Mr Hairy Legs Update

Since the last post in November, Mr Hairy Legs has a new friend - Mrs Hairy Legs! Together they have been going great. In fact they have been growing so fast that we have upgraded their home three times! Their current abode is my terrarium which unfortunately didn't fair well during the renovations and will need to visit the shop for a new lease on life once the current tenants move out.

So back to Mr and Mrs Hairy Legs, like I was saying they are growing fast. So fast that one morning I thought a third caterpillar had joined them only to discover one of them had molted their skin!

We showed Mr and Mrs Hairy Legs to our neighbours from up the road who were over for a BBQ and are keen gardeners/outdoorsy types. He ventured back home returning with a butterfly book in an attempt to identify the caterpillars. Searching through the pages, we couldn't find any similar caterpillar and he suggested that it may be some sort of moth. It was only then a light bulb went off in my head as to what these could be.

Frantically I searched through our Nandies blog and found the answer - White-stemmed Gum Moth!
Oh my what have we got ourselves in for! Looks like Mr and Mrs Hairy Legs will be here for awhile. One thing for sure is there is no more handling of these prickly caterpillars! Will keep you posted on their adventures.