject: [tn-moths] Re: Moth saves the night! 


Ok, so here goes one. 

A few years ago I was taking moth photos in back of our house and 
happened to be standing near the cat food bowl (yeah, yeah, cats 
indoors, we took in some strays... for the record, they are inside 
cats now). Anyway I was focused on photographing a particular moth 
(forget which one now) when I felt something furry brush against my 
leg and start nibbling on my big toe (I had flip-flops on). I was 
used to our cat doing that and didn't think anything about it and 
continued taking photos -- with flash -- for another minute or so. 
The whole time something furry was sitting on my foot nibbling my 
big toe... not hard enough to break the skin, just nibbling like our 
cat always did. So finally, once I was satisfied with the photo, 
I looked down and saw four young skunks eating out of the cat food 
bowl while a fifth sat on my foot and nibbled my toe. 

I considered taking a photo before moving but was afraid the flash, 
once aimed at them, would lead to undesirable consequences. So I 
slowly pulled my foot away and backed up hoping not to run into 
mommy skunk. 

Needless to say, I now pay attention whenever something furry starts 
nibbling on my toe. 

Dean Edwards 
Knoxville, TN 





On Sun, 27 Jun 2010, Avian Pursuits Nature Tours wrote: 

> If we ever do begin to work on some sort of moth book for Tennessee, maybe it 
> should include some stories of "Why moth-ing is more dangerous than birding!" 
> Sure, we go through some strange situations when trying to see a bird, but 
> moth-ers have the added joy of doing much of that at night!*L* 
> David Trently 
> Avian Pursuits Nature Tours 
> ...come see the real world! 
> Knoxville, TN 
> http://avianpursuits.com/ 

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